Wondering if I should pursue trucking

They would rather I stay safe.
If I am shut down for weather more than a day I get paid. Not a great deal, $75 per day. But it is better than nothing.
I would shut down in any case. My own safety is more important to me than getting toilet paper to a store at a certain time.

And yes, they have scores and metrics for drivers.
So many.
Fuel mileage, on time ratio, preventable accidents, hard braking events, idle times, speeding, and much more.
They can track pretty much everything we do.
And you can bet that a company as large as Swift tracks pretty much everything.

 

Hi lisa, I came to this line of work after a career at a computer until age 50, and 5 months after buying a house within bike distance from my desk...boom. no job. There's a lot of nothing up where I live and I want to keep my house, so....
I love it. I've worked in the male industries my whole life so I didn't have to learn how not to be offended, bullied or harassed. For some females that's tough. Thick skin and common sense go a long way. Men treat each other horribly quite often and if you are going to be 'one of the guys' learn to perfect your ignoring skills.
IMO girls are better drivers than boys because we have more patience and less need to prove something. We're definitely an asset. We also help shippers and receiver remember that drivers are humans, which they sometimes forget.
Shifting isn't hard if you can listen to the truck, the rpms are vibration and whines and growls. If you can be friends with a machine it will befriend you back.
I never backed anything in my life after a humiliating episode of camper backing when I was in my 30s and vowed never again. And they could teach me so you can definitely learn.
I did flatbed for a year and love it. Trucking makes me lazy so it's a great balance. That's me in the picture last year at age 51. I'm working for a company near home, still out 3 weeks at a time my preference and unfortunately its reefer right now but with less than a full 2 years I'm currently averaging about 1300$ take home. No boss, no coworkers, a fantastic dispatch lady who helps me be where I want when I want at the best rates. (I'm on percentage.)
Give it your best shot, I think you might be surprised. What's to lose, right?

 

Nervous is ok. Shows respect for the seriousness of the job. Scared is not ok, but you don't seem scared, so good.
I got my cdl from Roehl trucking company, they are satan in disguise. Look my comments up here if you want more. Went to western Express which is a company many people have horror stories about but they were good to me for over a year, not the greatest pay but still averaged 900ish a week, 40cpm. They were very laid back and I need that. Roehl is so uptight and anal I was going to have a mental breakdown. Western was a bunch of IDGAF clowns with no self respect lol. There was 0 pressure from them and it gave me the space to figure out stuff on my own.
I think guys like to bully each other alot, and some of the teachers act like you have to improve 150% every day or you're a loser slackass and that kind of pressure is stupid IMO.

 

Maybe it is because men usually think they have to prove something.
To themselves, to others.
Always have to be top dog if you don't want to be bottom of the heap.

There is a nice middle ground that most men never find, or even imagine.
I guess that must be true for women as well?