ROEHL Orientation & Training, My Daily Experience

Day 15: Was a fun day and long too. Picked up a load from Dial to head out to a Wal-mart dist cntr. From IL to WI. We've been staying at the truck stops so far, no rest areas or travel centers yet...at least not to bed down for the night. Feels great when you get to take your shower! (about every other day). Drove 516 miles.

Day 16: Took a short trip from Menomente, WI to the terminal in Marshfield, WI. My trainer is headed for home time and says I'm ready to test. Met with my training dispatcher and will test tomorrow morning. Assuming I pass, I will get a rental car and head to Dallas to get my truck. I guess they got a few there to issue and being from TX it makes more sense for me to get it there. We had some time before he headed to the drop point to get some back-ups in, it's what I need the most practice on, so I hope it goes well tomorrow. Drove 120 miles and fell 30 minutes shy of my 6 hour work, so only 1/2 a days pay today =(

 

One of them just wasn't progressing at all, he was grinding gears so bad it seemed like the first day of CDL school. The other was actually a good driver, but the day before he had some issues shifting (which he had none the days prior), then that day he had quite a bit of trouble shifting. The trainer tried to help him out by telling him which gear to put it in, he got frustrated by things and they felft he needed more time or attention then they could give him with the remaining days. They said he could come back, but couldn't continue with this training period. He ended up going to another companies training.

 

Day 17: My Final Day; Test Day
Started at 7am, waited for about an hour before we got under way. Did a Throrough Pre-Trip (know your stuff here and don't forget your air brake test). We drove around town for about 15-20 minutes, making a bunch of turns and having lots of opportunities for downshifting, crossing railroad tracks, going through various speed zones, including school zones...somewhat similar to the initial CDL test at my local DPS office. Of course I'm sure I needed to have improved a lot since then =P
Anyway, after that, we came back to the terminal and went into the course here. Backed between trailers (truck/trailer can't get within 6" of anything), made some sharp turns, I guess to simulate being at a shippper or consignee that has very tight quarters, and did a left and right simulated pull-through.
I passed, yaaay!

Got a rental car and heaed to Gary to pick another driver that was headed to Texas as well. They gave me a cash advance for fuel, tolls, motel...it's deducted from your next check, but you get reimbursed for all receits (So Keep Your Receipts, if this happens to you). Drove just a few hours the first night, then we drove about 6.5 hours each the next day. Arrived in Dallas and stayed at the Admiral Hotel where it all began. My room on this stay wasn't as good as last time. The room looked like they just did a quick cleaning, some food crumbs left on the carpet area and bathroom and also some dirt smudges on the bathroom floor. They also had no towels or wash clothes, so had to go to the lobby and ask for some there.

Well, that's it for this guy. I get my truck today, have one load to pick up and deliver, then it's home time! So this has been my orientation and training experience with Roehl and I hope that if you're considering signing on with Roehl that this will help give you an idea of what you can expect for your training process. Keep in mind of course that this was my experience and yours is probably going to be different. Some people may stay out longer in phase 2, or may have the same trainer the whole time, or may have a bad match with their trainer and will want to switch trainers. Try to make your training environment as comfortable for you as possible, this way you can maximize your training potential. Regardless of which company you have chosen to go with, good luck to you and safe travels!

 

Update: I ended up leaving Roehl after a few assigned runs. I went home for some home time and got an offer for a local driver opportunity which allows me to see my family every weekend. Roehl was a positive experience for me, there is good driver support and excellent training. I ended up with a 2012 Pro-Star (240k miles), a little body damage on it and squeaky brakes, but overall not a bad rig. If the local opportunity had not come back, I would have been proud to drive for Roehl. Best wishes and continued success to you all.