Nervous about life on the road

Two main keys to driving safely is: Never be in a rush and keep a good amount of space around you. I'm guessing your nervousness comes from being afraid of breaking something or somebody. Do these two thing first and you'll be OK.

 

Here is my thought: try to relax and concentrate on your route. Don't let other trucks or cars intimidate you. Take your time, see the road, see the hazzards. And best of all: Have Fun!

 

I think I was too dumb to be nervous when I first started driving. Wasn't trained very well, at all.

 

My first day by myself I came down some steep downgrade somewhere near Denver and I was so scared that my the time I got to the bottom I ended up

 

Yeah, the wrong GPS can put you in front of a Pittsburg Stealer Stadium when the game is letting out, and your learning to drive the stupid truck. What a horse #### place to be. Or your dispatcher can give you directions that put you in the baggage area of an airport. I have pictures of both. My first husband has been driving for 45 years, he says the day he thinks he knows it all, is the day he will have to turn in his keys. If you are afraid, you will be careful, and that is the best thing to be, careful. The only way to get over this feeling is to learn what that big truck can and can not do, and what you can and can not do. It will all come with time. You will do fine. We all learned how to, and you can to.

 

Just remember, "nothing in life that is worth while is easy". You have to really want to be an OTR driver to be good at it and happy doing it. You have to have self confidence and common sense. Everyday you are out there you will be learning something about the roads, the terrain, the scales, the cops, the motoring public, the weather, equipment, shippers, receivers, commodoties, truckstop cultures, rest stops to stay out of, etc etc. You have to prepare for were ever you are going and have the information you can when going into an area you have never been to before. You get most of that by asking questions of other drivers and by studying your routes. Pay attention everyday, remember, and enjoy. It gets harder, but it gets better and if it what you really want you will never regret getting in to it. Remember there are drivers and there are guiders out there. Guiders go where they can go, and drivers go where they have to go. You will know the difference between the two types of drivers pretty quickly. Don't be a guider. Good Luck.