Manage Your Time - Challenging as it may be as a trucker, there are things that we CAN do and those are what we must focus on. But also, we must realize that this is trucking. Plans don't always work out. Facing that reality alone will also help you not get stressed when plans fall through.
Generally speaking....eliminate procrastination. Which is almost a universal fault of most people, lol. Those who decide to work on and eliminate it will not only experience less stress but also will experience more success and happiness in life.
So in new driver tips, I tell you about allowing yourself extra time for pick up and delivers. This will help you to be able to deal with unexpected issues if they come up and still make it on on time.
Even if you have a long trip to do over the weekend. It may be tempting to drag along a few hundred miles each day. If you are planning to stop somewhere in route, say to see family or something, that's cool.
However, if you have no plans to visit....you will relax much better on Sunday if you only have a few miles to left to drive and the rest of the day to kick back and read, write or to do whatever you like to do in leisure time.
If you have to drive all day 600 miles and at 125 miles you break down or the highway is shut down for an accident for 4 hours, you will not be too happy. In fact the first thing you will probably say is, "I wish I had of drove further yesterday or left earlier this morning."
Here is another time to check yourself...
Some times when you go home, you might have things you want to get done. Or there might be a list that has built up which you promised your wife to attend to.
It could be tempting to kick back all day and plan on doing things the day before you leave or worse the morning before you leave. If you know like I know, expecting things to go that smoothly is just asking for trouble.
Here is the other no no attitude. "I will do it the next time I make it home in 2 weeks."
Problem is, you might not make it home in two weeks. Your wife will already be disappointed. In two weeks she will be twice as disappointed if you don't make it back. Relationships are delicate already especially for a new couple in the trucking lifestyle. Do you want to take go this route?
It's always best to go ahead and handle that business, pay that bill, visit your family, do that thing (whatever that thing is) because it is very possible that you won't make it back when you think you will make it back.
With home time by the way, tell your dispatch early and then remind him/her 2 weeks and 1 week prior to the scheduled home time. These guys handle many drivers, they may not have a good system for keeping up with your request for home time. Don't leave it to chance. By the way, there will be times it won't work out, don't let it stress you. It's the nature of trucking.
Can you see how powerful this thought process could be? It will not only minimize stress in trucking, but also in the rest of your life.
Don't Sweat the Little Things - There will be too much going on in life and over the road to try and create the perfect world or expect everyone you deal with to behave the way you want them to. Decide now that you will overlook the little things.I have seen people get upset at the counter at the truck stop because the lady wants to see ID. That's just stupid really.
...What about if the DOT pulls you over to check you out and you did nothing. You accomplish nothing sitting there getting upset at the man for pulling you over. In fact you might end up with something serious to be upset about.
Life is full of inconveniences and such.
...Wife forgot to do something for you which is not going to cause the world to come to an end. It's OK if there is no harm done. Relax.
...ar cut you off. You will never figure out why. Chill out, just relax. It's going to be Ok.
That's just life as a trucker.
Something else that you can do is change your bad habits
How to cope with stress
Stress in Trucking
Disadvantages of Becoming a Truck Driver
