Confidence in your ability.

When I drove through a two day blizzard from Sioux Falls, SD to Toledo, OH. Climbing the mountains in WI. Wife was with me freaking out. Stopped for a 10 at a truckstop near Madison, WI. Ground covered in ice. Took everything I had to stop next to the rest of the trucks by the scale for the night.

Also driving in blinding snow up US 81 from KS into NE.

Driving through the thickest fog I had ever seen on US 69 in OK heading to Ft. Worth.

But what really made me feel like I belonged was I was in OH on 70 had cb on and I was calling out hazzards and some bears and an o/o for over 30 years asked me how long I been driving. I told him bout a year...he said he was impressed and thought I sounded like I has been a 30 year driver myself.

Of course like everyone else I have also been knocked down a few times.

Everyday is a learning experience for me.

 

You only go down Donner too fast one time...

 

On day 366 I was 100% sure but I never had doubt.

Unless you crash and die or quit there's no reason not to make it and since I didn't plan on quitting or dying I never doubted it.

 

I've only been at it for a year and a half so there's plenty of times I think to myself wtf did I do that for, but the biggest boost I had to my confidence came when my company took a CH Robinson brokered load in Jersey.They used the directions provided and good god they were horrible. I used Google maps and my atlas to find a better way out. Since than I've caught a few more instances where the provided directions would have sent me to a customers main office instead of their warehouse.

I took a bad experience, learned from it and grew as a driver. It's really all you can do out there and it's a neverending process.

Of course, delivering to various places in NYC without too much of an issue definitely helps lol

 

actually the only reason why i had taken it was, as i was approaching the Eisenhower tunnel (going west bound) a dam JB Hun truck was backing out of it..!!

when i saw that, i took the by-pass route.

when i had done that, it was mid-spring time IIRC.

but i can assure you (and everyone else) even though the outside temps were maybe in the 50's, i had the a/c on full blast, and all the windows opened up........!!!

 

"When did I feel like I would make it?"

IN truck driving school, our final day of road practice, myself, the instructor and two other students. We drove from Denver, Co. to just west of Bailey, Co. on US 285. There were 3 trucks in our group, we made a turn around, stopped for lunch (the instructors bought). As we headed back, the other two guys were dozing in the sleeper, we hit fog so bad that the hood ornament was limit of visibility at time. We drove in that pea soup for close to 5 miles, at 5 mph, the instructor and I had our noses pressed to the windshield, at times if you looked in the mirror you couldn't see the tail of the trailer. When we came out of it, he had me pull over and stop, we both got out, stretched our legs, popped our necks and knuckles, the other two finally woke up, he shook my hand and said "that was impressive, I know long time drivers that would have panicked, you did extremely good given the circumstances"