Been reading my CDL trucker study guide book and having second thoughts...

[andrew28]

Going for class A CDL which is basically the highest level.

I can drive stick shift (5 speed, lol) and have driven the biggest truck you can drive with a regular drivers license which is like a box truck. Not sure what size it was.

Anyways just reading through all this sh!t, it’s a lot more complicated than I thought and a lot of responsibility to take on. I have no doubt I can learn and memorize the material like a sponge but I get nervous about handling a big rig 18 wheeler, 18 gear truck.

Anyone have any advice to put my mind at ease because I know I can do it but the anxiety over fukking up big time is really messing with my head and I can’t seem to get my mind right.

Reps for replies

[andrew28]

Yea fuk this sh!t. Just another job to cross off my list. This prep book is 200 pages and sooooo fukking much to memorize It’s ridiculous. I’m throwing in the towel and tossing this book in the trash.

Fuk my life.

[Freedirt]

It’s not that hard, at least in Texas, New York probably has harder testing but when I got my CDL years ago, most of the important **** in the book wasn’t even in the tests. It’s multiple choice and the way they word it, it’s pretty easy to find the correct answer even if you don’t know.

Hazmat and tankers was even easier strangely. Truckin ain’t hard, seems overwhelming at first. When I got my CDL it was through Halliburton and they rushed us through training. Went from no experience to driving 100,000lb oilfield equipment in about a month, a 20 year old kid in the middle of bum**** nowhere and tight ass ****hole towns, that was terrifying when I think of it now because of how inexperienced we all were but those times were fun as hell.

I’ve driven all types of rigs, oilfield equipment, cranes, tankers, flatbeds, ready mix trucks, concrete pumps (current job), and now I honestly feel trucks are easier to drive than people think, maybe even easier than cars. As long as you’re not a dip**** you’ll be ok.

[WrathOfPecan]

If things continue the way they have the last 5 years, then trucking doesn't have that much of a future. There's two factors contributing to this decline within the next 15 years, maybe less:

First is self-driving technology; trucking companies want to get rid of drivers who are required by federal laws to spend some hours off the road resting. As soon as it becomes feasable to have a bot driving a truck, they'll go that way, much like metal car bodies are now stamped, assembled, welded and painted completely by robots, and the only thing left for people to do are assembly-steps requiring a lot of finesse (visual feedback, small fasteners and dexterity.)

Second is the rioting we saw in the summer of 2020, which will happen again, sooner or later. One of the biggest destinations for trucks is to bring food and supplies to cities. Remember Reginald Denny, the truck driver who got beat up in 1992 worse than Rodney King ever did.

I think you're right to pass, OP. You don't want either of those things (robot steals your job or get beaten to death by BLM/antifa) to happen to you.

[andrew28]

If things continue the way they have the last 5 years, then trucking doesn't have that much of a future. There's two factors contributing to this decline within the next 15 years, maybe less:

First is self-driving technology; trucking companies want to get rid of drivers who are required by federal laws to spend some hours off the road resting. As soon as it becomes feasable to have a bot driving a truck, they'll go that way, much like metal car bodies are now stamped, assembled, welded and painted completely by robots, and the only thing left for people to do are assembly-steps requiring a lot of finesse (visual feedback, small fasteners and dexterity.)

Second is the rioting we saw in the summer of 2020, which will happen again, sooner or later. One of the biggest destinations for trucks is to bring food and supplies to cities. Remember Reginald Denny, the truck driver who got beat up in 1992 worse than Rodney King ever did.

I think you're right to pass, OP. You don't want either of those things (robot steals your job or get beaten to death by BLM/antifa) to happen to you.

Maybe I’m right to pass on this job, but it’s for the wrong reasons. Have all this potential but second-guess myself left and right and am plagued with low-confidence.

You show me a job/career, and I’ll find a reason (or several) why I can’t do it. How do you fix such a toxic mindset like this? Through sheer tyranny of will? I have my bachelors in criminology and was a successful high school wrestler. Other than that, I got no other accomplishments worth mentioning.

Back to the drawing board it seems.

Been working 60 hours security for the past 5.5 years at an average salary. Overtime is what gets me by. Idk where the fuk to go from here. Looked through every job/career countless times and literally nothing interests me.

[WrathOfPecan]

Maybe I’m right to pass on this job, but it’s for the wrong reasons. Have all this potential but second-guess myself left and right and am plagued with low-confidence.

You show me a job/career, and I’ll find a reason (or several) why I can’t do it. How do you fix such a toxic mindset like this? Through sheer tyranny of will? I have my bachelors in criminology and was a successful high school wrestler. Other than that, I got no other accomplishments worth mentioning.

Back to the drawing board it seems.

Seek spiritual help, srs. And I don't even mean going a church or anything. The biggest lie that society tells us is that there is no such thing as a benevolent higher power (God).

If you're in an athiestic mindset, then ask this higher power to please help you by showing you it exists in a way that you can understand. Then wait for some weeks, and look back at what has happened, what is different.

If you do believe in God, then ask for help, inspiration and guidance. It isn't a problem that goes away magically. Working on yourself can take years, and it can be painful re-visiting events and thinking patterns that led to our confidence being shattered, but palpable improvements can be felt within months, and when you realize these small changes its extremely fulfilling. Its like learning to play a musical instrument; you won't become a concert-level master without years of practice, but if you're realistic, you'll notice how your skill is improving gradually. Its the same with rebuilding yourself into something better.

Good luck, OP.

[3000RT]

I drove for over 6 years, might actually go back into it. Best job ever tbh if you like working by yourself. Main thing to memorize pre driving is COLA, pre trip inspections/ what to look for, read through state driving book. I started from not even knowing how to drive manual to driving eaton 10 speed. When in doubt pick the safest option on the book test, duh

Starting out is hard, most places wont hire you unless to go to a truck driving school, and then only the **** companies hire you, so you get ur experience and find a better one after a year.

Best of luck

[LinuxJon]

Do those things Srs have 18 gears? Like you shift 18 times to get up to freeway speed?

[ShortMonster]

Look into coding *******, miss you bro.

[3000RT]

Do those things Srs have 18 gears? Like you shift 18 times to get up to freeway speed?

Some of them do, Peterbilts for heavy loads do. They are almost all the same just add an extra hi/lo for the upper gears. All modern trucks are still H pattern shifting. 10 speed = 5 low gears 5 high gears, only use half the low gears anyways. 18 speed - 5 low, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 gears have a low and hi to them. + R and low gear = 18

Automatics are become much more popular now but I think they are still crap. But another 5 years or so they will be the majority in new trucks

[EagleOfWar]

Fuk doing that. My grandfather did it and my uncle both for many years. Once my uncle got a killer paying job hauling those gas filled trailers. It wasn’t long until he noped out back to his reg hauling. He said evey time he’d stop you could feel all the liquid pushing towards the front making it much harder to stop faster. He was worried he’d end up blowing a city block up in it so he went resigned. My buddy drives and seems to like it mostly as long as it local but the money is driving cross country really. Pro and cons. Either way I know it wouldn’t be for me.

[WrathOfPecan]

Do those things Srs have 18 gears? Like you shift 18 times to get up to freeway speed?

The number of wheels = number of gears.

[EagleOfWar]

If things continue the way they have the last 5 years, then trucking doesn't have that much of a future. There's two factors contributing to this decline within the next 15 years, maybe less:

First is self-driving technology; trucking companies want to get rid of drivers who are required by federal laws to spend some hours off the road resting. As soon as it becomes feasable to have a bot driving a truck, they'll go that way, much like metal car bodies are now stamped, assembled, welded and painted completely by robots, and the only thing left for people to do are assembly-steps requiring a lot of finesse (visual feedback, small fasteners and dexterity.)

Second is the rioting we saw in the summer of 2020, which will happen again, sooner or later. One of the biggest destinations for trucks is to bring food and supplies to cities. Remember Reginald Denny, the truck driver who got beat up in 1992 worse than Rodney King ever did.

I think you're right to pass, OP. You don't want either of those things (robot steals your job or get beaten to death by BLM/antifa) to happen to you.

Didn’t read all this but agree tricking isn’t something I’d recommend getting into for a long term career for many reasons but one main one is within 20 years max they’ll prob be automated and drivers won’t have a job except the specialized positions that actually need a human. The workforce will prob be cut by over 75% I’d imagine. If not more.

[LinuxJon]

Some of them do, Peterbilts for heavy loads do. They are almost all the same just add an extra hi/lo for the upper gears. All modern trucks are still H pattern shifting. 10 speed = 5 low gears 5 high gears, only use half the low gears anyways. 18 speed - 5 low, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 gears have a low and hi to them. + R and low gear = 18

Automatics are become much more popular now but I think they are still crap. But another 5 years or so they will be the majority in new trucks

I drove stick shift daily for 14 years in SoCal, and still, fuk having that many gears. lol

Biggest issue with automatics in normal cars is how fkkn complex they are to work on. You can drop the tranny out of a manual and fix it yourself if you're mechanical. Automatics are basically replacement items once they fail.

[Nonsense916]

It’s east *******

[Ratfish]

i know a guy who just did it and let's just say he's not exactly ratfish level intelligence

[BeanGainClovis]

Maybe I’m right to pass on this job, but it’s for the wrong reasons. Have all this potential but second-guess myself left and right and am plagued with low-confidence.

You show me a job/career, and I’ll find a reason (or several) why I can’t do it. How do you fix such a toxic mindset like this? Through sheer tyranny of will? I have my bachelors in criminology and was a successful high school wrestler. Other than that, I got no other accomplishments worth mentioning.

Back to the drawing board it seems.

Been working 60 hours security for the past 5.5 years at an average salary. Overtime is what gets me by. Idk where the fuk to go from here. Looked through every job/career countless times and literally nothing interests me.

Yeah you gotta believe in yourself in order to accomplish anything, even if you are the only one or people try and discourage you. A lot of people just kind of bend to various pressures and get pushed into a life they never really wanted until they die.

You only need a high school diploma to truck, and it's good money, and it's probably not as hard as you think. But you already have a bachelors in criminology, you could probably join the CIA or be a detective or some job like that. You should use your education, because I imagine it was expensive. At least in the US, it is typically expensive these days.

Seriously you've been doing security and you are educated in criminology, was your original plan to be a cop/detective? Why did you study what you studied in school? You have a lot of options as a college graduate, but you have to believe in yourself and find ways to apply yourself.

[Porridgemonster]

You show me a job/career, and I’ll find a reason (or several) why I can’t do it. How do you fix such a toxic mindset like this? Through sheer tyranny of will? I have my bachelors in criminology and was a successful high school wrestler. Other than that, I got no other accomplishments worth mentioning.

I see you often in philosophy threads constantly bashing spirituality, but I actually think a lot of this would benefit you. You should Youtube philosophy such as Stoicism and especially the writings by Seneca. Living life through worry brings about more suffering.

At the very least I think you most likely have The Imposter Syndrome. The School Of Life channel has loads of videos that can help open your mind to a different way of life.

[OLawdQuan]

Lasted 4 months in trucking before I noped tf out. The driving was relatively easy once you hit the highway but I struggled hard in towns where you have narrow lanes, tight turns and have to be mindful of a lot of moving parts. And god forbid if you take a wrong turn and round up in a downtown area with dense traffic.

After a 4-10 hr drive my trainer and I would get to our 1st stop where i’d have to unload the 56 foot trailer literally by hand and the trailer would be packed to the brim with thousands of items. anything from small vitamin cases to boxes of water/bleach jugs. So 60% of my day would be me either stressing out about swiping a stop sign like an idiot or working like a slave in a trailer in 105 degree heat.

Also, as a student driver, I was literally getting like 300 a week. Lmao I was like lmao

[rootcon]

My buddy passed the CDL test, said the driving part was harder than the written. Had to take it twice. He said hardest part is backing up with only mirrors. Don't sweat the written, retards can pass that.

[srom12]

Yea fuk this sh!t. Just another job to cross off my list. This prep book is 200 pages and sooooo fukking much to memorize It’s ridiculous. I’m throwing in the towel and tossing this book in the trash.

Fuk my life.

Lmao, weak minded.

[andrew28]

Lmao, weak minded.

Yep

[rootcon]

Main complaint I've heard is you are sitting for hours and hours, day after day, year after year. Not like you can get up from your desk and go for a stroll when you're driving a truck.

[batmanman]

Bruh, get that CDL then become a lineman

Brb can travel all over and make like $200k

[PHXNick]

It's a very quick way to earning decent money. I'd stick with it, OP. Automation is definitely coming but there's not enough drivers to go around right now so the pay keeps going up. If you're smart with your earnings you'll be able to comfortably transition into a new field when the time comes

I sympathize with the feeling that it's insanely risky, I remembered when we first started driving in CDL school and thinking that'd I'd never feel comfortable behind that wheel. That paranoia lasted awhile, but the cautiousness that results from it is a good thing to have when you're learning. It's not going to be fun at first, especially of you heed my next suggestion...

Do not go OTR. OTR is for retards and immigrants. You can get straight on with an LTL or food service company these days and be home every night and make great money. Food service is hard ass work, but those guys at US Foods/Sysco/McClane are making ~100k a year right now. Those guys stay in great shape.

I'm in LTL, I did 5 1/2 years as a pickup and delivery driver and have since switched over to night time linehaul, which I've been doing for about 8 months now. P&D is normal daytime hours, Linehaul is nights. P&D tends to be around 70-80k a year at most outfits, and it is pretty hard work but not as bad as food service. If you can handle nights, linehaul is easy af and 90k-100k yearly. Just keep in mind, you have to stay awake all night while driving through the darkness strapped to your seat. Not everyone can do it, hence the pay premium.

The only thing to keep in mind is that Food Service and LTL P&D involve A LOT of backing up and maneuvering in tight areas. It's very stressful starting out, but you WILL get comfortable eventually, I promise. Just accept that it's really going to suck for awhile and push through.

If you insist on going OTR, do not go to CR England or Western Express. They are **** companies with **** pay. I started with Schneider and they were a pretty good company with **** pay, it wasn't a bad way to start out.

TLDR: Give it a shot, start in LTL or food service.

ETA: r/truckers, thetruckersreport.com forums, and truckingboards.com (<--LTL specific) are great resources.

[andrew28]

It's a very quick way to earning decent money. I'd stick with it, OP. Automation is definitely coming but there's not enough drivers to go around right now so the pay keeps going up. If you're smart with your earnings you'll be able to comfortably transition into a new field when the time comes

I sympathize with the feeling that it's insanely risky, I remembered when we first started driving in CDL school and thinking that'd I'd never feel comfortable behind that wheel. That paranoia lasted awhile, but the cautiousness that results from it is a good thing to have when you're learning. It's not going to be fun at first, especially of you heed my next suggestion...

Do not go OTR. OTR is for retards and immigrants. You can get straight on with an LTL or food service company these days and be home every night and make great money. Food service is hard ass work, but those guys at US Foods/Sysco/McClane are making ~100k a year right now. Those guys stay in great shape.

I'm in LTL, I did 5 1/2 years as a pickup and delivery driver and have since switched over to night time linehaul, which I've been doing for about 8 months now. P&D is normal daytime hours, Linehaul is nights. P&D tends to be around 70-80k a year at most outfits, and it is pretty hard work but not as bad as food service. If you can handle nights, linehaul is easy af and 90k-100k yearly. Just keep in mind, you have to stay awake all night while driving through the darkness strapped to your seat. Not everyone can do it, hence the pay premium.

The only thing to keep in mind is that Food Service and LTL P&D involve A LOT of backing up and maneuvering in tight areas. It's very stressful starting out, but you WILL get comfortable eventually, I promise. Just accept that it's really going to suck for awhile and push through.

If you insist on going OTR, do not go to CR England or Western Express. They are **** companies with **** pay. I started with Schneider and they were a pretty good company with **** pay, it wasn't a bad way to start out.

TLDR: Give it a shot, start in LTL or food service.

ETA: r/truckers, thetruckersreport.com forums, and truckingboards.com (<--LTL specific) are great resources.

Thank you for this very informed reply.

I’m going to just stick with it for now, read through the book 2-3 times and continue watching YouTube videos of experienced truckers giving advice.

If I fail the test in a few months, then I fail. But I can’t not try.

[LinuxJon]

It's a very quick way to earning decent money. I'd stick with it, OP. Automation is definitely coming but there's not enough drivers to go around right now so the pay keeps going up. If you're smart with your earnings you'll be able to comfortably transition into a new field when the time comes

I sympathize with the feeling that it's insanely risky, I remembered when we first started driving in CDL school and thinking that'd I'd never feel comfortable behind that wheel. That paranoia lasted awhile, but the cautiousness that results from it is a good thing to have when you're learning. It's not going to be fun at first, especially of you heed my next suggestion...

Do not go OTR. OTR is for retards and immigrants. You can get straight on with an LTL or food service company these days and be home every night and make great money. Food service is hard ass work, but those guys at US Foods/Sysco/McClane are making ~100k a year right now. Those guys stay in great shape.

I'm in LTL, I did 5 1/2 years as a pickup and delivery driver and have since switched over to night time linehaul, which I've been doing for about 8 months now. P&D is normal daytime hours, Linehaul is nights. P&D tends to be around 70-80k a year at most outfits, and it is pretty hard work but not as bad as food service. If you can handle nights, linehaul is easy af and 90k-100k yearly. Just keep in mind, you have to stay awake all night while driving through the darkness strapped to your seat. Not everyone can do it, hence the pay premium.

The only thing to keep in mind is that Food Service and LTL P&D involve A LOT of backing up and maneuvering in tight areas. It's very stressful starting out, but you WILL get comfortable eventually, I promise. Just accept that it's really going to suck for awhile and push through.

If you insist on going OTR, do not go to CR England or Western Express. They are **** companies with **** pay. I started with Schneider and they were a pretty good company with **** pay, it wasn't a bad way to start out.

TLDR: Give it a shot, start in LTL or food service.

ETA: r/truckers, thetruckersreport.com forums, and truckingboards.com (<--LTL specific) are great resources.

This post is interesting AF. Why do people ever do OTR if the others pay that well?

I imagine illicit stimulant use has to be insanely high with overnight drivers, right?

[andrew28]

This post is interesting AF. Why do people ever do OTR if the others pay that well?

I imagine illicit stimulant use has to be insanely high with overnight drivers, right?

It’s not like the old days (whenever that was) where you didn’t really have a limit to the amount of hours you drove.

Comedian Theo Von had a female trucker on his podcast who explained how Every 8 hours you gotta take a 30 minute break. Can only work 11 hour shifts, and then you have to take a 10 hour break for sleep/food and such.


She was actually cool as fuk and fun to listen to her stories.

[PHXNick]

This post is interesting AF. Why do people ever do OTR if the others pay that well?

I imagine illicit stimulant use has to be insanely high with overnight drivers, right?

The conventional wisdom was that you couldn't get a decent LTL or food service job (or fuel hauling, or local heavy equipment hauling, there's a few areas that pay well) without getting some OTR experience with a starter company like Swift or Werner. The driver shortage has kind of turned the industry on its ear. Some of it is that people just don't do their research. They hear that trucking is paying decent money, they remember seeing the CR England trailers on the highway, so they call the CR England recruiter. Then they get stuffed into a cab with 2 other people for 3 months (their trainer plus another student... seriously) for $400 a week. Once OTR is what you know, the transition out of it can seem daunting. Especially if you've gotten fat.

I don't mean to suggest that no OTR guys are making good money. There are some companies that pay ok, especially if you get into flatbed/oversized kind of stuff. I just don't know why anyone would. Some guys just like the vagabond lifestyle, I guess. It definitely wasn't for me.

As far as the drug use goes, any decent company is running regular drug screens and has the driver's hours of service being logged electronically as is now the law. I honestly think it's contributing to the driver shortage to at least some extent. You still have some outlaw truckers running old equipment to get around the electronic logging requirements who are probably running multiple logbooks and getting by on Monster and amphetamines. Be wary of those refrigerated trailers with lots of lights and of guys pulling ocean containers.

[LinuxJon]

As far as the drug use goes, any decent company is running regular drug screens and has the driver's hours of service being logged electronically as is now the law. I honestly think it's contributing to the driver shortage to at least some extent. You still have some outlaw truckers running old equipment to get around the electronic logging requirements who are probably running multiple logbooks and getting by on Monster and amphetamines. Be wary of those refrigerated trailers with lots of lights and of guys pulling ocean containers.

Makes sense. So the guys who used to drive tweaked out for 24 straight hours are dropping from the workforce?

Tell me what you meant by refrigerated and ocean container rigs.