Impression of Roehl so far

Day 10 -

Complete Pre trip inspection, road run first thing in the morning. Dear God its cold!!!!!!!!!!! They are getting tougher on you by now. Make a mistake and they get on you. If you dont understand, they will explain and try to help you to get better. City driving, rural and lots of right and left turns. In the afternoon I did 2 45 degree backs first shot again. I think I got it. Went over the chapters we were supposed to read. Took test. I got 100%. 2 others got the same. Other guys got -1 and -2. Went over how we were doing, and the instructor thinks everyone will make it. It's really pretty systematic. You repeat the same things every day. You get LOTS of practice. They take their time teaching you. I wish the slower people would catch on quicker... I dont get as much practice when they take too long. Thats ok though. Its tough to learn everything DOT wants you to know. Its alot different then when I drove before. They dont care if its snowing or not. You will practice whether its snowing or not. They are preparing you to drive for them. The guys I am learning with all call me the real trucker because of my experience.They think somethings wrong when they dont learn as fast as I do. I keep telling them to forget what I'm doing, and that no one learns that fast when they are new. It would be real easy to get a big head. But I remember when I first learned, and I was no better then them. I just went thru the school of hard knocks to learn to drive. I respectfully remain humble. When you allow all that to go to your head, you will not learn. I appreciate their respect, but I am there for the same reason they are. I've learned alot. If I shoot my mouth off and then screw up, I will not hear the end of it. I dont know everything and I keep myself humbled. I try to offer the little tricks I've learned thru the years. Some help, some dont. Anything learned from someone helping is better than learning thru trial and error. I support them and encourage them. I let them know how great they are when they hit major acomplishments. Everyone loves to be acknowledged when they do good. Lets face it... this is now a difficult job and everyone needs to learn more. Its especially hard for new people coming in. Its alot to learn. Tomorrow it will be warmer... 20 degrees tomorrow. I HATE to even get out of bed for that temp in the AM. But you know what they say... No Balls, No babies. They dont even use salt up here on the roads very much because the temp never gets high enough to melt!!!! Roehl doesnt want you to just pass the CDL, they want to hire you and want to make sure your up to the standards and be safe enough so THEY can hire you. Its not a mill. I love helping the other guys. Theres no better feeling then when you helped someone that needed your help badly and it works. Trainers are highly skilled and can back up everything they teach with action. They shift and control the truck better than anyone I've seen in a long time! Thats why I'm listening to them. I know BS'ers when I see them and they dont BS. Still a great experience so far. What the Heck are you waiting for?! Get signed up and get your butt on the road!!

 

green -

THAT IS SO FUNNY! I dont think they have it anywhere else. Dude you can handle it if you bring about 5 sweatshirts and a good jacket. I wear 3 sweatshirts and a jacket, scarf, gloves and my one sweatshirt is a hoodie. Its not too bad then. You can get in the running truck. I'm not out in the cold longer than about 20 mins. They dont care if you get in the truck to warm up. No crappy equipment. all trucks are in tip top shape and they have electrical lines to plug in your heater block.

Big -

a ball warmer would DEFINITELY come in handy. In this cold weather they resemble baby balls You have to have an extra layer of skin to live here. I think in the artic its called blubber. I have thought once or twice that all pre millitary people start here before boot camp to toughen them up first.


truck fire -

How do you know it was because of a tire? (just want to know... curious)
My trainer didnt know. That is a freak of fate if that was the case. I've never even come close to a situation like that in over 10 years. That poor bassturdd that had to go thru that... Thats bad luck.

 

Milestoga -


as a experienced driver, I can respect what you say. However, as an experienced driver, I do not drive in weather I have no business driving in. Did they not respect you in your decisions to NOT drive when it got too bad?? You are correct that freight slows down about now. But its that way for everyone no matter what company you work for. May I ask ( I'm kinda curious) what you do when winter and a slowdown occur? If you can swing it without working, GREAT. I'm not quite there to be able to do that yet, but wont be long. I wont have a problem as long as they respect my decision to drive or not drive. Their saftey record is quite exemplary.