Roehl Transport CDL School, Grand Prairie,TX

As promised, a more detailed update.

My 2nd trainer is on a fast paced regional fleet out of Appleton. I was out with him for 2 weeks with weekends off. For me, the pace was blistering and I struggled the entire time with this trainer.

I went out earlier this week with a trainer on a dedicated account. I fared far better and started driving better. While I was hoping to finish my training with him, but he is heading back for his hometime. Due to this, I'm sitting at the Gary terminal for the weekend to find out what's next on Monday.

 

Well, while my last trainer and I thought things were going well, today marks the end of my journey with Roehl.

With my first trainer, things were going really well, and thought there would be no issues with the rest of my training. He had a truck with an automatic, so with shifting out of the equation, things were easier. The pace of his fleet was also modest, allowing me time to actually think about and process what I was learning. He was on the 7/7 fleet, meaning he was out for 7 days and home for 7 days. I was off for 3.5 days before meeting with my 2nd trainer.

Things started going downhill with the 2nd trainer. He was on a local/regional hybrid fleet that was fast paced and offered littie time to process what's going on. This trainer would have me delay slowing down for off ramps, then when I slowed down quickly to make the turn, he would get on me for going into the off ramp too fast. He would have me at a 4-5 second following distance when Roehl policy is 7 seconds. Because my calibration to the truck isn't quite there yet, I would sometimes get to within 2-3 seconds and be told to back off. He would also have me drive 2-3 mph over the posted speed limit when the truck was capable of doing so. He would also have me take corners that we did not have to stop for in 6th gear (company policy is 5th). I would also have to spend 1.5 - 2 days at the terminal while he was on his hometime. Prior to the Labor Day Holiday, it was decided that I would go with a 3rd trainer, which I did not meet up with until Wednesday of last week.

My 3rd trainer was on a fleet that allowed him more time for things to be slowed down. Over the first couple of days, I was doing OK overall, but still had some following distance, off ramp spspe, and other issues. By the 4th day, I had practically no issues. This trainer was going home for the weekend, so they sent me to the Gary, IN terminal and told me that they would let me know what to do on Monday (today).

After sitting in Gary all weekend and waiting all day for word on what to do, I got called in to the office at about 3:50pm and waited to be seen at about 4:30 pm, where I was told that I was terminated due to concerns of following distance and off ramp speed. They also told me that after 22 days of training, it would take more than 2 or 3 days more to get me where I need to be and that the training schedule did not allow for that kind of extra time.

Provided another company will take me, I'm not giving up.

 

The fleet operations manager at the Gary, IN terminal said I would've had to get through phase 2 to be charged. However, I'm taking that with a grain of salt.

 

I earned my CDL over a month ago. I was still in the "OTR" training phase when I was terminated.

As for where I'm going...my top choice is Melton. They were where I really wanted to be anyway. If all else fails, I have a good friend who's an O/O and about to be a driver trainer with Swift (yes, I'm aware of Swift's reputation). I'll be doing more research and putting in applications when I get home, as I'm sitting waiting on a Greyhound out of Chicago right now.