No matter how long you’ve been driving, you have to admit that there are times when trucking can get pretty scary.
Maybe narrow lanes in construction zones make you sweat. Maybe the back row of the truck stop parking lot late at night gives you the creeps. Or maybe your heart drops *every single time* you hear police sirens.
Dozens of truckers recently got together on the free CDLLife app to talk about the things that they dread happening while they’re behind the wheel.
Here are 12 very relatable responses:
1. LRD: “Being alone no one to talk to or be with u in ur truck and going down a narrow road on a mountain pass.”
2. E.Q.: “My biggest fear coming into the trucking industry would be the level of complacency towards the respect that I have for the truck and people around me. Me learning to follow procedure like getting out the truck to look while backing or downshifting down a hill or just holding my clutch in and brake while waiting for a stop light in a uphill grade, those little things can get you so complacent that sometimes you gorget especially coming back from your home time I can’t tell you how many times people forget their procedures coming back from the house.”
3. T.B.: “Going down donner’s pass without brakes.”
4. W.C.: “Dying from falling off a mountain….”
5. Q.N.: “Being stuck in traffic in the middle of the bridge and it collapses.”
6. S.G.: “Canned opened and turning over on a cloverleaf exit.”
7. T.G. “Coming into trucking I had none. Once I went out with my first trainer, it was backing. Now that that’s covered (I’ll back you under a table now), it’s rain/wind mix. I can deal.. but I prefer not to have them both together. Currently (and please don’t talk crap) it’s snow or ice. I shut down! COMPLETELY! My years over the road Ive watched trucks wreck in front of me. Seen pileups because of snow, and have been on downgrades with Super Truckers with and without chains and watching their trucks slowly crash. It created the fear.. so now I just won’t go.”
8. C.T.: “Hills with turns and bumps at the bottom at night.”
9. G.K.: “Not ever quitting it.”
10. D.K.: “Mind is not making a delivery cause the hours run out.”
11. R.Y.: “Having a crowd spectate me having trouble backing in.. or tipping the rear of the trailer trying to make a cut (huge ditches where I am)”
12. C.M. “Honestly when I started I was too stupid to really be terrified. My biggest fear was if this didn’t work then I would have to go back to a 9-5 job and wouldn’t be able to travel for free. Mind you I had no experience in the this world and no one to tell me how intense it could be.”
If you want to get in on the conversation, don’t fear — you’re not too late! Click here to download the CDLLife app for free.