Driving all through the day and night without rest and proper food along with the tension of delivering goods on time is sometimes horrible. Can anyone suggest few ways of overcoming stress and tension?

 

Experience? All drivers are going to get into stressful moments no matter how long you've been doing this.. But as your experience and awareness comes up, the stupid things that people do (including schedules, shippers, receivers other loudmouths on the radio etc) should start going down as you can start predicting and or accepting that other people just do dumb things. Breathe in, breathe out.. repeat. Don't let things that you have no real control over get you riled up.. try listening to calm music.. and take a real break now and again to get out of the truck and walk a bit..

 

My favorite way is to listen to music and day dream about Shania and me frolicking somewhere. I guess that's the word you would use.

Complaining is a great stress reliever, but no one wants to listen to it.
Solo truck driving provides a safe environment for deeply personal therapeutic treatment sessions, where you can say all the things you want, and not hold back.
A driver can have long rant and raves, that can often last for 100 miles.

I'm sometimes ready to unload, long before my drop.

 

1. improve your diet. i feel zero sympathy for that 30yo driver in mcdonalds who's 200 lbs overweight and has 5 years tops to live. zero.
get a fridge/inverter etc. company doesnt allow it? Screw them. or quit. stop at walmart to get good food. Give up candy/chips. This Will help on all scores

2. Grow up. half of america are emotional children. it's not "their fault". noone is out to get you. things just happen. move on. yes that driver was an idiot. later today you'll do something stupid...

3. watch for muscle tension and tunnel vision. when you notice it force yourself to relax. if you need too.. pull over. screw the appointment. as most o/o's can tell you very few loads are time critical. many loads have multi day windows. relax. BTW in many cities you have less reason too stress than outside. the drivers are used to trucks. the roads have been travelled a lot by trucks and most problems ironed out. imho chicago is one of the easiest places in the country to drive.

4. never drive during your "bad time". mine is 4-6 am. doesnt matter if i just woke up my eyes want to close.

5 idle when you sleep.. keep the truck cooool and dark and make your bed ubercomfortable. if your company doesnt allow idling and doesnt provide generators quit. theyre scum. i no longer take pa loads because of their idle laws.. screw them. Your company may love them.. because their are lots of loads there... because o/o's and good companies say to hell with pa.

6 >>>> hometime!<<<<. HAVE A life!!!. What good is money if you live an empty life in a box. insist on loads by the house.. take breaks there. take 48 hour resets. if i get home laaate friday or saturday i do not leave til monday. if they push it .. quit.

Take care of yourself!! they wont. in their minds you are a component of the machine. a tool to use.

 

The suggestions are wonderful and I am sure to try them out the next time I am tensed.

 

Another easy one: Avoid I-95 or the northeast. Take the country runs whenever you can.

 

another thing you can do, when you take a break is... take your tire thumper, go check your tires, and really put some mustard on it.

 

I've got an idea! Why not relieve some of your stress by "e-filing" your taxes with the author's company! After all.... that is really what she and Flora Anderson are doing here on this forum. Advertising.

 

ok, but hear me out

I cant get a fridge/inverter in my truck, the company wont allow it, I also don't have the kind of space for it. my bed is no bigger than a back seat of a car. I'm not allowed to quit they wont like that, also I have less than a year experience and I don't want to go back to driving school and being a teammate...notice I didn't say student because I don't believe that they really treat students as students, they are treated as teammates


I am unable to idle my truck, plus the A/C don't work and they aren't going to fix it. the icon on it is screwed up and it wont idle, plus the A/C don't work. also last winter the bunk heater didn't work so I froze when I slept

and I don't need hometime because I don't have a home

 

Oh geez! Does everyone have me on "ignore?" this is a bogus thread! But... if you still want answers to your questions... I'll be back.