How long before someone is experienced?

You never Stop learning, At least i have never scene that illustrious line between the two. You start and keep on truckin learning something new everyday.
ive been driving since i was a kid. i still look up to ppl like @wore out and many others in the industry.
At one point in our learning of trucking, you will have it "click" and feel a sense of ease when doing a task. it comes to everyone at different stages of time.

 

Or they're just stupid. Stupid knows. If he didnt know, he wouldnt be Stupid, he would be Dumb. There's nothing wrong with being Dumb. Stupid gets his CDL, learns how to drive a truck and...

...that's about it. He never improves. 20 years later, he's exactly at the same level he was when he was a rookie. That guy that's been driving for years but still doesn't preplan or pretrip? Stupid. Didn't check his 5th wheel height and overshot his 5th wheel? Stupid. Goes home for hometime and smokes weed with his friends. Stupid.

Stupid knows. He knows better but does it anyway. Sure sign that person is Stupid.

I went down to Baytown after Harvey rolled through. They were talking about the number of drivers that got caught in the parkinglots when the started to flood. A week in advance, everyone knew a hurricane was coming through, yet these guys got stranded in the parkinglot? Everyone else is getting out of town and Stupid runs up and grabs a most coveted fatboy spot at the Loves. "Hey, if I ride the storm out, when everyone else comes back, they will see me in a fatboy spot! I will be a celebrity!

 

I used up all my luck 20 yrs ago. I have to rely on experience & common sense. Now retirement makes the point mute.

 

I'd say a good rule of thumb is a year. Naturally, when you do a different type of trucking, that's gonna take some getting used to, but by a year, you should have experienced just about anything that will happen to you on the road.

 

According to the megas, six months. That's how long it takes before stupid can train dumb.

 

Great West Casulty insurance says 2 yrs before they will cover anyone.

 

There's no time limit on when you become professional. Someday when you're driving and you spot a problem before it becomes a problem is a good indicator. It's all based on defensiive driving and how well you handle your truck. You never get upset at other drivers because you are one step ahead of them. You can spot trouble before it happens. A car going down the interstate and the driver is looking at a map. Or a car where two people are fighting. A car with out of state plates. There's hundreds of tell tell signs. The more you pick up the better you feel. Keep that all working plus driving the truck the way it should be driven then you can start thinking about professionalism.

 

That all depends on you.Some advance faster then others Like peterbilt says you never stop learning but to feel comfortable it may or may not take awhile.But once you do feel comfortable never let your guard down and never get ####y otherwise all your experience will be for nothing.