Going with Roehl

Thank you Keith,

Having to call in everyday wouldn't aggrevate me nearly as much as sitting in a hotel room for weeks waiting on someone to decide if they want to train me or not. I think I made a wise decision when I left Werner and called Roehl.

 

My recruiter told me that I would be set up with a trainer after I graduate and before I leave home. In fact they combine orientation in with their school. She told me she can't guarantee a female trainer. I told her it didn't matter to me if the trainer was male or female.

 

Day five.....Well I got through the first week. We spent most of the day driving country roads. First part of the day was all left hand turns and after lunch it was all right turns. I did amazingly well. I still missed a gear a few times (nerves) but I recovered quickly. I got turns down pretty good. We had about an hour left in the day so my trainer decided we would do 45 degree backing. I thought good I need the practice. He then announced we were going to do something a little more challenging. He had us backing between concrete barriers with trailers right across from the hole. It was close quarters. He backed up once to show us how to set up and then helped me understand better the correct way to back up to get it lined up in the hole. It went right in. I was so happy. Tomorrow the yard is opened all day with instructors for anyone who wants or needs extra practice. I told them I will be there. I feel a lot more confident and not afraid of the truck like the first day I sat behind the wheel.:smt023

 

Congrats! I think that is so cool what your doing, maybe someday I can try! Keep up the good work!!

 

Whispers, have you been trained on moving trailer tandems yet? I never did this at my high-priced school. I never even touched tandems until I went out with my trainer, and then did it only minimally. Be sure to get that down, as a woman may have a little more trouble doing that if she doesn't know the tricks. This is because it can be a royal ##### to get the pegs to move in when you need to slide your wagon wheels. I remember sometimes those pegs would go right in when I pulled the lever out. Other times I had to get the hammer out and even then was barely able to pound them in, even after moving the truck a dozen times only a hair's breadth. This was especially true when I had a heavy load on, which makes sense.

Know that you will have to move your wagon wheels all the way to the rear at certain docks before backing in. You'd do well to practice moving the tandems and backing the wagon up with the tandems in different places, including all the way to the front and all the way to the back.

I assume you're backing 53 footers on this lot. If not, get one and practice. Most companies' boxes are 53s.

My hammer was a small sledge-style hammer, and I learned after the very first wack to wear ear plugs when moving tandems. Dawn dish soap was a good lube on rusty runners, and it was good hand soap after moving stubborn tandems, doing pretrips, checking oil, and fueling up.

Yeah, moving tandems can be aggravating for sure. Be sure you practice a lot. If you're going to Cally on a load, more than likely you'll have to move your tandems pretty far forward. Maybe you'll get lucky on those runs and they'll already be where they're supposed to be. Don't bet on it, though. Tandems have to be fairly close to the farthest-foward position on Cally runs if the wagon is 53 feet. I'm sure you already know this, though.

 

Yep, the old tandem slip slide can be a royal pain. Don't forget a pair of vice grips. New drivers always get the heavy loads, so be ready to slide and jockey them around to get the axles right. For some reason the worse the weather, the more stubborn they get.

 

Grinder, I too noticed that "the worse the weather, the more stubborn the sliders". Stubborn pegs weren't always the problem, either. Stubborn release levers can be a ##### as well. I remember those vividly, especially when I pulled Swift junk. These were wagons that Swift inherited after taking over such companies as West's Best (the Idaho outfit), and some others whose wagons were pretty worn down to the nub. Believe me, the only thing West's Best was best at was having the worst wagons. I dreaded getting one of those, as I knew it'd be a royal pain to move the wheels if I needed to.

Taking along vice grips is a good idea, as this will help with all sorts of minor jobs, including holding the tandem release lever in place after you get it pulled out. Many a release lever jumped out of its groove as the box rails slid alongside the (rusty) tandem rails when I moved wheels. This locked the tandems down tight again, meaning I had to start all over with getting the pins to release.

Whispers, I think there is something out there on the market called "the persuader" to help you move the lever out as far as it needs to go. I've never tried it. It may work okay. I've read here where you are going out with your husband to do the Mr & Mrs Team, so I guess your husband will be helping you when you have to slide tandems. Again, getting the lever pulled out all the way is only half the battle. You will still have to get the four pins to release. About half the time you get the lever into the groove, the pins will still not release. You have to hammer 'em in or jimmy the truck, meaning back-and-forth, back-and-forth, back-and-forth...... from the cab to the wheels. I wish there was something to help you get the pins in without using a hammer or without jimmying the truck 25 times to get them to release. Maybe this is one of those "better mouse traps" somebody needs to invent. I know some wagons these days have air-release pins, which makes the job a lot easier. Roehl probably has a whole slew of these.

Stay tuned, Whispers, as I have other advice for you before you head out with your husband. He probably already knows my tips, but I'll throw them out there anyway. I drove over 400K miles when I had a CDL, so I know a few tricks. Let me think of 'em.

 

All of the Roehl trls. that I pulled had the air release system. It works very good most of the time, however in sub zero weather they will sometimes freeze up.Sounds like you are doing things right Whispers.Keep up the good work,and best of luck to you.

 

If Roehl has all air-release wagons, you are definitely doing right by going there, Whispers.

Again, it's really cool to see people make these good decisions and go with good outfits. It's good to see they'll be staying out the clutches of the bad companies we all love to hate.

I'm jumping up and down here clapping, Whispers. Believe it. Another driver that won't be going with the likes of England or Swift.

We're gettin' on a roll here, boys.