man my nerves are getting the best of me.

.33 CPM van, .35 CPM dedicated or tanker. $500/wk for training. Really that's pretty good for starting out at a mega. Then its .38v/.40t CPM after a year... which isn't so good but there are other pay incentives so who knows.

By comparison, I got .29-.33 CPM with my starter company, then an average of .48 CPM at my new/current company dry van, home weekends. I switched over with 8 months experience... got tired of being used and lied to.

 

I LOVE what you wrote... Faith overcomes Fear.... soooo true. And believe in yourself... that's what one of our instructors used to tell us, students... "Believe in yourself... YOU CAN DO THIS!"
And you know what else? If trucking is for you... You will succeed... one way or another. And if it's not for you... you will find something else to do... that's how it is... So, don't fear... have faith that whatever has to be, it will be... one way or another.

I must tell you that I WORRY A LOT, I CONCERN A LOT, I GET VERY ANXIOUS, AND NERVOUS, LIKE NOBODY ELSE THAT I KNOW... and I AM A SLOW LEARNER... I used to have stomach aches every day during my whole CDL training... from fear... I used to get sooooo nervous that one instructor refused to go out on the road with me.... He would tell me every day, RELAX! RELAX! RELAX! Another one told me I was making him nervous... It was NOT easy at all to go thru the CDL training with all that fear and sickness to the stomach... But I use to finish what I start... And something inside of me kept telling me that I could do that, and that EXCITED me... to the point that I HAD TO DO IT... The more challenging it was, the more I WANTED to do it...
So, I tell you to believe in yourself, don't listen to your fears, don't believe that you will fail and all the other crap that may go wrong... Just BE CAUTIOUS... and TAKE IT EASY... DON'T RUSH... and if you fail the first test.... train some more and DO IT AGAIN...
I WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK...

 

I've been through Schneiders orientation. If you've made it to week 3 then you've already passed your time with the trainer which means you got it in the bag!

 

Nirvana, I am going to be a bit harsh and tell you the truth about this.

From my point of view you have nothing to worry about right now, you didn't work hard to get where you are at because this is really too easy at this point on that path to being a driver.

Yes everything is new, yes it seems overwhelming but no one is saying something that needs to be said - this is the easiest part of the journey you have committed yourself to.

Once you get passed this stuff of training (I assume you are training), the real work happens.

For the next year or so, it is an uphill journey but once you get to the top, it is easier. Soon YOU will be put on the road, with real weight and the real world to deal with but more importantly YOU WILL be responsible for the safety of others around you without someone telling you what to do and if you do the right thing by putting efforts into learning, listening and asking about things instead of worrying if you get passed the next week, you will be fine.

At this point I feel YOU would crap your pants at some of the things we have to deal with but many of us take this in stride as part of the job. The dangers, the idiots (even some idiot drivers in trucks), the frustration of dock workers and traffic all is part of the job.

If you have a determination to be a professional and stop worrying about how you will make it, then you will become a good driver eventually.

WE all had to deal with this same stuff before, many of us learned that this is nothing, in our lives we have had tougher things to deal with and learning a new thing is welcomed as a diversion or a new start. On the other hand, many take this stuff as the hardest it will ever be and get fatigued through the worry and dispare only to fail.

One thing I discourage is this need to becoming a driver to reach for the last possible means of making a living, this place shouldn't be that last stop but somewhere in the middle. For many who are desperate, they put too much effort into worrying and hoping they will get by which I think is part of the reason for a high failure rate - in other words they don't get is not for everyone.

I think if you made it this far with training and can learn how to relax, because you really have nothing to worry about.

 

Think your nerves are shot now, wait until winter.

 

wait til he has to drive in NM on 25 to Denver with 5 feet of visibility

 

As stated in the OP you are a "husband and a father" those two things are a hell of a lot more difficult than pulling a dry van.

 

Husband and father > trucking.
What you do for a living is less important than caring for your family.
In fact, trucking can even prevent you from taking proper care of your family because you aren't there for them.
You can't even be a bad father if you're not there, but I'm sure this is a job perk for some men.

 

You do realize you're making this statement to a board full of over the road truck drivers, don't you? Quit worrying and take your test. You'll be fine. What concerns me is that, if you are already complaining about being gone, you ain't seen nuthin' yet.

 

I lost my fiancé to trucking. Some of us don't even get to the next step