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Easy Ways To Be More Confident On The Road

Driving as a career path can be an appealing prospect, especially in our current day and age. There is a great need for more drivers in our current economy, and for those that are drivers, they have made a career out of it. 

You don’t just have to drive an eighteen-wheeler. Many truckers, taxi drivers, bus drivers, and other professionals make a living with it.

To excel in these roles, you’ll need to be confident on the road. That’s relatively easy for people who’ve been driving for years. 

If you plan on making a living driving, you’ll need to know how to be more confident on the road. As a relatively new driver, however, that could not be easy. Confidence is the root of most of your success in a driving career, and most talk about the skills you need as a critical driver. But without confidence, those won’t be put to their best use. Driver wellness programs and CDL schools would be a great place to focus on confidence and create it.

Have you ever taken a class on confidence? What if that would have given you the tools to stay in the driver’s seat for the long haul? 

There are a few specific ways that you can do this.

Easy Ways To Be More Confident On The Road mother trucker yoga blog post

How To Be More Confident On The Road Without many efforts

Know Your Route

A significant reason that people can worry or not be confident when driving is that they don’t know how to get where they want to. Planning this out in advance can be recommended. Planning is a learned behavior, if you are a person constantly reacting to life rather than taking action in life, this may not be natural, but that doesn’t mean impossible. 

Truck drivers need to adapt constantly, and although your plan can change instantly, having a baseline plan can help keep confidence strong.

This is also a more minor worry than you’d think with modern technology. You can use various apps to guide you to where you need to go. What apps are your favorite for driver navigation?

There are dozens of options:

  • Google Maps.
  • Waze.
  • Trucker Path.
  • CoPilot GPS/CoPilot Mobile Navigation.
  • SmartTruckRoute.
  • DAT
  • PTV Navigator.
  • inRoute.

And there are many more.

These shouldn’t be distracting, as they’re designed specifically for drivers. You’ll not only find the best route to take, but you wouldn’t need to spend much time figuring it out. Not every driver and app has its positives and negatives, so talk to other drivers and see what they think. A driver wellness program would be a great place to talk about lifestyle planning, including trip planning and guiding drivers towards a better way to respond when things don’t go well.

You could also use a few other apps to make your driving experience more manageable.

 

Make Sure You’re Covered

One of the most significant reasons people are nervous drivers is because they’re worried about accidents. That’s natural and relatively common. 

In many cases, these accidents are relatively minor, but it can mean big dollars when a commercial vehicle is involved.

It’s worth having a car accident lawyer to help you with anything that comes up. As unlikely as accidents happen, having a professional there to help you can be vital. Talk to your company or driver wellness program coordinator if the company you work for has one, and if you want to talk to them about scenarios to ease your nerves, it might be worth it. 

The same can also be said for insurance. Having both of these will ensure that there shouldn’t be anything for you to worry about. Don’t hesitate to talk with your insurance agent and ask the hard questions. If you are a part of a driver wellness program, tell your insurance agent, you could qualify for lower rates and build your confidence at the same time.

Practice, Practice, Practice

You’ve likely heard that practice makes perfect before. That’s typically when it comes to developing a skill, such as learning the guitar.

It’s also true with driving. The more you do it, the better you’ll be. That’s why beginners have to take so many lessons before they’re legally able to drive.

If you’re not a confident driver, then it’s worth spending time practicing. There’ll likely be a few places near you where you can do so.

Alternatively, you could practice in your local area regularly. Doing this on any route you’ll typically have to take can be recommended.

With time, you’ll be much more confident than you are now.

How To Be More Confident On The Road: Wrapping Up

Figuring out how to be more confident on the road can be overwhelming. You could have multiple worries in your mind and find yourself struggling with leaving those stressors at home. Try to relax and breathe and take it one day at a time. 

Getting past this doesn’t have to be difficult, however. Each of the above steps can be more than helpful. And if you aren’t yet, consider practicing meditation or trucking yoga to help build confidence and reduce stress. 

Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART App and platform image

You are not alone. The longer you’re driving, the more confident you’ll be. Surround yourself with other seasoned drivers and never be afraid to ask questions and share concerns.

Keeping safe will be a priority, regardless of how confident you are.

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4 Quick and Simple Exercises with the Good-N-Tight Ratchet Strap Tightening Handle 

4 Quick and Simple Exercises with the Good-N-Tight Ratchet Strap Tightening Handle 

When you are a truck driver, time is of the essence. And either you have a lot of time, or you have none. But there are moments throughout your day where you can sneak in a few quick moves to help you feel better, wherever you are with your Good-N-Tight Ratched Strap Tightening Handle handy. The Good-N-Tight is amazing when you don’t want to throw out your shoulder or back tieing down a load and gives you three times the leverage. And as my husband always says, “work smarter not harder”. This is one tool you definitely want to get and have handy anytime you need to use a ratchet strap.

But this blog isn’t about how to use this tool for securing your load. It’s about how to double down and use this tool to help you feel better, whenever you are with small simple moves you can do it anytime, anywhere. These four simple moves are perfect for those in-between moments when to help reduce stiffness, bring a little energy back into your body, stretch, and strengthen so you don’t throw your back out getting in and out of the truck (it happens).

Here are 4 Quick and Simple Moves You Can Do With The Good-N-Tight:

  • Good-N-Tight Oblique Side Bend 

This is a great move to help tone your waist and both stretch and strengthen your lower back, hips, and obliques. 

  • Step your feet wider than hips-width apart. 
  • Point your toes forward and square your hips.
  • With your Good-N-Tight in hand reach your arms up overhead. 
  • Relax your shoulders down and soften your front rib cage down as well. 
  • Take a deep breath in and gently slide your hips to the right as you lean your upper body and arms to the left. 
  • Press your arms straight and reach through the Good-N-Tight, like you were to stamp it on the wall next to you. 

VERSION 1:

  • Hold this for 5 breaths, and on the exhale come back to center and repeat the opposite side. 

VERSION 2:

  • Inhale press your hips to the right and tip your upper body and arms to the left. 
  • Exhale return to center, pulling your hips back first and your upper body to sit on top. 
  • Repeat the opposite side: Inhale to lean, exhale to return. 
  • 5-10 times on each side. 

Oblique Stretch Tightening Handle

  • Good-N-Tight Triceps Stretch 

This is a wonderful stretch to combat all that drive time opening your chest, toning your upper back, and releasing your shoulders. 

  • Standing tall grab the Good-N-Tight with your right hand and extend your arm up overhead. 
  • Bend your top elbow and tuck your hand behind your head, laying the Good-N-Tight down your spine. 
  • Roll the top tricep inward towards your head, turning your triceps to face forward (this may be difficult, especially if your shoulders are tight or bulky).
  • Tuck your left hand behind you to grab the bottom of the Good-N-Tight and work to roll your left shoulder open, feeling the shoulder blade press inward towards the spine. 
  • Stand even taller and breathe calmly for 5 to 10 breaths. 
  • Repeat the opposite side. 

Good-N-Tight 1 Minute Moves Tricep Stretch - Mother Trucker Yoga Blog

  • Good-N-Tight Chest Expander

Slouching, leaning, hunching, driving, and carrying often leave our body hunched forward and frozen in place. This quick move gives your body a break and counterposes all that rounding forward. Breathe easy and feel your chest, pecs, and shoulders open as your core gets a little wake-up call. 

Standing tall with your feet at a comfortable distance grab your Good-N-Tight.

Tuck your hands behind you and grab hold of either side of your new exercise equipment. 

Roll your shoulders in towards your spine as you drop them down away from your neck. 

Inhale drive your hips and pelvis forward as you pull your arms down and back. 

Gently look up and stretch! 

Hold this for 5 breaths, and repeat 3 to 5 times. 

Chest Expander Good-N-Tight Mother Trucker Yoga Blog

  • Good-N-Tight Calf Stretch 

Your calf is the hydraulic pump for your lower body to get blood flow back up the heart. Restricted calves inhibit the calf to do its job, making the heart have to work harder. Tight calves also cause knee and back pain. Let’s give the body some relief with a quick stretch! 

  • Place the Good-N-Tight on the ground.
  • Standing tall, place the ball of one foot up on the lip of your new exercise equipment, keeping your heel on the ground. 
  • Square your hips and slowly inch your free foot forward until you feel a stretch in your calf. 
  • Stand even taller and press down into your stretching heel as you hold the stretch for 5 to 10 breaths.
    Repeat the opposite side and do this stretch 1-3 times each day. 

Calf Stretch Good-N-Tight Mother Trucker Yoga BLog

Pushing yourself in a quick workout is important, but you should never allow yourself to just sit there because you think you need fancy equipment. Make sure you’re choosing quality over quantity. And look around your truck, what do you have laying around. What could be multi-purpose? And remember instead of thinking you need all sorts of crazy fitness in your life, think movement, where can I get more movement in? Along with your new Good-N-Tight moves get out and walk for an added boost to your body, mind, and spirit. Happy moving!

This blog post is in partnership with Bud and Tony’s Truck Parts! Bud and Tony are on a mission to give back to the trucking community and by teaming up with Mother Trucker Yoga, they are doing it, one move at a time. Check out more about Bud and Tony over on their site: www.BudAndTonysTruckParts.com

bud and tony's truck parts logo

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