Rookie Driver starting out, scared of OTR, what should i do? thanks

Hello, I went with swift after a local Trucking school that i went to, i was super excited, got an 93% gpa and was looking forward to driving a truck and making money.
but when i went regional with swift for training, i ending up quitting after the first week.
The Trainer was intense, he would wear all black clothing and was a total germophobe. plus
It just felt weird being away from home, sleeping with a total stranger on a bunkbed.
i dont know, the whole experience just felt to much for me to handle, emotions where everywhere.
I just wanted to go home.
so i gave up driving class A for a year now and i want to go back now,
was thinking Maybe do regional and go with schnieder?
I feel like i need to do regional, i want to do trucking, but i find it hard to change of being around family and friends etc and not seeing them until the weekend. which is not to bad.
sorry for the rant, i just my question is how do i get through the training and feel comfortable with a trainer and being solo after? thanks

 

I have a question... what does the 93%gpa mean? I’m not sure I understand the relevance.

 

since you only "drove" for about a week, then quit for a year, i'd be thinking that no one will touch you unless you go back to school and do it all over again.

nothing has changed in the one year you were out, it is all the same, meaning that i think you will get homesick again and quit.

personally, what do you really care the color of a persons clothes.....??

are you now also a "fashionista"..???

for the record, i always wore shades of DARK gray, and dark blue.

and many people DO NOT LIKE GERMS, i always carried a bottle of anti-bacterial lotion, and Lysol....would you really want to catch something and get sick, on the road, far from home..???

gpa...grade point average.........93 % be about an A to A-

 

It is necessary to maintain a standard of hygene in trucking. I have repeatidly talked about cleaning the inside of the cab and sleeper spaces with 10% bleach and solution as well as hot washing the bedding, clothing etc. Takes one half day a week or less to do this. Maintaining the interior of your truck defends your body from getting sick, spoiled food, water and whatever else. You might be going into different parts of the USA which is not native to your life prior to trucking among other issues.

I am not a germ phobe, just a matter for a clean cab with everything in it's place and stowed so that no matter what that tractor does on bad road everything will stay put. (More or less) some drivers are not anywhere near as good as they need to be and are themselves a problem even if they refuse to do anything about it.

Your home life with family and friends will suffer when you are out on the road. But fear not, you have a whole generation of social media when you are parked wherever you can stay in touch.

It is something else to form a team of two. Better that a trainer actively trains you from that right seat in you doing everything and learning. Even if he has his bunk and you have yours. Winter is coming. You need to adapt your running, break off the problems and overthrow them before the snows come. This would be the time to get it squared away.

America is trucking, dating back to world war one out of sheer necessity. Before that stage coach and freight wagons. Steam trains and before that horses where possible and shipping by sail, might take about 200 days to get a pound of tea or coffee if you had the money for it before we were America. You are deciding what you want for your future. Instead of sitting by and not doing, try to discover what you like about trucking and get to it. There are all sorts of things in trucking.

If you are lucky you are going to prosper. If you are careless and bad? Well the industry has ways to eliminate you. Then you wonder wtf? And sometimes you will need your skills when something comes up before you where no one has taught you anything about. Now it's you who gets to figure out what's what.

America for me is a wonderful land, it does not matter where I go because as they say there i am, home. However it's not home. All roads home is the shortest and fastest. Baltimore for me is a memory of a working city. Jobs everywhere doing whatever you want in a fantasy land of a bright future on a pile of gold. That's gone. Rotted and whom is left in that city has to fight and sometimes get violent to keep what little is theirs against those who would take it. The lucky and those who have money has managed to escape that rotting city. I choose to keep that memory going back to a better time. Im not here to write about Baltimore. We are where we are raised. Whatever that might be.

Always without fail build savings. Keep adding to it. Maintain a fund you can use any day to fly, train, sail or rent a car home. Trucking is not guarantee. Also a percentage are not very lucky and bad things happen. Try not to be one of them where possible. Maybe you see a land somewhere in the USA and say I almost have enough to build a home here and buy land. If you are careful over years you will be someday able to do that.

Finally you only have one body and mind. IF you take care of it it is your future for when you are not able to carry on trucking. In your lifetime it could be robots by computer in remote driving similar to sims. Who knows. It's not for me for a variety of reasons not applicable here.

At some point you have to leave your home and make your future. Your Parents have given you life and taught you what you love. It would behoove them to see you do well. Someday you might have a family and certain changes must happen. You will know then whats what. It's your story. A open book. Have at it.

 

Look for local work, might be tough to find with 7 days experience but keep looking someone might take a chance on you. You go to Schneider and you'll be in the same situation you were at your 1st company, You'll be sleeping in a truck while training

 

Okay, how is it relevant to the story?

 

Check out the carriers in your area with dedicated gigs. Check their website for driving opportunities. I’ll use swift just as an example. See what local gigs they have. Work for them. Eventually you’ll get a day cab. Gotta put in some time usually. Like I said check all carriers in your area with dedicated gigs. Find the job you would like and put in some time. Good things come to those who wait.

 

the few times i had a sleeper, man did i ever have to clean it. if it had "tufted" materiel in the sleeper, i'd be into every pleat, and the gunk i'd clean out was horrendous. not to mention that many were trucks that were "smoker's trucks....or "pets" trucks...dear god almighty.

once i had to truck clean, it was a simple matter of cleaning as i go.

 

he wants us to know he's smart..???

book smart maybe.....

 

he's like a new person all over again, only this time, his lack of experience isn't going to get him a sweet job, with out paying some dues, like re-training for starters.