Roehl GYCDL

Hey guys, this is my first post and I just wanted to share my experience with Roehl's GYCDL program. So far I have completed the first week and so far my experience is amazing. It is much better than I was expecting from reading other posts. It took around a month after applying to actually show up for training. I chose Roehl after a few months of researching countless other companies and Roehl seemed to fit my needs the most, and had the least amount of negative reviews. Roehl was also the only company to pay while training to get your CDL and are an employee from day 1. Roehl also provides lunch Mon-Sat.



Day 1. Day 1 was an overview of everything you will learn in the 4 week program, physical test to make sure you can handle the physical aspects of the job, driving simulator to learn shifting and then getting in a real truck to bobtail around the range to practice more shifting.

Day 2. A little more paperwork, PowerPoint, simulator for learning turns, and then hooking up to a trailer for the first time, briefly going over the pretrip, then doing left and right turns around the range.

Day 3. Day 3 shocked us all. After more simulator, and turns on the range, and because we were all progressing fairly well and quickly, we actually went out of the terminal and drove around town practicing left and right turns. Then we learned straight line backing and practiced a few times before calling it a day.

Day 4. Day 4 we learned offset back. We practiced straight line backing and offset backing, drove around town and came back and did more backing.

Day 5. Day 5 we practiced straight line, offset and then hit the road. I drove around 35 miles one way and the other guy training with me drove the way back. When we got back we we're shown how to parallel park with a trailer. And practiced the straight line off set and parallel as you would for CDL test. We totally rocked the parallel. Excited.



Day 6. Saturdays are short days, with no driving. Classroom instruction on map reading and trip planning.

All in all it is very fast paced and I believe it is fast paced as long as everyone is progressing to a point they believe we can safely and effectively move on to something else. I've never driven a tractor trailer in my life and I can't believe I was driving one on the first day of training. I love the fact that we are getting minimal classroom instruction, (no more than necessary) and getting much more drive time. I have seen so far that not all classes are the same, some classes didn't get into a truck until the third day. I can say I am glad to have been so lucky to have the trainers that I have. They are very safety oriented, and awesome teachers. I can't wait to see how the next 3 weeks pan out. Feel free to ask any questions and I will answer them to the best of my knowledge or find the answer for you.

 

Gary, IN. So far everything is peachy. I know we are getting paid 500/wk for training, but don't get paid until the 3rd Thursday. Would you happen to know if they pay for the previous 2 weeks on the first paycheck or is it like holding a check like regular jobs do.. That's the only think I haven't asked yet but am curious to know. Lol

 

It has been a few days since I made a post, so here it is in week 2 day 3... So far all week was pretrip inspection, backing practice, driving on the road and one morning we had "The Roehl Way" class which took all morning. It was a decent class and we had a lively instructor that had a great sense of humor which made it go by pretty quick. The bad part part of the class was a 30 minute video which was extremely boring. Lol. So the class was about 4 1/2 hours in total.

I am glad that we get plenty of practice to work on the backing skills. We learned great tips and tricks on knowing reference points on when to start turning the wheel to make each maneuver near perfect. We have also been logging about 35 miles each day we drive on the road. It doesn't seem like much, but we have been doing mainly city driving with moderate traffic. The routes we take take around 1 1/2 hours. So I think it is plenty including all the other practice we do.

Tomorrow we get to have a practice test on pretrip and air brakes. In order to get to go out driving we must all get at least 70% on the pretrip and 100% on the air breaks. I am confident that we will all pass and get to go out and drive afterwards. I'd hate to have to practice only the pretrip and air breaks all day long. I would die. Lol

All in all, still happy and optimistic in the training we are receiving. And look forward to the next week and a half.

I'll be back soon with more updates!

 

5 for Each arm and leg. I believe the resistance was set based on height and weight but I'm not certain on that part.