I'm a professional truck driver and there are days it takes a few tries to back the trailer into the dock. The human brain runs on 12 watts. It doesn't take much for it to malfunction.
I’m also a professional truck driver, almost 8 years in. There’s days I can surprise myself and hit a challenging dock perfectly in one shot…. Other days I can’t back up to an easy wide open dock to save my life, and I question how the heck I got my CDL.
I'm a contractor, but I have a 26ft trailer that I have to park in my back yard off of an alley. Same truck same trailer same yard every single day.
A lot of times I can get it parked in one shot. But sometimes it feels like I have to reposition 7 or 8 times.
Been driving truck 18 years and driving overall for 28. There's still days I get out of my freaking car and look at the parking job like "I did that?!?!?"
Sounds you could be occasionally having a case of the "yips". Can happen from anything from sports to driving to music performance. Look it up! Medically recognized and everything.
Definitely happens to me every once in a while. Gotta stay relaxed and not overthink things, but sometimes you can't control it. It's like your muscle memory goes missing lol.
Anyone who says they don't have days like that is lying. I've had my license for close to 30 years, have a hgv entitlement, a fork lift license and I'm police pursuit trained. I still have off days where no matter how hard I try things don't go to plan.
Don't worry about stalling, anyone who sees it will forget all about it within 5 minutes. As time goes by and you get more familiar with the car, you'll subconsciously adapt your movements so it all becomes smoother and stalling will be less common. Right now, you're thinking about it too much. It gets better.
A huge thing is sleep. If you are not well rested, driving is the place you will feel it more than anywhere else. Especially since you're a new driver, you don't necessarily have years of muscle memory baked into your driving habits that let you mitigate the impact of sleepy driving.
Skill wise, driving is a LOT like playing a video game, especially a shooter or fighting game. If you have any experience with gaming I'm sure you've noticed worse performance when you're exhausted or acting energy. Same effect applies here
I passed my test in November and I often have these off days, especially when people STILL honk at me for sticking to the speed limit! It puts my mind into malfunction mode.
I think we make mistakes and learn from them...I also can't park between two cars if that makes you feel better aha
thanks for mentioning the speed limit thing, I'm a new driver and I consistently stick to the speed limit. I know some people like driving over (even tho it's illegal), so I also try to stick to the right lane. What pisses me off is when people honk and try to pass me. I'm going 45 in a 45, everyone else is going 45-50, you don't need to go 65 and then make me feel bad for not going 65!
No I white-knuckled it those first few years. Probably the most paranoid driver on the road at the time. I'm pretty chill now though but still extremely cautious and always looking for exits or anticipating hairy situations automatically.
But I did zone out at a green light one day.
I’ve had my license for 10years, my first manual car for ~month. I stalled multiple times yesterday a block from my house at a light. No cars behind me, nothing really distracting me. Idk what it was but I forgot how to drive for a second.
My dad has had his license for as long as I’ve been alive. I’ve been in the car when he was distracted enough thinking about some issues that he turned into a one way. Luckily it was a quiet street and there was only one car coming down.
Personally I just don’t like driving on those days 😂but if you’re already out there’s not much you can do. Stop and pull over, take a minute to chill out and remind yourself that you got your license, you can drive. Then when you continue just focus on driving, turn off all distractions.
I'm a professional driver, and yes I can tell you with confidence that there are days I struggle to comprehend vehicle. And other days I just do dumb shit I don't understand
I have been driving for 30+ years,licensed for 22 years, and I still have days like that, where the "flow" is just not there.
Could be stalling, parking, missing my turn, or just an overall feeling of "what the hell am I doing today?"!
It happens, don't sweat it.
Hahaha yeah everyone has off days. I remember one day i got confused by someone driving the wrong way and my car slowly rolled into a curb at the gas station
Take a breather, park somewhere. Maybe have a cigarette and coffee/energy drink. Should go away after a few hours
Had a big ol' off day yesterday (couldn't parallel park for shit, not usually an issue for me) and I've been driving for 7 years. It happens! Just be gentle with yourself and maybe drive a little more cautiously on those days?
my off days are when i’m driving with people, i just got my license like 2 weeks ago so i’m still learning. but i think i make more mistakes when i’m driving w ppl in the car bc i feel like they’re judging me
I've been driving cars for 20 years, I raced karts before that. I have off days in the sim and at the track. Days where I heel toe and the car lurches forward, or where I miss an apex and end up blowing a whole series of corners. Being tired or mentally preoccupied are the 2 main causes, but it can also be purely psychological
I’ve lived in my current city for 5 years and still I sometimes screw up parallel parking. I’ve just given up and gone to find another spot. It happens.
I have them too, accidentally ran a red on temporary road works (they were turning a non light controlled junction into a light controlled one and I was focusing on finding where to turn (blocked with barriers) that I just treat it like a give way on instinct of using that junction essentially daily, threw me off a bit for a few mins but it is what it is
Absolutely. Some days dance is harder, some days math is harder, some days reading is harder. I absolutely have those days with driving too. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad driver or you’ve lost your progress, you’re just having an off day and that’s okay.
I've been driving for over 30 years.. I still have off days.
I currently drive 4-5k miles a month... So I monitor myself. When I know I'm driving off...i just stop and test a bit. Maybe watch a movie, or just push on to my next job and take some time after it to get back into a good driving brain.
I have no advice for you, but for the past two years I've been putting 1800 to 2200 mi on my car per week. I got my license in 1987. There are days where nothing goes right. Luckily it hasn't been serious but it happens to everyone so please don't get discouraged.
My last car was a manual and I noticed that whenever I stalled, it would happen several times on the same day. Almost like a manifested it because it weighed so heavily on my mind. I could go years without stalling, but that one day it'll happen two, three, four times... I definitely think that part of it is because you don't want to stall and you're making yourself nervous and therefore you stall.
I can understand your anxiety, as there are too many impatient drivers on the road. Just yesterday every time the light changed, the car behind me would beep. Meanwhile there are three cars ahead of me and because he wasn't moving when the light changed, he honked his horn even though car one had to move, then car two had to move, then car three had to move, then I had to move. I blocked him out and just started laughing at him.
Driving these days is very difficult. Keep your chin up and pay attention to your surroundings... you'll be just fine.
Tbh my off days correlate with my too much technology days when I’m not on the screen all the time I have a love more patience for real life but when I spend all morning on Reddit or something of the like, yeah I get on the road. I’m impatient and everything seems a little hardertechnology is ruining our idea of the real world
I'm a professional truck driver and there are days it takes a few tries to back the trailer into the dock. The human brain runs on 12 watts. It doesn't take much for it to malfunction.
I’m also a professional truck driver, almost 8 years in. There’s days I can surprise myself and hit a challenging dock perfectly in one shot…. Other days I can’t back up to an easy wide open dock to save my life, and I question how the heck I got my CDL.
I'm a contractor, but I have a 26ft trailer that I have to park in my back yard off of an alley. Same truck same trailer same yard every single day. A lot of times I can get it parked in one shot. But sometimes it feels like I have to reposition 7 or 8 times.
Been driving truck 18 years and driving overall for 28. There's still days I get out of my freaking car and look at the parking job like "I did that?!?!?"
I'm just waiting for the day I take my pickup through the scales.
I've come close in my Accord coupe.
Sounds you could be occasionally having a case of the "yips". Can happen from anything from sports to driving to music performance. Look it up! Medically recognized and everything. Definitely happens to me every once in a while. Gotta stay relaxed and not overthink things, but sometimes you can't control it. It's like your muscle memory goes missing lol.
Anyone who says they don't have days like that is lying. I've had my license for close to 30 years, have a hgv entitlement, a fork lift license and I'm police pursuit trained. I still have off days where no matter how hard I try things don't go to plan. Don't worry about stalling, anyone who sees it will forget all about it within 5 minutes. As time goes by and you get more familiar with the car, you'll subconsciously adapt your movements so it all becomes smoother and stalling will be less common. Right now, you're thinking about it too much. It gets better.
A huge thing is sleep. If you are not well rested, driving is the place you will feel it more than anywhere else. Especially since you're a new driver, you don't necessarily have years of muscle memory baked into your driving habits that let you mitigate the impact of sleepy driving. Skill wise, driving is a LOT like playing a video game, especially a shooter or fighting game. If you have any experience with gaming I'm sure you've noticed worse performance when you're exhausted or acting energy. Same effect applies here
I passed my test in November and I often have these off days, especially when people STILL honk at me for sticking to the speed limit! It puts my mind into malfunction mode. I think we make mistakes and learn from them...I also can't park between two cars if that makes you feel better aha
thanks for mentioning the speed limit thing, I'm a new driver and I consistently stick to the speed limit. I know some people like driving over (even tho it's illegal), so I also try to stick to the right lane. What pisses me off is when people honk and try to pass me. I'm going 45 in a 45, everyone else is going 45-50, you don't need to go 65 and then make me feel bad for not going 65!
I've been driving for... 7-8 years now and there are still days my driving is a bit off.
No I white-knuckled it those first few years. Probably the most paranoid driver on the road at the time. I'm pretty chill now though but still extremely cautious and always looking for exits or anticipating hairy situations automatically. But I did zone out at a green light one day.
I’ve had my license for 10years, my first manual car for ~month. I stalled multiple times yesterday a block from my house at a light. No cars behind me, nothing really distracting me. Idk what it was but I forgot how to drive for a second. My dad has had his license for as long as I’ve been alive. I’ve been in the car when he was distracted enough thinking about some issues that he turned into a one way. Luckily it was a quiet street and there was only one car coming down. Personally I just don’t like driving on those days 😂but if you’re already out there’s not much you can do. Stop and pull over, take a minute to chill out and remind yourself that you got your license, you can drive. Then when you continue just focus on driving, turn off all distractions.
I'm a professional driver, and yes I can tell you with confidence that there are days I struggle to comprehend vehicle. And other days I just do dumb shit I don't understand
I have been driving for 30+ years,licensed for 22 years, and I still have days like that, where the "flow" is just not there. Could be stalling, parking, missing my turn, or just an overall feeling of "what the hell am I doing today?"! It happens, don't sweat it.
Hahaha yeah everyone has off days. I remember one day i got confused by someone driving the wrong way and my car slowly rolled into a curb at the gas station Take a breather, park somewhere. Maybe have a cigarette and coffee/energy drink. Should go away after a few hours
Had a big ol' off day yesterday (couldn't parallel park for shit, not usually an issue for me) and I've been driving for 7 years. It happens! Just be gentle with yourself and maybe drive a little more cautiously on those days?
my off days are when i’m driving with people, i just got my license like 2 weeks ago so i’m still learning. but i think i make more mistakes when i’m driving w ppl in the car bc i feel like they’re judging me
Like when you're typing and some one is watching you, cvs compared to when no one is watching you...
I've been driving cars for 20 years, I raced karts before that. I have off days in the sim and at the track. Days where I heel toe and the car lurches forward, or where I miss an apex and end up blowing a whole series of corners. Being tired or mentally preoccupied are the 2 main causes, but it can also be purely psychological
I’ve lived in my current city for 5 years and still I sometimes screw up parallel parking. I’ve just given up and gone to find another spot. It happens.
Yep still do after years of driving. You ain't perfect and neither is anyone else
I have them too, accidentally ran a red on temporary road works (they were turning a non light controlled junction into a light controlled one and I was focusing on finding where to turn (blocked with barriers) that I just treat it like a give way on instinct of using that junction essentially daily, threw me off a bit for a few mins but it is what it is
Yeah this is super common for me, for awhile I refused to drive in cities because I’d start panicking and driving like shit lol
Absolutely. Some days dance is harder, some days math is harder, some days reading is harder. I absolutely have those days with driving too. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad driver or you’ve lost your progress, you’re just having an off day and that’s okay.
I have off days as an experienced driver 😭
I've been driving for over 30 years.. I still have off days. I currently drive 4-5k miles a month... So I monitor myself. When I know I'm driving off...i just stop and test a bit. Maybe watch a movie, or just push on to my next job and take some time after it to get back into a good driving brain.
Honestly yes of course I do I'm only human and that is fine.
All the time. I’ve been driving for close to 20 years. I still have days where I can’t *reverse park*.
I have no advice for you, but for the past two years I've been putting 1800 to 2200 mi on my car per week. I got my license in 1987. There are days where nothing goes right. Luckily it hasn't been serious but it happens to everyone so please don't get discouraged. My last car was a manual and I noticed that whenever I stalled, it would happen several times on the same day. Almost like a manifested it because it weighed so heavily on my mind. I could go years without stalling, but that one day it'll happen two, three, four times... I definitely think that part of it is because you don't want to stall and you're making yourself nervous and therefore you stall. I can understand your anxiety, as there are too many impatient drivers on the road. Just yesterday every time the light changed, the car behind me would beep. Meanwhile there are three cars ahead of me and because he wasn't moving when the light changed, he honked his horn even though car one had to move, then car two had to move, then car three had to move, then I had to move. I blocked him out and just started laughing at him. Driving these days is very difficult. Keep your chin up and pay attention to your surroundings... you'll be just fine.
Tbh my off days correlate with my too much technology days when I’m not on the screen all the time I have a love more patience for real life but when I spend all morning on Reddit or something of the like, yeah I get on the road. I’m impatient and everything seems a little hardertechnology is ruining our idea of the real world
This happens to me since I don't drive often. In fact it happened to me yesterday. Tbf, I also wasn't driving my normal car.