[jlc22]

HA HA hobo i grew up with a bunch of redneck boys, and i act just like them, dirt and stuff like that, dont bother me. its all part of life let it be,ya know i do have to give it my road trianer ( i had in school) he was the best he told me "u aint here to look pretty to get all the boys attention, now get your a$$ in that truck and show me you know how to drive it", He was the type u can be shownin a few times but u wont learn it til u done it yourself by yourself, i learned alot from the fella. I did some mistakes in school and i learned from them and he told me this is just school out in the real world its alot different, and he was right. I miss the fella :roll:

[golfhobo]

Okay, jlc!! you PASS my "preliminary" test! Now.... get out there and DO IT! If necessary, take your (girl) friend out there WITH you! You can help each other!

Actually, I think you'd BOTH be better off doing six months to a year with a company that drives TEAM (like mine,) but with experienced partners. I'll admit that it IS nice to have someone around when things go wrong who has been through it all before.

Then, after six months or so, you could partner up and save on "moose!" [you know.... for your hair!] :lol:

I don't want to sound flippant (though humorous.) Driving a truck is serious business! Driving TEAM is very difficult (but MIGHT be advantageous for women.)

It's a good way to start! I think, if MORE men would do it, less would quit! Solo is alot of responsibility for someone who hasn't HAD that kind of responsibility in their previous lives/careers.

A woman with "fears" about this gig is no different than most men who post here as newbies! The fear of the unknown is universal. However, the "life" situations are often different for men. Either way... I give the same advice.

Driving a truck is more MENTAL than physical! This is NO life or career for a WUSS... male OR female. By the same token, there is no REAL advantage for either.... except (and not always) in the field of flatbedding. In fact, it is the most gender "neutral" career I've ever been associated with, regardless of the demographics.

I guess what I'm trying to say, rather badly, is that fears of the future are human, and not gender specific. Same goes for dreams. Same goes for family issues. Same goes for trucking "abilities."

Trucking is not a "gender" issue..... it's a HUMAN one. As is ALL life achievement. One is either a master of their fate, or a victim of their fatalist beliefs. Which are you?

[driver67373]

It just comes with time. I'm a rookie with 8 months experience, and I went through the same things when I was cut loose from my trainer. I would always worry about getting lost, wondering how bad the back into the dock was going to be hundreds of miles before I got to the place, just wondering in general if I could do it. I got to the point where I was getting paranoid about it. So I took some time off the road to think about what I wanted to do...what did I decide? That I was determined to overcome my fears and that I WILL become a good truck driver and finish what I started. So now I'm back, I'm overcoming my fears and having a blast. You just got to get out there and do it man. Facing them is the only way to overcome it.

Just a few days ago I dropped a load in LA, then got sent to the port at long beach to pick up a load, way up in some big industrial complex. I looked at my map and planned out my route, went there, dropped the trailer, hooked up to the next one, and drove out of LA rush hour traffic like it was nothing, and had a blast doing it. Its becoming second nature to me now, and I'm actually having fun!

For me, backing has been my hardest thing and the thing I dread the most....I has taken me 8 months, but now things are starting to click. I now understand why my trailer does what it does when I point the tractor a certain way and I don't have to think about it. I understand that I'm not backing the trailer merely I'm PUSHING it in reverse direction. Get out of the habit of thinking in terms of backing ...all you're doing is "pushing" it backwards. I now understand that what I'm doing is following my tandem wheels into the whole, not the back end of the trailer. I'm saying all of this to show u it will be hard up to a point, then u will just start getting it. You're training and your first hand experience starts to come together, and you will get it! Just like now I'm getting backing. It just makes sense.

Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't do it. I had a tougher time than most because I had to overcome my ADD to learn to drive a truck. And I've done it. It's hard when people have told you your whole life that you can't do something because you have a learning disability. But I've learned to do something most people wouldn't even think of beinga ble to do. I've overcome my fears and I've learned to drive a truck. I'm proud of what I've accomplished and no one can take that from me. If I can do it, then anyone can. Just have faith in yourself, learn to trust your instincts, face your fears, and JUST DO IT!

[silvan]

Originally Posted by golfhobo

Solo is alot of responsibility for someone who hasn't HAD that kind of responsibility in their previous lives/careers.

That's an interesting insight.

I agree with that, but I'm not sure I agree more people should do more team stuff starting out, six months, or whatever you said. I ran "team" for a lot of my training period. I think I was with a trainer for six weeks, which was pretty long for this outfit, but I was really, really, really, really green starting out. (I mastered this 18-wheeled bitch through sheer brute force of will, with almost zero talent. But there's your "something to prove" angle, and it was true for me. I still get out of that thing and look back and smile sometimes. This former dweeb, the butt of every joke, receiver of tampons and maxi pads in the gym locker, victim of countless swirlies, without a girlfriend or even a date all the way to the second year of university, ol' Wuss Boy kin drive his self a big ol' truck, whoop whoop.)

(My actual nickname was a lot worse than Wuss Boy. It's so bad I'm afraid I might violate some community decency standard by using it. Plus I'm not fond of it.)

I got off track. What was I saying? Solo. Right. I ran team because I had to as much as anything else. When I got hired at my first job (which I kept until the day I got laid off, 10 years later) we were three men down, and business was crazy. We needed my hours to make everything work on the books, plain and simple, and my trainer and I did some completely crazy stuff. It didn't help that the dispatcher didn't even know how to handle stuff that crazy, so he made it even worse than it already was, giving me an hour to go from Knoxville to Columbia, for example.

Those six weeks were hell, a trial by fire, an ordeal to endure. I did have to slog through a lot of learning by the seat of my pants when I went solo, but it was totally worth it to get into my truck and run it my way, and run my book my way, and so forth. That guy I ran with made me do crazy things for no reason, like logging I was in the bunk while I was driving, even though we had no reason to lie at that point. He also made me stop at every truckstop so he could trash around. He made me leave too late and get started too late and get all the deliveries done too late. It was a pain in the ass. Not to mention two grown men who had to drive and be on duty during the same periods (the job involved some specialized unloading skills, and learning the merchandise was the biggest part of training for most of the experienced drivers we brought in later) trying to live together in a single axle cabover, and not one of those flat floor deals either. I had to sleep on the doghouse for six horrible weeks, unless we got a motel together, which felt ENTIRELY too gay.

That guy is still a good friend, but I like him much better at a distance. I wouldn't even run with him. If I saw him leaving, I'd drive around the corner and hang out until he was out of sight, so I wouldn't get stuck trying to chase him all night, so he could make me stop at every truckstop to trash around, and take all night to get there for no reason.

So no man, I'm glad I didn't have to team for six months. I never would have made it through. The price I had to pay blindsiding out of that residential neighborhood at 3:00 AM on my first solo trip because I missed a turn, it was allllll worth it to get Roscoe out of my truck!

I gathered up enough stories to tell on myself that first year to write a book, and I plan to do that one of these days.

The amazing thing is that the last nine have been surprisingly mundane overall. I went from a couple three stories a week to two or three stories a year, if I have a really interesting year.

It's simply amazing what you can get used to as just a normal day.

[Ridge Runner]

Actually, I think you'd BOTH be better off doing six months to a year with a company that drives TEAM (like mine,) but with experienced partners. I'll admit that it IS nice to have someone around when things go wrong who has been through it all before

Good advice. That is how I made the transition from student to driver( team ) to solo. Just knowing my partner was back there in the sleeper took a load off my mind. Even with that, my first solo trip was nerve racking. It took me an hour after I hooked up to pull out of the yard. I must have walked around that trailer 15 times and looked at the map 20. :roll:

With each trip my skills and more importantly my CONFIDENCE grew. If I got a call right now and my employer needed a load taken from Ga. to Ca. I could be packed and rolling in an hour and not even break a sweat. It just seems like second nature to me now. You too will be that way in no time but you have to start driving to do it.... soooooo...... get out there and drive!

[GMAN]

Just take your time, jlc22. Don't let anyone pressure you to back up or hurry until you are ready. If you are backing in a hole and don't feel comfortable, get out and check it out. If you have to get out 20 times, just do it. It is much better to get out and look again and again rather than backing into something. Don't worry, your confidence will come with time and experience. This is a profession you can't learn out of a textbook. You learn and become proficient by doing. Good luck.

[jlc22]

Honsetly I want to team with someone that has miles under their belt and teach (tell) me, things not only do i need to know, but what i want to know. My friend and i had talked about teamin for a while, and now all of a sudden she dont want to team, which now that i see a pattern (long story) and i dont want to team with her, put it this way knowing my luck we would be in South Carolina and she (remind u now we live in kansas) would tell me to take to the closes terminal and let me off i'm goin home, she says she loves the raod and she really wants to be out here but when it comes down to it shes a chickin shit, yeah i may not have much room to talk but damn i want to do it and i want to be the best i can be if not better, so i have finally gave up on her and told her u do what u do. (sorry i know i'm probably rambling on and i'm sorry but it just pisses me off when she pulls the shit) she then sits there and says i'm ready to go one day and the next day no i dont want to go i'm havin fun fishin and drink etc.... etc.... I just want to tell her get your shit straight, or dont worry about comin back to the road. To me sounds like her playin is more important then her livin :x

[LadyNorthStar]

Everyone has given great advice, just do it! Get er done. You'll do great. Don't wait too long or you'll start to have problems with employment gap.
Don't ever ask a man to do anything for you, ever ever! Ask to be shown how to do something you don't know how to do. Thats how us wimmen get respect out there.
Happy truckin!

[jlc22]

thanks ladynorthstar, i'm already gonna have a problem with that, but i got papers to show why i have a gap.

[malaekat]

Yup we all have newbie nerves. My advice take it slow and redo manouevers if you have to ain't no one never been there and any fool that laughs laugh with them - anyone gives you a headache tell em they been out too long to remember when they started.