Why do most new drivers quit?

It's why you never make eye contact with that driver that seems ready to TALK in a terminal or truck stop.

Almost always when you hear a tale of woe in the same breath they will tell exactly why they are doing so poorly:

"I ain't gettin' no miles, but...

... I never drive at night.

... I don't go east (or west) of the Mississippi.

... I take LOT'S of home time, gotta play with my toys, right?

... I don't drive if a snowflake might touch the ground.

There's endless excuses. Usually those drivers seem to have a huge chip on their shoulder and a "Kick Me" sign on their ###.

 

I agree I think a comfort level needs to be there before you do anything out of the normal plus you can drive from 5:30am sunrise to sunset and that could be 6:30-8pm depending on the season

 

Remember, when you are in training it is "on the job training". The most important word in that phrase is "job".

If you and your trainer are dispatched to pick up a load at 6:00 pm and deliver it 500 miles away at 06:00 am, then you ARE going to drive at night. Pleading that you don't want to drive at night isn't a valid reason to be late for a delivery. Sure, you can insist that you aren't ready to drive at night and IF your trainer has hours available maybe he/she will run the load while you are in the sleeper berth. But then you aren't earning money nor progressing as a driver.

Don't go into this thinking that you are going to predetermine your limitations. That will set you up for failure before you begin. Your trainer will be sitting with you while you drive, at least with Swift the first 50 hours behind the wheel are with the trainer in the passenger seat on duty.

When you are in training strive to take as much challenge as you can, WHILE there is an experienced driver sitting next to you. You DON'T want to suddenly be running solo and have to encounter night driving in the mountains for the FIRST time in your life, do you?

 

Went to CDL school with a woman who thought she would just drive maybe 300 miles a day, stay parked for a few days and look around the local area, then do another 300 miles or so. With a company truck.

She was a nice gal, a retired teacher. Just deluded. I told her so. Mr. E had been driving for awhile at this point and I knew the score.

She never finished school.

 

http://www.overdriveonline.com/trucker-found-shot-in-truck-in-detroit-rig-burned/

 

I like trucking, I love seeing what's around the next curve. My company doesn't use trainer's, its a blessing and a curse. I want to thank every driver who has helped me up and down the road, teaching me how to D & H, how to adjust the tandems, what differentials are and where the switch is to turn them on, how to work my nav system. Thanks for the you tube videos for chaining up. Thanks for teaching me about snow and ice tips. Thank you to the yard dogs and drivers for explaining how to back into tight spots. I'm 55, female and I understand the first year will be tough, I expect it, I'm up for it, I believe with time, practice and patience I will succeed. I can happily do 600 miles a day. I Dont mind parking in weird places and wide shoulder's, I love casino parking. What gets to me though is being left to sit for hours with my clock ticking down making no money, multiple messages and calls before my company finds me an empty and not being able to idle so I have to choose between being warm or keeping my food refrigerated, basically, a head cold or food poisoning.

 

The job is a no brainer, anyone can do it, it's the lifestyle, IMO, that gets them.

 

Though that seems to be the philosophy of the megas I disagree.

It's not rocket science and there is no single part of it that most anyone couldn't learn to do yet many can't do it.

As for why so many new drivers quit it's because they didn't realize what they were getting into.

The real question should be why do so many jump into it without a clue as to what it's really like.

 

That happened to my dad they promised $1500 week and then had him sit for days on end with no truck.

But isn't that the recruiters mistake. I've had companies that run sleepers tell me its home every night. Yeah right... Up until I run out of hours. Good part about a day cab is they're forced to send out another driver and get you home.