Adventures of a Flatbedder at Roehl

Sorry for not updating in a while, my internet or at least what I thought would be my internet hit a SNAFU, so sitting in Marshfield and now finally have internet. My Updates....

My Phase 2 training started in Gary on a Wednesday afternoon with a local van driver doing some deliveries and trailer moves in Chicago and the burbs. Nothing special. I was suppose to do this a second day until my trainer arrived on Friday. I got an early morning call saying "change" a new trainer would be picking me up on Thursday. His student "resigned" after his first day. (disclaimer--- I know who the student was and he should never have been moved out of phase 1, but that's another story. )
So day 2 arrives and my trainer picks me up from Gary. First words, "can you drive?" Apparently because of needing to drop of previous student his load is in jeopardy of being late. Not sure when his 14 hours ended, by I didn't stop driving until midnight CDT. :biggrin_255 Oh, he had a curtain side to start with.
Day 3 deliver on time to Atlantic City to the nice new hotel on the boardwalk. Got to back into a building. Or let me rephrase, turn around 180 degrees inside the building and dock it with other trucks coming and going at same time with no room and construction materials everywhere.
We then headed to Philly to pick up a load and ended up having to stay the night. You always hate when the night crew says its ok to park for the night and the Late night crew says you have to park in the street because you are "in the way" at 5 AM. Gotta love Philly.
Day 4 Driving back toward Gary for Monday morning delivery. Don't push to hard since its SATURDAY, so we stop in Ohio near Indiana.
Day 5 Make it to Gary for my first Shower in since day 2. Also, did some securement training (made up training) in Gary. Tarped one of the training trailers and then learned to fold up the tarp. Oh, did I say it was raining? It was.
Day 6 Deliver in Harvey, IL. Go back to Gary to drop the curtainside and finally pick up a flat. Needs to deliver in some small town I can't remember in Wisconsin and then onto Marshfield. Did I say by 2:30 PM, even though its 11 AM. Uhm, not going to make that, but do get window opened until 3:30 for first drop. Make it, but the drop has to pick off the top layer of pipes with a forklift that doesn't have long forks. This middle was pretty tough getting to. Restrapped and on to Marshfield. Make it there in time, but out of hours so onto the terminal for the night.

cont....

 

Day 7 Need to take a flat to Wausau to pick up a load. Uhm, hello there are no flats in Marshfield. WTH Get permission to bobtail and we are off. The load is headed to Venice, IL. So all of you who hate I-70 coming across the river in St. Louis never fear. A new bridge is on the way.... in 3 years..
Anyway, get to the shipper get instructions and strap the load. Crossmembers. Get my first real strap job, by myself. Goes well and we are off. Oh, it delivers at 0700 the next day. Think you are started to see a trend here. From Wausau, WI to St. Louis, MO is a nice run, if you have enough hours. Already used up 4 from driving there and strapping (hey I'm new at this.) So we team it there. I drive till my hours are getting tight and then my trainer finishes it to Venice.
Day 8 Get up nice and early to find the job site. After missing the turn, find ourselves in MO. Of course, no easy place to turn around. 30 minutes to get back across, which isn't bad considering the dilemma, and now on the right road, we cant' find the right road. The map that the shipper gave us and the actual streets don't necessarily match up. Call the contact and he doesn't even know where we are even though we are in the same town. On a hunch, we continue down the road and luckily run into him as he is searching for us. Get turned around, AGAIN and follow him into the job site. And that's after he turns off on a dirt road that has a no trespassing sign posted at the entrance. Like we were ever going to find that.
There were also two other Roehl truck headed there and they too got a little lost.
So after unloading, get a load assigned to pick up from PreCoated Steel in Granite City. Pick up 5 coils, palletized, 45,000 lbs headed to WI.... for a 0800 delivery the next day. So I get some experience with coils and another day of pushing the team driving. And to make matters worse, my 70 hour clock is ticking down fast. I drive until I have an hour left and then shutdown to the sleeper so my trainer can finish us up.
Day 9 Deliver in WI and then after sitting with no plan for 90 minutes, off to Marshfield to test out on Friday.
Day 10, TODAY do my written test and drive test and I am officially a solo driver now!! Now if they could get my truck ready...
Truck being serviced and had some issues. Radiator leaked, been replaced, was the major item. About 10-15 other items that were being corrected. So on Saturday I should be able to head home, under load. Have a preplan to take me home, but have a delivery on Monday in the middle of hometime. After 21 days away, I could care less as long as I get home.

Will post a bad picture of my "new" truck soon. Well at least its new to me.

 

Actually PA, its the same for flatbed and van. 8 day orientation and then 8-14 days with a trainer. Hell I would have been off in 6 if they didn't have the 8 day policy. Also, I met many current or former trainers in my two days of sitting in Marshfield. It was about 3 to 1 on those who still liked training so you are not alone there PA.

For me, I have had experience in the past so getting used to Roehl's policies was really all I needed. Unfortunately, there are some that are getting out of training just as quick with no experience. And others who can drive who stay the full 14 days or more. Really no rhyme or reason for it. I know I called the FM and said get me off. On another note, flatbed and curtain probably should have a longer orientation just to get used to and actually do some strapping, chaining, and tarping a load. 2 weeks of training is not going to get you enough experience to be able to do it on your own. I would even include me on that one, IMHO.

On a side note, my first load was a little shaky. Well, it is a relay load and I am not a big fan of how it was loaded. Let's just say I am glad I made it to South Saint Paul, MN without driving myself crazy. It's properly strapped, but it would have made me feel better if I would have been there to load it and make a few adjustments to where things went. Oh well, got it here and now a few days of home time before delivering on Tuesday morning. I'll get that picture up soon....