New career, new anxieties :^D

I can't believe this has happened so fast! I like to start a new job right away after being on the market, but becoming a truck driver has been a totally different ballpark. The responsibility seems to surpass anything I've done in the past. It fills me with unspeakable excitement and anxiety. Maybe a lot of you were once in my shoes.

I'm starting driving school down in Lewiston, Idaho on the 30th....literally days away now! Got my CDL permit, birth certificate, receipts for the three written tests, medical card & form, and a little bit of cash in my pocket. Keep thinking there must be something missing, but I have gone over the academy's checklist over and over. The only things left are two notarized letters stating my employment gap for the last 60+ days....and another letter from my brother whom I worked for last year, since his business was an auto detailing "service" job that paid me cash...not on any S.S. report, in other words.

I've traveled around throughout the last 10 years, but mainly stayed in the area I live in now. My main squeeze has been working on an Alfalfa farm, so I now a thing or two about hard work and dependability. I've secretly wanted to drive big rigs for 6 years now, but couldn't get myself away from working on a farm. For real though...it's not an easy life being a poor, under-employed farm hand. If I don't get a career rolling now then I will suffer tremendously later....I get that. So, here I go into the unknown! I have yarded a couple semi tractors around very short distances to load up on grain.....did this last year during the Spring time in North Dakota. Got to be honest, I've dreamed about being in a big truck all the time ever since!! I think that I am tough enough, stupid enough, and have thick enough skin to take on this lifestyle.

I've got this phrase I toss around constantly, "You won't know if you don't go." Seriously....I know how strict Swift is....and I keep having nightmares of getting there and not being prepared for something, affecting my sleep lately...like for bringing in paperwork or whatever. I signed a driver application before getting contacted by a recruiter. They asked for the last five jobs I had. I held a few short term jobs, but others I stayed for years working with. After reading some threads here about the first day at the school, it appears I will need to know all the jobs I worked in the last ten years. I might have pooped my pants after reading this, cause I can't honestly remember all those dates....didn't know this might be a problem. Hope that the social security building will furnish this information for me tomorrow, as there is no time left for them to mail it to my home!!!

I would have it made for once, figuring, if I had a job that took me around the States...this guy likes to travel to new places!

Paranoia.....I worked for periods of time on a farm, then ventured to another job, then back to the same farm again. That process repeated a couple times. I'm thinking now.....Crap!! I may have entered an incorrect date on my initial application to the company....and now I am full of terror! Please, tell me I will have a chance, coming prepared with a detailed work history in hand, to correct a minor mistake....I'm not a dishonest person, and I'm taking this career path as serious as Swift looks upon applicants being honest and forthcoming. I need to sleep....this is killing me.

Any last words of encouragement before I embark on my new journey? Did I forget to mention how happy I am to even get this opportunity....I am heart-attack serious to say it...absolutely, I AM COMPLETELY EXCITED! :^)

 

Wow...just wow!!! I've been given some great advice from you guys, and I do appreciate it. Sorry if I came off as a negative/overwhelmed person in my post. I'm just the opposite, in fact...most often funny, happy, but intentionally serious when necessary. Sounds like a good attitude will take me places in this career, so I'll just keep my chin up and my nose clean throughout the process. I don't think I have ever been so serious about wanting something in my whole life as much as being a professional trucker.

CondoCruiser, you are right about the SS office not being able to help me. They said I could fill out a form and send it off to them, then wait for a return back at home. That's simply not feasible considering the time I have left here. They also suggested that I tail back to the Dept. of Labor, that they might furnish that for me instead.....no dice. :^D I'll stay calm and stick to your advice....do the best I can at remembering, not stress over being exact on my employment dates, but to list the actual jobs more importantly.

Okay...gotta run!