Question
OK, I got my first job/training offer for Truck Driving. I have to explain in a little more detail though.
OK, I was all worried about credit a few weeks ago but, now I got over that hurtle. I got a local company to give me the training for free to get my Class A BUT, theres a catch to it and its not time for employment like many of you think. I don't have to stay with them for a year or even 6 months but, have to stay with them for 3 months to get of my probationary period with the company so, they can start training me. Now, the job is for a CDL job with a National Environmental and Polution company Called "GapVax". Pay is $19.50 an hour which is good with raises every year full benefits and alot of overtime, but, Now, for the hang up. The job involves more than just driving. I would be handleing hazmat spills, cleaning out strip mines and equipment, cleaning ash out from power plants and steel mills. But, that isn't what worries my azz right now. Inorder to do the job you MUST beable to handle heights of 40 to 50 feet on a extension ladder and on roofs with an industrial power washer or vaccum and theres my problem.
I am definitly affraid of Heights . They have their own safety department to make sure the ladders are safe so, I could try to get over it and just go up the damn ladder and pray that I don't panic 40 feet up. I am thinking of everyway to get the fear of heights out of my head but, nothing seems to work. 20 feet up I freeze and I can't do anything about it like an idiot . They even want to start training me in 2 weeks.
Anyone got any Ideas To Get Over This Stupid phobia??????
Any Advice Will Be Consider
Hey, if life throws you a curve ball, try and take a swing at it. Who knows what might happen
Answer
The fix is to join the Navy and climb ships masts a couple hundred feet up! LOL
Now really, check with your state "one-stop" office for a WIA training grant.
Oh, don't go flatbed, you have to climb. BOL
Answer
A good pay check will help with any problem.202 N Main Street
Summerfield Il 62289
TRUCK PARKING AVAILABLE!
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What a counselor will tell you is to approach your fear slowly. Start off a foot off the ground and get comfortable there and the 2 feet and so forth and work your way up. This is about the only real way to get over it, if at all possible. Some phobias though are so deeply ingrained that no matter how much effort, desire, counseling a person goes through they can not conquer it.
Whatever you do do not take this job or any other job unless, until you are 250% certain you have mastered your fear. If you have not mastered it then you could do more than just freeze. You could scare yourself into an accident.
I will always be a mutter trucker at heart.
Answer
Being afraid of heights is a serious problem. I agree with what Uturn said. You're going to need to get comfortable with it.
I used to work on Grain Handling Systems. Both commercial and on the farm. I've changed bearings on the top of a 120' grain leg in Feb. when it was -30 degrees!
As long as you have the proper safety equipment (and use it properly), you should have no problems. Your employer is REQUIRED to supply you with all the safety equipment you need to do the job.
Another thing to remember is......
Keep a 3 point contact at all times! You have 2 feet and 2 hands, make sure you have at least 3 of them in solid contact on whatever you're climbing.
BTW, swinging from your safety harness like a pinata isn't all that bad, but it may take a couple weeks before co-workers quit giving you sh*t about it.
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"Got the bird dog on...
Dodgin' the scales...
80 miles an hour and a step outta jail..." From "Rollin' Home, Pirates of the Mississippi)
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"I've always been different with one foot over the line.
Winding up somewhere, one step ahead or behind.
It ain't been so easy, but I guess I shouldn't complain.
I've always been crazy, but it's kept me from going insane." (from Waylon Jennings)
Answer
What Hoss said, about safety harness, etc.
Also, I am in chemical plants everyday and nearly all of the ladders 40-50 feet high have a cage around them. Most people feel that climbing inside the cage FEELS very different from climbing on an exposed ladder.
And, if you are running a vacum truck I can tell you that running a hose up and down a 50 foot height will be a very rare situation. Most tanks have outlets at the bottom for cleaning purposes and an enormus amount of negative pressure has to be generated to lift a liquid 50' in a 2" hose.
Sounds like a good job if you can work this out. Good luck!
Rhymer
Answer
Try the heights in samll doses.
Talk to others who work there. Bet they have some hints for ya.
Keeping you safe, healthy and on the road.
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