Hey all! I am writing today about why I feel trucking rocks when it consists of so many elements that are very very hard to learn and harmonize with for an overall balanced and happy trucking experience.
Just getting into trucking (through the path of a company driver) and getting all the way through the training process is hard; each stage offering it’s own challenge. You’ll have to study the books, memorize things, drive under stress, keep focus, get used to an all new environment, work with different types of trainers, take criticism and help, push through fear after fear, maintain professionalism and a positive attitude, keep your ultimate vision in the forefront of your mind, drive safely, etc. The amount of focus I had to use during this time period was immense and this is when a lot of people realize just how important it really is for them to see it all the way through (or not).
When you finally get to the part when you are released to either drive team or be assigned your own truck and go solo then you have to be very focused and bring everything you have learned in a short period of time into your daily practice. Without a trainer right next to you you will realize quickly how each decision must not be taken lightly. One wrong turn or missed sign can get you in a pickle or even put your entire career on the line right from the start. Hence, all the talk of trip planning might make more sense now. Putting in the extra time every day to check out routes, weather, traffic, truck parking options, etcetera can keep you rolling much more smoothly. All that extra focus time though on top of your full driving shift might hurt a little because it means less time to chill plus, you don’t get paid for it.
After the first six months of one’s journey one’s soul and body finally start to integrate into the new lifestyle of driving up to 70 hours a week. However, your overall trucking education is still in the very early stages. Each day, each season, will offer new sets of situations and challenges to focus on and overcome one by one. You’ll have to continually upgrade your skills and knowledge to make your overall game and life even better.
Also in the first year the hardship of time away from home, especially if you have a partner and family that wants you there more often, can really intensify. The harsh reality is setting in. For some, this is now the time to search for a local or regional gig to be home every night or every weekend rather than staying out four or more weeks at a time. And for others, it may be time to call it quits now that you are really feeling what it takes to be a full time OTR trucker.
Through time you’ll begin to learn about the different niches and opportunities to be found in trucking. Now you’ll have the awesome challenge of making your own way based on your unique personal and business goals. You can follow the money, take extra risks, put health first or last, stay in your cozy place, learn more about the industry or just tune into other interests, etc. The choices are yours but in no way can trucking itself be the cause of your successes or failures. Not using your will to cultivate time and attention to the increase and betterment of all areas of your life can really bite you in the butt later in your career. I’d like to say that improving ones life is easy but unfortunately that part is hard too. We, as truckers, have much more mental freedom than most due to the hours we spend behind the wheel and the alone time in our trucks. But with all the forms of entertainment at our fingertips it takes an awesome amount of will to spend that time working on ourselves instead of playing video games or watching movies or TV shows.
Now fast forward to the end of 2017 when, after many years of company driving, a seed to become an owner operator was now sprouting in my soul. I felt ready now to take on all the new challenges that come with taking responsibility for a truck and running a business for the first time ever. These new challenges also were very hard. But finding a new balance and overcoming all the new fears helped to form a new, more expanded, mindset concerning trucking and this has been a reward in itself.
In my fourteen years of experience, I spent the first half thinking wrongly. I couldn’t see that I didn’t have to just stay and be loyal to just one company or one form of truck driving. I couldn’t conceive that I could change and actually get my own truck one day. I couldn’t imagine that one could be a trucker and have amazing health. Due to my limited imagination, I developed a love and hate relationship with trucking as well as a corresponding decline in health. I loved the drive, living on my own, playing my music, listening to audiobooks and learning, going on nature outings, taking Uber rides to movie theaters, etcetera but I realized also that I had kissed a normal life goodbye. This was very difficult to deal with until the day I decided to just love trucking and make my central goal to be a happy trucker.
In these ways I’ve shared and in many many more trucking is a profoundly difficult path to tread but this is exactly why it is so awesome! I would not be the confident woman I am today without going through each and every challenge trucking had to throw at me. I simply never gave up on the goal to find balance and happiness. I also was very willing to listen to my gut and take new opportunities when they showed up and from that I gained new and helpful perspectives, each and every time, all which have helped me to harmonize even more to the whole complex system we call trucking and transportation.
Again, I say trucking is hard but it is such a meaningful career and I highly recommend it to those who are seeking a better life and to become stronger in mind and spirit. You can not only make good money but grow into a higher more confident version of yourself. And the best part is there are no limits to how far you can succeed in trucking! And by doing so you will help improve it for everyone.
