Question:
When you finally get out on the road and start delivering real loads for pay, you're going to find the esiest part of the job is driving the truck.
And eventually, you also get good at routing and navigating, doing your paperwork, installing chains, driving in bad weather.....and all the other learned skills you develop with experience.
But there's one thing you can't just "learn". And it is absolutely the most difficult part of the job.
It's managing the inherent stress you have to deal with every day.
This stress usually comes in little doses -- annoyances with 4-wheelers and traffic, disagreeable and rude customers, angry dispatchers, waitresses who ignore you when you have to eat fast and get moving, incorrct load information, missing toilet paper.....and the list goes on and on. It never ends.
The individual incidents aren't necessarily that unbearable. But it's the accumulated effect that gets to you. Each event builds on the last. You go to bed angry. You wake up depressed. You start losing a sense of proportion. You're cocked and just a hair-trigger away from blowing your top.
This is what makes trucking difficult -- the constant stress. You see it in the truck stops, hear it on the cb, and read the results of it here on trucknet. A customer opens their door 15 minutes late to receive your delivery, and it becomes a personal insult of huge proportion.
So here's the deal: You have to go with the flow. You have to let stuff roll off your back as it happens. You can't get upset about every little thing that happens.
If you're hotheaded, or prone to temper tantrums, DO NOT GET INTO TRUCKING!!! You'll not only be miserable, you'll be a total pain in the a** to everyone around you -- not to mention dangerous on the road. If you're not confident and mature, you'll never be able to "let go" of all the stuff your pride makes you want to fight out here.
Hot tempers and fragile egos need not apply. You'll be miserable -- I guarantee it.
You have to keep cool, take things in stride, see the humor in absurd situations, and most of all, learn to not take yourself so seriously when things don't go according to plan.
It's almost a super-human strength you draw on sometimes -- the strength to keep things in perspective and see them for what they are. And most of the time, things aren't about YOU. You're just the body standing in the spot where these things occur. The folks who treat you with dignity and respect are few and far between.
I've been driving 4 years. I came into trucking with a wide background of high-stress, professional experience in other jobs. And I STILL have trouble managing the job's inherent stress sometmes. Every once in a while, I'll go for a day or two fuming about something -- something that in hindsight, usually seems trivial and unworthy of the angry energy I spent on it. I bet every driver here on trucknet sometimes feels the same way.
So in summary: Right now you're probably concerned about passing tests and learning how to shift and what company to work for. That's all fine and good, and you'll probably get through it no problem.
But what you don't yet appreciate is trucking's inherent stress.
It's probably the single biggest reason there's such high turnover in the business, and it's waiting to eat you up once you get out here.
Do NOT underestimate how powerful an impact it will have on your eventual success in trucking.
If you're not already good at "going with the flow" and keeping your cool under dificult empotional situations, don't become part of the industry's turnover stastics -- don't get into trucking.
.
[This message was edited by Shuffler on January 05, 2003 at 03:57.]

Answer:
Great post Shuffler. Stress is mostly self induced by taking an event or undesireable situation and internalizing it.
If you feel yourself getting stressed, angry etc. take 3 steps back and clear your head. The person/persons causing you to stress out are not doing it to you personally. They are just plain clueless overstressed folks that want to make everyone else miserable.
As the past becomes the future unfolds
Answer:
A customer opens their door 15 minutes late to receive your delivery, and it becomes a personal insult of huge proportion.
================================================
Shuffler you have to be one of the thick headest people I have ever come across.
How many times do I have to tell you it wasn't the 15 minutes.
It was the fact that these two A**holes sat there and yucked it up leaving me in the cold because as he stated "it was too much trouble" to answer the door and let me know that they have to go stretch every morning from 0700-0715.
So I simply asked in a polite manner that they change the sign on the door to avoid daily conflict.
What in the hell in the story is so hard for you to understand hero? I know you would like to paint me as some immature hot headed trucker that just started kicking on the door and demanded they deal with me right this instant, but sorry that aint what happened.
For all you newbies, you will find out when you get out here exactly what I'm talking about.
Peacekeeper: Just started driving a few weeks ago hopefully I will get it figured out before too long! Great post!
GIVE A MAN A FISH AND HE WILL EAT FOR A DAY. TEACH HIM HOW TO FISH, AND HE WILL SIT IN A BOAT AND DRINK BEER ALL DAY.
www.chimartialarts.org

Answer:
Very good post. When I first started driving an old boy told me, If you get upset with dispatch, go home think about it for 3 days and then if you still want to quit go for it, I ended up staying at that company for 7 years. Only reason I quit was I couldn't handle the floor loads everyday anymore, the old back said thats enough.

Answer:
Good post, Shuffler.
I can vouch just from riding with Hubby how stressful it can be. I DO feel it gets better in time or it did for us. It wasn't that anything really changed but we learned more about dealing with the stressful situations.
SOME things do get better with time that may help lessen the stress such as:
The improvement of driving skills (that one's tough and painful to watch from the passenger seat too )
Familiarity with all kinds of roads/conditions and procedures at shippers/receivers.
These were some of the few factors we actually had ANY control over and could take action about to help lessen stress. Finding a new job MAY help lessen stress for some too, i.e. getting out of a Swift truck lessened the amount of verbal abuse we took daily but didn't completely eradicate it.
For those few things you CAN control, there are many more you are powerless over and that feeling of powerlessness can contribute to depression along with pent up anger (you can't REALLY say to shippers/receivers, dispatchers, law enforcement, or even your spouse what you would like to) Well, sometimes you CAN but your company probably won't like it IF they hear about it. That should be the subject of another post, the most outrageous thing you ever said to a shipper/receiver in a fit of anger. I will tell mine and show my lack of professionalism as a trucker's wife if you will tell your stories!
Like Shuffler said, the ability to adapt and change or "roll with the flow" is important and people who are unable to do so suffer more stress, depression, etc.
When I worked for the phone company we were in a period of lots of procedural, systems, and job requirement changes. It was not as big a problem for me as one of the "new kids on the block" but the employees who had been there for years and had a routine found the changes difficult. So they gave us some stress management training by educating us that if we didn't accept change and deal with it we were going to have a tough time of things.
Change itself IS a constant in OTR trucking but the only other consistency we found was the incessant beeping of the Qualcomm, the routines required by the company, and all the other annoying aspects of trucking that everybody loves. For a person who needs routine and order in their life to feel sane it takes a little work to create it OTR.
My Hubby could care less about order, but I need it so I soon had the truck organized to suit me and developed a routine for paperwork, navigation, Qualcomm stuff, etc. that worked for us. That left him free to concentrate on driving the truck and his logbook.
The cab of a truck is very confining and we fought more in his 2 yrs. OTR than in the previous 22 combined. We soon were able to see that the problem was not with each other but our inability to deal with those outside stresses and the arguing stopped. Another thing we learned was no matter how hard we needed to run, how bad we needed to stay out a little longer to make a little more money, etc. we needed time OUT of the truck.
Getting out and walking is good, playing with the dog, etc. but for me it always took having at least a night from time to time in a regular bed to feel human again. Hubby sometimes liked to go on these 4-6 week marathons before we saw home again (he was accumulating time off for a family visit, etc.) and those were tests of my endurance for sure. If he had a layover somewhere we soon learned to get a motel room out of our pocket and take advantage of the time. Watching some TV or reading a good book was always helpful too. And believe it or not, talking to people was always helpful to me. Sometimes we would talk to other drivers for a few at a truckstop, rest area, or while hanging out at a terminal while truck was in shop, etc. Hubby didn't seem to need this as much as I did but I needed conversation from time to time with someone other than Hubby. Yes, you do hear a lot of BS and tall tales but there is a therapeutic aspect to those "whine and cheese" sessions too.
Under normal circumstances we tried to get home every 2 weeks but sometimes would do 3 weeks since money seemed to be better by doing this. NOTE: a trip to the West and back takes 2 weeks in a Swift truck. Ok, I'm exaggerating a little but not much. Getting home more often helped ease my stress and we enjoyed trucking more.
With Hubby's present job we are home enough that it feels VERY stress free compared to his previous jobs. We're still able to make enough money to survive for now but it's looking slow.
What are some other OTR survival methods that other's of you use to fight stress?
A mind is a terrible thing to have.
[This message was edited by shewolf on January 05, 2003 at 09:37.]
Answer:
(Ignore Peacekeeper--he is obviously under a lot of stress )
Some people say stress is self-induced. I think it's real--the dangers, the frustrations, things that just keep messing up your plans, the way other people treat you sometimes.
PEACEKEEPER:I'm just giving you a hard time I've been there standing in the cold or the rain or whatever while they just ignored me.
What can you do?
The cure for stress is letting it go. Who's going to really care even a week from now, let alone much later.
I think bad reactions to stressful situations come from our own feelings of self-importance. That's a hard nut to crack. No one wants to lessen their own feelings of self importance.
Just as most bad driving (of both cars and big trucks) is a product of impatience, aggression and selfishness (all functions of inflated ego/self-importance)--so is the allowing of stress to build up in your own mind.
The best way to avoid stress problems is to focus on the next mile you have to drive. Stay in the moment. You're probably never gonna see "that idiot" again. Let it go.
Shuffler is right about hot-heads. Problem is, they won't listen to anyone anyway.
May you be well and happy!

Answer:
If you're hotheaded, or prone to temper tantrums, DO NOT GET INTO TRUCKING!!!
That part is so IMPORTANT...I feel it is worth saying again.
If you're hotheaded, or prone to temper tantrums, DO NOT GET INTO TRUCKING!!!

Answer:
I think most drivers were told long before Driving School that there would be a lot of Stress on the Road, during deliveries, at Truck stops, etc.
The key here is to relive it, and it is not always easy to do. Some can just let it roll off their back; as said earlier here, but for me the only real good way is a long strenuous workout, like a 1.5 mile run(carry jogging shoes & shorts),
a powerfull jacuzzi(like Holbrook AZ's Truck stop has), lifting weights or taking a portable exercise machine in the truck.
Walking is good, but unless done at a very rapid pace does little to really relieve built up stress.
Onramp does it in on the Ice, slush and snow..

Answer:
WONDERFUL!!! Just got home, thought I had a good day, I read this post and now I'm stressed all over again
Good post. A professional driver needs to be part of the solution and not add to the problem

Answer:
Stress : Being a Correctional Officer for 15 years
Stress : No Cameras , Officers , Weapons , nothing but you and 64 inmates all walking around asking you questions for 8 hours ,"locked in a pod for 8 hours with them and no where to go.
Stress : 1600 inmates in the facility
Stress : All the inmates in for murder are in your pod ( 64 )
Stress : ( 1 ) white guy decides he wants to start calling the other 63 inmates a bunch of niggers ( which are all black )
Just got my CDL and after 15 yars of stress...I'll try this thing called trucking stress..
Thank You and Goodbye
Jeff

Answer:
Let me start by saying that even the best of truckdrivers will lose their tempers eventually.The difference is that they know how to handle the stress. Had a load to Ca. once with the mrs.(we drove team for the summer), we arrived at the shipper first thing in the morning, i cheked the door, open at 8, thats fine its 7:30 we can wait, ok 8am comes, now the stress starts. Upon going inside and telling the gentleman working i had this load from this place with this load number, he looked at me and asked me what time my appt. was? Neither the broker i hauled for or the company the load came from knew anything about an appointment being needed. Ok, now ive called both the broker and shipper it is now 8:30 and there is only one truck in a door out of about 50 doors. phone call after phone call, after phone call, ok now im going to be late for my pick-up, this is getting old and im getting pi$$ed!!!! Finally i called the broker and said "DO SOMETHING NOW!!!!" Approximately 15minutes later i had a door, 15minutes i was unloaded, on the road and still my my pick-up, just barely. It took me threatening to drop the trailer where it sat until someone could decide what to do, and the broker calling and saying "get this off that truck or its going to a storage facility",that morning was stressful,but i left picked up my load and was Fl. bound. I just didnt let it stay with me when i left the receiver. That is part of what the problem is, most drivers take it from the receiver to the road and thats where they get tickets, accidents, or killed!!! Get out and do something to relieve that stress before you get back in that truck. Whether it be running around the lot, push-ups in your truck, sit-ups , or just plain get out and kick the $hit out of your tires!!!!! There now you know they all have air in them, and your stress is gone or close to it. People may think you look stupid, but what is more stupid,being stressed and driving like a maniac and getting a ticket or looking like an idiot kicking your tires and being safe on the road? One costs you money the other costs you some sweat.
If i'm the worst thing that happens to you today... then you had a good day!!!

Answer:
Yeap, I bet that was very very very stressful, glad I decided against becoming a c.o I was very close but I went to trucking

Answer:
stress is all in your mind
Two words handle all stress,who cares
The job don't pay enough to care and no matter how bent out of shape you get,you can't change much.
Traffic,weather or other delays ain't your problem,tell dispatch,thats what they get paid for,to notify customers and when you get there,you get there.who cares,maybe they do,in most cases they don't and there ain't nothing you can do about it anyways.
Just remember whats in your trailer,nothing important,just stuff.If it was really important,trucks would have flashing lights on them and people would pull over and let them by.
So the plants going to close down,they decided to take the risk of JIT,their problem.If they know your on your way,everyone gets a break,who cares,your not paying them.
Say you hear if you don't run illegal your company will loose an account,who cares,someone else will get it and you can get a job with them.
Do your best and Fxxx the rest.
Don't worship a false prophet.The only true savior is James Hoffa Jr,the son of GOD.
[This message was edited by zigzag on January 08, 2003 at 19:41.]
Answer:
I think Zigzag has the best take on the problem.
"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of all who threaten it"

Answer:
2 days and I didn't get flamed for that one,I though for sure somebody would say I had a bad attitude or something.
Don't worship a false prophet.The only true savior is James Hoffa Jr,the son of GOD.