New to OTR and I sort of hate it

Jesus man up buttercup you've done it a whole month and you wanna quit? Good grief man what did you think you were getting into? This ain't a vacation it's a vocation.

 

Wait until you're running single before making a decision like that. Running team with a trainer is not the fun part of trucking. You'll learn the backing with some practice.

 

Call the company and request a new trainer. Some of them are bozos and after 4 weeks this guy has probably been all the help he's going to be to you anyway.

Yeah it gets easier. The first 6 months are rough on everybody...even the guys who go on to drive for decades. But it's a big reason why the industry turnover is so abysmal. A lot of guys just wash out and never make it 2 years, or even 1 year. I lasted 6 months at my first OTR gig and IMO I had good reason for ditching the place...it was crap work they had me doing and I knew I didn't need it. So I went home and found a $15/hr dock bumping job at a cheap LTL in my home city and life got a lot easier.

 

I recommend no more than 6 months with a mega. Spend the last 2 months researching companies and choose a winner for the next one. I cannot stress enough the importance of finding a carrier with a weekly pay guarantee. I never have to worry about getting the miles to pay my bills. My $1200 is there every Friday when I run all 7 days.

 

You thought you knew what you were getting into. Now it's not turning out to be what you thought it was. There's no real way to know until you do it. Many wash out before finishing training because it's not what they thought it would be.

Of course at that point you haven't given it enough time to know what it will be. 24/7 in a small space with someone you don't like can sour you real quick. It's different when you're on your own. At first on your own it's probably worse though, that's when the real learning starts.

Does it get easier was the question though. The backing gets easier with practice. Same goes for trip planning and all the other work related duties.

Waking up at a truckstop and running inside to use the washroom when it's 40 below and the wind is blowing, that doesn't change. Whether the lifestyle gets easier or not depends on you. It's probably too early to know though. Give it some time.

 

Spend sometime in your own truck before bailing out.
That means you by yourself,no teaming.
Then you drive when you want to drive;
Park where your want to park;
Eat where you want to eat;
Go home when you want to go home; etc. etc

Have the whole truck to yourself, set up the way you
Want it. It's a completely different job when your on
Your own and it's all on you.

 

Not true at all...I've never had a trainer and I'm doing very well..5 years in and I can back a jeep and lowboy combo quite easily.

 

I've never in 15 years stayed out for a month. I did two weeks for several years. Now I spend three nights a week on the road. Wouldn't do a fourth or fifth night. You don't have to work more than five days a week in trucking unless you want to.

 

I'm having a similar problem got tired of working on the plants and my boyfriend is a truck driver after a cpl of months of encourgement I gave up my home and hit the rd he is now my trainer I came out with high hopes and a good attitude and spent 37 days in the truck the first time skipping the holidays which I agreed to buy I'm having a hard time with a lot of things living in the truck for one no physical activity two.having a hard time backing up 3.having a hard time restocking supplies been thrown out of several Wal-Mart's for parking in them 4.dispatch I hate with a passion I'm starting to not like trucking or him at all wondering if local is a better way to go or do I just hang in there the money so far is the thing I actually like about it.