31 Days and Counting...Starting School June 28th!

I half want to call them up there at Geogia Pacific and ask which part they will cut and if they would mail the other piece to me. 100 bucks down the tube! oh well... home time now! Got in this AM.

 

I wish to personally thank Hindsy and Wiseguy3501 for posting about their experience going into and threw the Roehl school and process. I too am entering the Roehl school Sept 7th for a new career. I am scheduled for the 3 weeks of class, staying at the local hotel/motel and will go into the National Van fleet. I am so excited and the waiting is killing me. I'm leaving the Newspaper Printing business behind and starting over after 25 years of printing. I'm 48 and fit and ready to learn. I comment you two fellows for making it. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. I will be with you both soon. I got my Motor Carriers Atlas yesterday for 48 bucks... Large scale too.. A Mag Glass and some white out!!!

 

Yes I have questions.... Yes I am nervous.... Yes I want to do well.... I have been planning this move for some time now just waiting on Roehl to confirm my status. Printing is dieing a slow death... I'm not going down with the ship. I have my CDL permit already, and even held my CDL when I was 26yrs old but let it go when I started to print. I feel I made the most logical choice with Roehl. I'm as green as they come to oto trucking. I have the backing of my family as the boys are grown and the wife wants me out of the print shop. My dad was a O/O and I drove for Coleco Ind in day cabs but never a Large Car. I start school Tuesday the Sept 7th. I have a pre-hire letter... I'm worried about shifting... Getting down a Pre-Trip in a good order.... Logging.... Parking in crowded parking lots at T.S....... BUT... I want to do this for a career with all my heart. The good the bad the ugly and have it all... I need a good company to start with and perhaps stay with for the duration. I chose Roehl and to be a company driver to start. They have been kind and helpful and have always returned my emails or calls. Customer service is good . Perhaps in the future a O/O but for now I must crawl before I walk before I run...... I am studying hard and have been for weeks... Permit tests were a breeze and now its off to get practical study... I am so excited... Thank you for your post Sir... Feel free to email me for school productivity updates.. I'll gladly write... You all make the learning sound so easy. I have not even left the house yet and I have extreme excitement bordering nervous with anticipation. Waiting to go is killing me.... I know you know what I'm going threw. Please stay with me you guys through my new life here... I need someone who has been there... Thanks so much

 

try to stay calm... if you make mistakes just roll thru them. The instructors will have you nailing the pre-trip since you'll be doing it over and over and over and over.... you get the idea... What I see the most people that have issues about is that they get too worked up in the truck. Grind a gear and get frustrated then it becomes more and more till the instructor CLAPS and yells COME ON YOU GOT TO GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOU A!!!!!! lol Saw that one first hand... lol so funny.
Ask questions! Get used to saying, "properly mounted, not damaged, not leaking" you'll have nightmares about that! lol
Most of all relax! Oh and be sure to breathe during the pre-hire testing. That is the main reason people's heartrate jumps... they hold their breath...

 

hey there belleye,
I'm kind going through what you are and feeling much the same. I'm winding down to the last 3 weeks of Truck Driving School. Anxious, nervous and excited about a new way of life a tougher job and actually earning a living for myself as a 51 year old woman. I lie in bed going thru my Pretrip testing, alley docking, parallel parking, offset backing and double clutching yes, occassionaly grinding gears still. I drive a stick which i almost nothing like driving a big rig. One thing that has and will help me in some way is my being a motorcyclist. Riding my Electra Glide over the years has helped me be a defensive driver as you are in your semi truck. Looking way ahead, left and right and behind you for your hazards. Shifting is a whole new can of worms and one that will take time to get real good - like it is second nature for me in my four wheeler or on my two wheeler. Had my school instructor do a practice PreTrip with me timing it and marking the sheet off as I went along. I got all but 2 items BUT I went over the 30 minute time by 10 minutes. I left out pointing to my ABS dash indicator light and I reffered to my Fuel Tank as a darned GAS TANK! I can do all of my manuevers adequately with one pull-up and one get out and look....not in the box perfectly straight but my instructors say I'm okay. The Road Test with grinding a gear or not finding one and getting my RPM's up with my foot off the clutch....these are the things I'm concernign myself with on my test day August 30th. My button-hook turns, remembering to split the gears, checking mirrors frequently, signaling, keeping within the lines is alright. Been prehired by Roehl, Garner, US Express, Werner and will apply to Swift and a few others this weekend. Not sure who to go to Orientation with as of yet. Got my HazMat, Double/Triples, Tanker, Passport all taken care of and have a totally clean driving record. I'm working at my job 32 hours a week and my pay isn't adequate. Applied and recieved a Government Grant (WIA) to go to Truck Driving School and very much appreciate this assistance.
Best in luck to you and I'll keep you posted also. - Lisa

 

Hindsy, I hear you... "Settle Down Tater" " Breath kid breath".... I am in good physical working order . I run every morning to keep the Cardio in order and I have a target of 154.5 bpm ( I cruise at 136bpm) for my age of 48. I lift weights and practice martial Arts for fun and flex fitness. I don't eat fried food just raw veggies and whole grain carbs and the occasional chicken plucked, red meat and white carbs don't exist in my diet and have not for the last 10 years or so... I'll make it threw the physical but shifting has me all spun up. (LISA) holy smokes!!!!! That sounds like Soooooooooo Much happening.... (Hindsy) No Clapping PLEASE!!!! Hahahahahaha... Yes, I'm boiling over with all the particulars and dreaming up bad stuff that might not even happen.... I'm trying to take my tater off the stove but it's just no use.... I depart for Wisconsin on the morning of the 5th from Saratoga NY. I am over done here waiting... I go exercise and pump up come inside and go rite to this forum and read and fret. Being away from home is not the problem for me as I have a good family relationship of almost 25years but it's the FOOD and SHOWER and the occasional bad guys out there getting me wondering.... (Lisa), Your so young, don't even mention the age thing ... Your as young as you feel. (Hindsy) Your with Roehl correct? I want to work for them... I have not even looked at another Carrier. They have been more than nice to me... Yah I hear you, Clean licence, Clean Background, Clean Cut, Good Shape, NO NOTHING BAD... Anyone would be nice to me.... I know this but I kind of feel Roehl is the Co for me here and now..... Nothing is for ever (Thus my 25year Printing Career) you see. I am exiting before it implodes. I have chosen this life for myself you see. I know the bad stuff... My Dad was a O/O (318 Detroit Cabover) which at the age of 12 he made me drive it (Drunk Dad after arriving home from a trip)(Long story and I don't wish to bore you with the story ) but basically I have seen how it kills a young family (I lived it ...Son of a Trucker) but you see..... the smell..... the sound...... the rack..... the problems.... I remember them all like it was yesterday.... My family is all grown and out of collage (BOYS) and the wife works long hours as a RN at the job she had since she graduated (30 year vet) so now I can do what I wanted to do for so long.... I't going to be a reunion for me in a sense. I want to run.... Have trouble and solve the problems... Meet people ( Like yourselves) and be proud again with a worthy career, working for a worthy company. I got to do this..... It's my shifting I'm obsessed about. Can I DO IT? I will give it 100% of my effort.... You all have been so nice and supportive. I don't post much and when I do it usually sounds incorrect and someone bashes me and puts me down and trys to belittle me or discourage me so I tend to keep to myself... I am going to try real hard to bee good at this career. Things can and WILL get screwed up and I can mentally deal with that. I know it will happen but I will try to learn from my mistakes and go on and be better the next time.... AND NO BOO BOO's... I got a clean slate and intend to keep it that way.... You'll find me in the BACK ROW away from everyone for quite awhile if I have anything to say about it... Stay Away from the ROOKIE as I hear the Vets say on You Tube..... Yes... I am proud.... intense..... and a tad but spun up worried now.... I'll get threw it.... Everyone has to be a student don't they?
I just want to perform well and not fail... I'll get out every time to see behind me before I back... I'm not that kind of proud ... I want to be safe to be around. Soon I will be in it and calm down but for the next 3 weeks it's ROASTING TIME!!!!!!!!!! I need some friends in this... Please stay with me no?

 

Belleye,

Don't worry about naysayers garbage input. You will always have idiots trying to bring you down-somethin' to do with their own lacking I guess. You should try to stop workin' yourself up and relax a little because you are in a great position. You are lookin to do somethin because you want to and don't have to. A lot of drivers would rather be home everyday but there aren't enough local jobs, and the McJobs available won't provide for a family.

Cut yourself some slack and break that anxiety cycle that takes hold of you. You really are in the "drivers seat" and in a great spot in life.