Roehl Flatbed Questions

Their flatbed training consists of about 2-3 more days than dry van and reefer. Idk where you'll be but I was in Marshfield Wisconsin for their flatbed training. They will teach it to you but primarily focus on the driving part. What they teach is pretty much useless after you get your cdl.

 

It's not too bad but like I said most of why they teach you only good until you go out with your trainer then it's useless. Real world applications are way different than a controlled environment. They will give you decent miles with a toe trainer as well then maybe the first week out by yourself,after that you can barely afford to eat let alone pay bills! That's why I left most the guys in my class still drive for them but aren't happy, they just didn't want to pay for the school. I didn't much care, too much bull crap and not enough miles. 63mph doesn't make for a bunch of miles, especially if the customer spends 5-7 hours unloading you

 

The recruiter I spoke to today offered the Great Lakes regional flatbed training in Gary, IN as well.

 

If you go flatbed, make sure to thoroughly inspect your straps when you pick them up at the terminals. A lot of the drivers just don't give a ####e about their condition, and you'll find a lot of legally bad straps in the good pile. I started inspecting and marking all of the straps that came my way with permanent marker markings around all the holes along with their total size. 3/4 inch total hole size along the whole strap, length and/or width, makes for a legally un-serviceable strap according to the DOT, and what I kept finding was well in excess of that typically. I usually spray painted a red "X" on the bad ones with one of those tiny touch-up cans when I had time

 

Cut the hooks off make them disappear and chop the rest up to make V boards or edge protection. No sense keeping bad straps around. That problem is at a lot of places.