Driver Motivation for Commercial Drivers

It’s common for us to do our best every day. Most days it seems to go unnoticed, but we keep doing it. Some days it’s harder than on others, but that doesn’t seem to stop us. It’s who we have become as a person. In some ways, being a commercial driver seems like a thankless job, but when on the road, it’s a job that’s essential to our society. What is it that keeps us going to do our best each day to make it to our destination? It really comes down to our mental well-being. But what if we’re not feeling our best? What if our mental health has taken a turn in the wrong direction and we’re not feeling motivated to be at our best?

Self-Motivation – Easy or Hard?

For some people, self-motivation comes quite easily. They tend to thrive on it. For other people, it can become more of a challenge. This is often due to two personal traits: self-assurance and self-efficacy. Self-assured people are not often afraid to set challenging goals for themselves and are not easily deterred by setbacks. Those with high self-efficacy believe in their ability to succeed, no matter what it is. This can impact the types of goals they will set for themselves.

What Motivates You?

Believe it or not, no one can motivate us. It’s up to us to motivate ourselves. That’s mostly true, but there is some fine print we should be aware of. What motivates you to do a good job? Is it money, receiving a good reputation, knowing that you’re making a difference, or is it something personal? Whatever your reason, it must work for you. It’s important to never let a total stranger take that away from you. Although motivation seems to be an inside job, we can take advice from others to see things in a different light that can help us.

Don’t De-Motivates

The fact that others sometimes take driving a commercial vehicle for granted can place a heavy burden on drivers. Other road users will retaliate against your need for extra space to make turns or change lanes. They will often make your life as a commercial driver that much more difficult. It can sometimes feel demotivational at times. But don’t let that ruin your day.

When it comes to having a bad day, it’s not exactly true. It’s more like a bad moment on that day. It’s not the entire day when you think about it. It was an isolated incident that gave you frustration. Why let one bad moment ruin your professionalism in reaching your destination safely or ruin your day completely? It doesn’t have to be that way, so don’t let it.

Be Patient

During heavy traffic, it seems that drivers become less and less patient when they’re near larger vehicles. Everything that happens around them that negatively directs their thoughts, they take personally. This means that as a commercial driver, you need more space to maneuver your vehicle; these other drivers feel it’s personal against them that you’re trying to give them a difficult time.

That’s a tough attitude to deal with, but the most important thing is to try to let it go. They may attempt to cut you off or attempt to block your impending move. It’s not worth the frustration it causes you to act on their poor decisions. With the experiences you have on the road, you’re better than that, and you know it. Remain calm and remember who you are. It will mean you have more motivation to be a better driver than they do.

If you get cut off a few times during a run, how do you typically take it? The drivers who did it may have failed to realize that commercial vehicles have larger blind spots than passenger vehicles. They most likely failed to realize that the heavy load a commercial vehicle is carrying means it has a longer stopping distance, especially in poor conditions.

Regularly adjusting to these drivers’ actions is part of a commercial driver’s daily routine. It seems almost like it’s a test each time you drive. A test you know you pass with flying colors each day. That’s motivation to keep driving well, because you know you can do this.

As a New Commercial Driver

If you’re a new commercial driver, it’s easy for you to get pushed to the point of wanting to quit. It can seem difficult to motivate yourself to do a good job and become a safe commercial driver. Making too many wrong turns, not being able to back into a dock or parking space, and dealing with typical trucking issues such as blown tires can wear on your mental health.

Remedy your Burnout

It can sometimes force you to feel like you’re failing, or it can seem like a lot of negative issues with no apparent end in sight. For long-haul drivers, missing home and feeling like life is passing you by too quickly can make you lose sight of your long-term and short-term goals, so be sure to remedy your burnout. Take the needed breaks to help to keep your motivation up. Burnout is real and should never be ignored.

Realizing that you know you did the best job you could, avoided conflict as best you could, and did not retaliate to another driver’s foolishness behind the wheel should never be forgotten. Whatever motivates you to do a good job, keep those thoughts inside you every day.

Keep Going

In the end, almost everything a driver does is their own responsibility, including finding the daily motivation to keep going. Whether you became a commercial driver to get away from a boring, dead-end job or you wanted to earn more money to help you catch up on some bills, you need to keep yourself in a positive mindset. Being a commercial driver can be one of the loneliest jobs around because no one else is responsible for you except you, and no one is there to motivate you, except you. So be true to yourself!

Challenge yourself by thoroughly working through the Ontario truck driver practice test study questions. Repeat the process until you can confidently explain the concepts in detail from memory, without the need to consult your notes.