Scared nervous and just a big mess!

"Me and my best friend are going to be team driving once we pass."

Yeah, this makes me feel good.

I was backed into a couple of weeks ago, in a truck stop with acres of room, by a truck from CA with 3 drivers in it. Prolly "best friends who had just passed".

Sorry, trucking is not, or should not be, a welfare program.

That being said, I realize that the first time one drives a truck is the first time one drives a truck, and that goes for everyone.

Good luck, but not everyone is cut out to be driving 80,000 pounds of rubber and steel down our crowded roads.

 

Who is running this school? They took your money and I would be asking for some one on one help from someone who is not trying to intimidate you. You can do this.

 

NoCoCraig...havent seen you here in awhile...

 

This seems to be a classic case of fear interfering with performance. Fear gives you tunnel vision and tightens you up.

You can overcome fear by taking control of your physical contact with your control of the truck. It all begins there. Here are some practical ways you can take control of your emotions and increase your control of the truck:

1. Hold the steering wheel like you are holding a wounded sparrow, soft enough not to injure it more and firm enough so it can't struggle and injure itself. This will prevent white knuckle syndrome.

2. Now relax your arms and let them feel HEAVY and hang down like suspension bridges, all the way up to your neck. Many times a day I remind myself of this principle by swinging my arms back and forth towards each other.

3. Steer ONLY by PULLING DOWN, never by pushing up. Pushing up promotes tension and loss of control. Pull down with a relaxed "suspension bridge" arm and let the opposing hand REST on the steering wheel as a guide only.

4. On high speed turns begin steering into the turn SLOWLY and EARLY with the wheel. All wheel movements should be slow and smooth.

5. For lane control visualize how far left of center you are from the centerline of the truck. It's a little over 2 feet. Now imagine you are floating in the air, way up there, flying your naked self on a line a little over 2 feet left of the center of the lane.

The principles can help you take control of yourself and your truck. Emotions work BOTH ways. Emotions can cause you to tighten up and have a "brain fart" or you can work backwards to emotional control by concentrating on you physical state. In my experience teaching folks to overcome fear to climb mountains and drive trucks, it's far easier to start with your physical state and let the Zen state follow.

 

I am just a paid tourist, I hang out here when I can.

 

OOOOOOOoooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

 

I'm sure you were completely cool and natural the first time you got behind the wheel, am I right?

 

No sir...and if you take the time to read all my posts on this thread you'll see I never implied that....not once. I did however make the salient point that some of you rookies seemingly refuse to get....nervous and scared have no business in this industry.....more often than not nervous and scared leads to panic...and panic can and will get people hurt or killed. I learned as teenager....and I was having too much fun to be nervous and scared..just did what my uncle told me and it was all good...did I make mistakes , yes , did I learn from them yes....drove trucks from the mid-60's til 2011 , never had an accident , not one....that says enough....Be safe thecowboystate......

 

Maybe nervous and scared have no place in this industry but it is the SuperTruckers with no fear that seem to be the ones I see Jacknifed in the snowstorm. So maybe a little fear is ok

 

Instead of fear i like to call it respect....