Dealing with heartbreak during CDL training and OTR training?

If I was in your shoes, I would do it. Getting my mind off the "tragedy" would be beneficial.

I was in my first year of driving when my brother died suddenly. Came home for the funeral and went right back to driving. Being busy helped alot - Best of Luck

 

Give yourself a moment or so to breathe. First and foremost protect yourself at all cost. Then make the decision if trucking is for you. Your young and there are many great opportunities to available to you in this great country of ours. Definitely don't look back love yourself and if you decide to meet someone else make they know how to treat you right. All the best to you in your goals

 

I went through a breakup years ago when I was about your age and thought being on the road would get me out and away from the situation. It did, but it sucks. You wanna go back out and hang with a friend, you’re 1700 miles away in a truck stop parking lot. You wanna get yourself back out there and date, you’re 1700 miles away in a truck stop parking lot. You want to have a conversation with your ex or #### goes south and you have some stuff you wanna get from their place, guess where you are? There’s something to be said about getting away from a situation and clearing your head, but being gone all the time with nothing to do but think about it will drive you insane. @ibcalm19 nailed it in my opinion. Give yourself a weekend getaway break and let things mull over and even out. Don’t jump into a situation you want out of immediately and then have a bunch of money and obligations invested in it. You’ll be alright, it just takes time. Best of luck!

 

The question seems better suited to a psychologist or therapist than us truck drivers. OTR is a good way to cause a divorce.
Lots of truck drivers got into the business as a backup plan when our first plan didn't work out. Some male truck drivers got into trucking because a bad divorce left them with almost nothing and OTR trucking gives you a job and a place to live while you truck. Trucking, right at the very start, takes a LOT OF CONCENTRATION, it's NOT like driving your car in the absent-minded way 90% of people drive their 4-wheeler. Because the truck and trailer are longer, wider, and heavy newbies have to put plenty of effort just staying only in their lane. After you have some experience, depending on how fast you adapt, then you can start thinking about anything. CDL school wasn't very hard for me, it is for some. The training 8 week training period at my first company where I rode/drove with a trainer in the truck all day and night was VERY hard for me. The trainer is making all of the decisions about almost everything except what I ate. I couldn't sleep more than a few minutes to 2 hours, not the 5-6 hours that was necessary. I've never been as tired or drained as during those 8 weeks. Near the end of my first year OTR I was depressed and went back to the job I HATED even though it paid less than half what trucking paid me to do. Most of that trouble was the lack of communication due to no technology. Now It's much easier, probably too easy, to communicate while trucking.

Even with YouTube and Instagram giving people a look into the truck and some of the things you do in trucking, watching pretty scenery and music play on the screen is a far cry from the actual job. Some high percentage of customers treat the truck drivers bring them freight as many people treat the homeless asking for money on the street. They try to ignore you, but if they have to talk to you it's not polite many times. The world wants what is inside your trailer but they just barely tolerate the vehicle and the driver necessary to do the job. My dad called OTR driving "living like a stray dog." You don't know where you will eat, sleep, or use the bathroom, if you can find a bathroom. There are good parts and lots of difficult parts. No place in the country has enough truck parking. Imagin playing musical chairs with large commercial vehicles and more than only one chair less than needed. If you are easy going and nothing rattles you, you can deal with trucking. If multiple problems in the day starts to feel like the world wishes you would scram, then you won't like trucking.

Some people say it's best not to make big decisions in stressful situations. Trucking isn't the only rescue job people get. Trucking is not just driving. Driving is the easy part, all the things you don't think about but that have to be done, and how you have to do them makes trucking harder than outsiders think. Numerous times per day some idiot in a 4-wheeler screwing with their phone is going to jump in front of the 80,000 pound truck you are driving 6 feet from their exit and slam on the brakes. Truck driving would be easier than you imagine if there were no 4-wheelers and no customers. It's not an easy job. It's not a paid vacation. You only see truck stops and industrial parks and traffic jams. Other people have their view as well. You won't know until you start doing it. 80% of first year drivers quit before 1 year of experience. Mostly because they choose poorly where to work and the job can be difficult and lonely. You better prefer being alone all day, every day. Few women are generally wired that way, but some are comfortable. Being a woman you may have to wait a long time to get a female trainer. You may decide to get training from a male trainer. Companies generally monitor that well and if there is any uncalled for behavior you can change trainers. If a woman interprets a loud discussion as more than a loud discussion trucking is the wrong job, IMO. Oh yeah, you may be recorded on video anytime you are in the driver seat, whether you like it or not. Almost certainly the truck will have a forward facing camera recording what the truck is doing and what is happening around the truck so if you don't drive carefully your behavior will be on camera. Accidents involving trucks are very expensive because every greasy lawyer with a pool payment is suing trucking companies at every opportunity.

 

I’ve never solved a problem by avoidance.

Keep yourself safe, but take a little time to think.

This isn’t an industry that rehabilitates troubled individuals.

Good luck.

 

One of the most dangerous things on the highway is a distracted driver.
Increase that to the Nth degree for a distracted truck driver.
They put everyone's life at risk.

A recent (especially abusive) relationship that just broke up is a huge distraction, in my opinion.
You need a clear head when going in to this line of work - not, hoping to clear your head by jumping into it.

 

Lots of great opportunities in trucking. Especially for women. Going out now or giving yourself a month is so 50/50 that it really just depends on how you feel about it. But there are a few things I would suggest.

1) Give yourself a full year before dating.
Get comfortable being alone and not needing someone in your life before inviting another person into your life.

2) Work on your self worth.
A abuser tears down your self worth in order to convince you that you deserve the abuse. Regain that self worth so nobody can steal it from you again.

3) Remember most men are not abusers.
Don't become jaded and punish other men for what the abuser did.

4) Learn the signs of those that are abusers.
Watch for the tell tell signs of an abuser. The controlling, jealous, manipulative personality.

My wife was with a abuser for years and still suffers from it today. She sometimes assumes that I'll react to things as he did even though I haven't done so in the twelve years she's known me. I strongly encourage her to take care of herself mentally, physically and spiritually. I want a woman who doesn't need me around but wants me around because she loves me and I her. And I try to take care of myself too so I can give her the same in return. We are both still works in progress and fail a bit more than we succeed at times but we keep trying and that's the important part.

Sorry for the rant. I'm tired and frankly I just hate the fact that there are people in this world that hurt others that loved and trusted them. Everyone deserves a partner who lifts them up to be the best they can be. I hope you find that person.

As for trucking. Go for it.
May I suggest that when you do that you keep an eye open to some of the better paying local jobs. Apply to jobs that you think you don't qualify for. Because of highering guidelines women are in high demand and can get in to some great positions immediately after training.

Good luck out there.

 

Very sad story. You are in your twenties and getting out of a highly abusive relationship. Girl, you are worth more than that. I don’t care if it is physical or mental abuse you deserve better. A guy like that will tear your self esteem down and break your confidence. I’m sorry to hear of your situation and the best you can do is get a far away from that guy as you can. You sure don’t want to wind up dead or brain dead from some loser beating on you. I’d kill a mofo, thankfully I’ve never experienced that and I hope you no longer do. Anyways, I’m a female, I’ve been driving about 4 1/2 yrs. I started as a company driver, my husband and I team, he has 10 yrs experience. But year before last we bought our own semi and we are doing really well. We drove as company drivers for about 2 1/2 yrs and saved our money. In trucking you can make about 1,000-1,300 a week so there is good money to be made. When you go to school you will need to be focused and you will learn all about the truck and engine parts, it’s call a pretrip inspection and then of course they will teach you to drive. If you feel you can’t get away from the loser without going in trucking then go ahead and get into. If you can leave him maybe take a month or so look into some companies and re access the situation. Whatever you do get out of current situation. Best wishes for you!

 

I would start trucking when i finished grieving a lost relationship.
Once I put all behind me and I can 100% focus on my new career, I'll get the training. Not before.
And I would loose the habit to check my social page every 5 minutes when I'm driving.