Rookie Anxiety/Frustration?

i think some anxiety is pretty common at first, my first solo trip was from vacaville ca. to new jersey (9 stops of nursery stock) after the recruiter had told me "you want to run 11 western? NO PROBLEM" i was pretty freaked out the whole trip AND the rest of the 6 months that i had obligated myself to work for THAT company (dick simon). but i survived it and moved on to a better company.

i also used the miles divided by 50 formula to figure etas, on a 900 mile trip (2 days) i would try to drive past the halfway point and finish up early enough the second day to get my break before delivery the following morning.

good luck and hang in there

 

tell him to stick in there it will get a lot better i was going to quit every day for a couple of months but i didnt and now its the best job i have ever had

 

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Will keep what you said in mind.

 

It isn't uncommon for drivers to break down like this. Its uncommon that they admit to it though, and I don't hear too much about newbies doing it.

Nonetheless, this needs to be watched. For whatever reasons this job can send some people ( I'm not implying your husband is one of them) spiraling down. If this becomes a pattern and doesn't change REAL quick he needs to get out of trucking or go local. None of this just "stick it out a year to see if he really likes it" BS.

Because...

A pattern of breaking down due to job issues isn't "making a living". It is despair. Sure he can get used to it, but the obvious question is, Why?

Ps I haven't broken down, Yet. But I don't have family, and the truck is my home. Plus I like to be alone more than most.

 

I lucked out...when I started driving my hubby had been driving for about 7 years so it was nice that he was there for me. But I found myself calming him down instead of the other way around but it did teach me to look at things different. I can't really add an advise that hasn't already been said. So I hope things get better for him.

 

If I were paid the hours I have waited for this, that and the other thing while I was driving OTR - I wouldn't need to be working right now. Patience is really the issue he's dealing with. Waiting is part of the game - I don't care what kind of trucking you do, what you're hauling, where you going, who you're delivering to. Somewhere along the way, you're going to have to wait. People that aren't accustomed to the trucking life - are going to have to bite the bullet and realize that nothing is ever as easy as it looks. I don't care about waiting anymore. I haven't cared about it in at least 15 years. My mind switches gears and goes somewhere else. Read a book; get out and walk around and see whatever sights there are; call someone; take a nap; you develop habits to deal with it. Each person's habits are their own. Although I am a local, paid-by-the-hour driver now, I still find myself waiting at all kinds of places. Humdeedum. Give it time - he'll learn how the system works and much, all or at least some of the frustration will dissipate.