Newbie needs teammate

What do you not have confidence in? First time I was stuck behind the wheel of a truck I was 19 and was told where to stop and everything else was on me from there on. After a couple day's prior I got to drive supervised for a couple of hour's in AZ and took it all the way to the truck stop and backed it in on my first go with no problems. When I was put on my own going down 20 through TX I did fine and didn't have a worry because I was full of confidence. If you can't do it on your own then how do you expect to make it running team? Running team outta make it worse because you are driving with someone else's life in the truck with you so it's one more life your responsible for. If your not confident in handling a truck then you don't need to be driving one and that's my honest opinion. Even though I have penlty of confidence that make's me feel unsafe no matter what I'm driving because of the thought that someone behind the wheel of a big truck isn't confident... *shiver*

 

this was way to harsh and not very supportive at all.

 

maybe someone you know rocks. might be tough after a few weeks in a confined space with someone. i wish you the best of luck. you can do it. build your confidence, you can drive that truck and you know it, and you can do it well. trust me from (some) of the truckers ive seen and met so far. you shall be fine.

 

I apoligize. Your female and that I didn't catch which I definitly need to go get some sleep. lol. Had it been I am already driving a truck I wouldn't have been staying up for hour's on end like this but I've been all over the net researching every possible angle and situation on Schneider and discussing it with other member's sense the wee hours of yesterday morning. You can slap me if you wish and if it make's you feel any better for my harsh words. I guess this go to show that I can stay awake for long periods of time without the need of any high speed chicken feed. That stuff ain't no good anyway. Just say no. Ok,my head hurt's really bad, I'm hitting the sack and I'll try and change my response tomorrow.

Ummmm, so how do you log this time in the sleeper?

 

There are 2 things that can help you with your confidence. Number 1 being time under the wheel.

But, an item I rarely see recommended for new drivers as an aid to help them with the jitters of unfamilier areas. A GPS nav unit.

Although everyone (almost) recommends them. They never come out and state they recommend them to recent grads.

A GPS unit will allow you to keep yourself focused on the road, and not the directions and street signs.

You of course still need to check your signs. And you need to plan your route and allow for low underpasses restricted routes, etc etc. Ask other drivers

But that one tool can remove a lot of stress for a beginning driver, in a strange city/area.

Even with my experience, I rely heavily on my GPS. When you're kicking off 5-12 stops a day. Taking 5 minutes (per stop) to write down directions adds up fast.

Please be advised. A GPS can get you into serious trouble FAST. You have to plan ahead...IE look at the route before you roll. Mine loves to route me down national parkways...a big no no for trucks.

 

Thanks Rocks. No, I'm trying to get on with a company for CDL training but my work history is hurting me a bit. I hear a lot of good thing about SNI so I just sent them an email explaining my work history problem. So hopefully I'll hear some good news. As far as confidence I can understand for a female because thing's are a bit different. When I first stepped foot in a truck I felt, how can I say it "odd(?)" if you will but after a few month's the truck felt like a car to me and a car felt like I was riding in a micro-machine with my ### dragging the ground! I say to a lot of people who are over whelmed by the size of a truck that's it's really not as bad as the think. The truck is only as big as you make it out to be in your mind.

Even with an extreme amount of confidence myself I still #####ed at my step dad for not doing his pre-trip like he was supposed to and I see a lot of driver's doing the same. Just hop in, do their log and roll out. I don't see many skateboards doing it either. They just check their strap's and tie down's and bounce out. Over the year's we've encountered some problems that would have never been known if I hadn't got out and did the pre-trip myself. Disconnected service line, pulled 5th wheel, pulled tandems and a flat tire not even beaded up to the rim on the trailer. One time he complained the truck rode rough as hell. I checked it out and of course, who wouldn't notice the back of the sleeper sitting on the frame? Air bag's were shot to hell because it had been like that for a while and what it was is the linkage on the cab suspension leveler was gone so the valve had no way to put air in the bag's.

I finally got to where I didn't feel safe riding with him because he never checked anything. The time he ever noticed anything was when he was getting in the truck or unless I found it and pointed it out. He smashed a car on the right side of his trailer leaving a truck stop on the right hand side and felt the truck bogging down but didn't bother to check his convex mirror's. I saw it as he was trying to keep on going and I reached over and popped the parking brake. "What the hell are you doing!" "Well, for your info if you would check your mirror's like your supposed to you can see there is a mini van under your trailer." "Ahhh hell, OH ####!" I look over at him while setting my dinner on the dash to go jump out of the truck, like, DURH! I jumped out and looked at the old people in the van like DURH! The turn signal was right there in the driver side window of that van still flashing. I couldn't help but the laugh and proceed to say dumb ###! If you were trying to collect free insurance money then you picked the wrong way to do it because you just screwed yourself.

So yea, I am very safety conscious to everything and you can never be to safe or take to many precautions and being confident does help. Mostly not confidence but good judgment is a high priority. If your worried about getting lost somewhere, don't worry about that. Everybody gets lost at some point or another. It's just a part of the job. I believe you can do it though. There are those I have heard quit because they didn't have the confidence but quitting won't solve it. Sticking with it and working on it is what makes you better. Just take your time and don't rush like on a tight right. When I first got behind the wheel, that was the only thing I was worried about but after doing it a couple time's it became a no biggie to me.

Now, don't let me scare you away on this but one thing that I AM uncertain of still is making corner's with the tandems all the way to the rear. I see a lot of Tango local's here do it. Then again I don't see why anyone would want to run like that making driving harder on themselves instead of just taking the few minutes to slide them up and not have to worry about it. If your worried about getting lost, just pull over and check your map. Me, to make thing's easier, preplanning the trip on Post-It Notes lmao. That's my choice sense it's dangerous to drive and read a map and/or the
Q-Comm. And try not to rely on that thing to much because like Dance694U said, they can give you some really screwed up direction's and put you somewhere where you don't want to be in a big truck. Shipper's/receiver's are decent most of the time but sometime's you can't count on them either so the best thing is your own map research.

Always pull over to read something unless it's easy to read like a post it sticky with short understandable direction's on the dash above the speedometer or something to where you can keep your eye's on the road.
Now I read one post and I'm sure many of you have seen it by now with the guy wanting to drive a truck just for a little while. Now my comment on that one was good because it cost's lot's of money for schooling and if your going to spend all that money on it then you need to have a mind set of sticking with it for a while other wise your really just throwing your money away for something to be short lived. I don't know if he's ever been in a truck before or what but someone need's to show him the ropes and show him what all is involved because there a LOT more to it than just driving so it's something you really need to look into seriously so you'll know if you would want to reconsider or do it and stick with it.
Keep your head up high and just work on it.

Again, sorry for my rude discouraging comment Rock's. Good luck and maybe I might see ya out there on the road.