Comments By Thomas R.

Didn't get a chance to post last night, but Saturdays are only half days. And are spent in the classroom. Yesterday we spent the time going over trip planning, maps. Left at lunch and had the rest of the day and Sunday to relax or do whatever

Karen, it's really not as bad as it sounds. As long as you manage your time with everything. During breaks and lunch and such it's helpful to work the jj Keller book. It is basically like a cdl manual but it is lot more in depth. It also covers a lot of other things as well, like trip planning, load documents (bill of lading, freight bill, etc.), health and wellness on the road, and basically all the in and outs of day to day life as a driver. It's a lot of really helpful info

Hey Thomas, you've done an awesome job taking up where Rayzor left off!

I hope everything works out okay for Rayzor and we hear back from him soon, but we really appreciate your joining up and helping out like you have. It's really awesome to have such a helpful person jump in here with such informative posts right from the get go.

Thanks man!

It's no problem. I try to be as helpful and informative as I can. I know when I was still just lurking around there were some good diaries on the in and outs of the roehl program but they were all a little older. And some things have changed now a little. And I'm sure if there is anyone out there doing the research like I was I hope this is helpful to them.

Karen, the school here is 6 days a week. M-F 7am-8pm Saturday 7am-11:30am. We originally had 6 people in class. Razor had to go home for an emergency. So that put us to 5 but one guy has been out sick for a day and half. They haven't given us any set homework assignments. They give us the J. J. Keller Driver Training Manual and said it needs to be done by the end of the 2nd week at latest. There is also the driver reference book and cargo securement books that need to be read

On to day 5. We started the morning out by doing the pre trip by ourselves in out groups. The guy the went home sick yesterday didnt show up today so it was just 4 of us. They put us 2 in a truck. Once we finished our pre trips we headed out into town. Took turns driving through downtown and back to the terminal. The while the other guy was driving a yawned loud while riding in the back and the instructor joked around and said alright now I got a surprise for when you drive. And he did. At an intersection we normally turn left at he had me turn right. It a small turn to make with a sign that hangs out into the road. And then he had me make an immediate right just through the intersection onto another small road that runs back behind the hotel. It was tight. When we got back to the yard it was lunch time. After lunch (actually half through lunch) we went out and did the pre trip again. Then we went over to the second range that is nice and sloppy from the snow melt and rain and took turns working on our straight line back, offset back to left and right, and the 90 degree alley back. We were all in one truck because we had another guy go back to the hotel at lunch for stomach issues. So it was just 3 of us this afternoon. After our backing we took break. Then after break we went out with a different instructor than our normal, and we did the truck stop pull throughs from left and right. Then we did out post trip and uncounted and parked the truck for the weekend. And it was back to the hotel

Thomas:

Thanks. I have to do my best to stay calm, in spite of errors I know I will be making.

With the pre trip, did you receive notes w/pics? Are the notes self explanatory? Did the instructor go over the notes w/the truck w/everyone? Are the notes overwhelming or do you think w/enough practice, the notes will essentially be memorized? Did anyone do any pre trip studying (at home) before starting class?

Sorry for the million questions lol.

Karen

Karen, they give you a packet on the pre trip. It basically goes section by section of the truck and trailer. Tells you what to check and the wording you say. There's not pictures, but the instructors do go over it all with group in detail about everything showing you everything on the actual truck and trailer. Basically all you have to do is memorize the packet. It's easy enough. It's a lot of repitition. I didn't do any studying before hand on it. But I was a tractor/trailer mechanic for 4 years. It's been a year almost since I've been doing that, but I still have a lot of knowledge about everything on it. As for everyone else in the class I can't say if any of them studied before or not

On to today's happenings. Started the morning out in the classroom to get our log in for the website and app (all of a couple minutes) then it was out to the shop (out of the cold) to go over all of the aspects of the pre trip. After taking the time to go fully into detail about the pre trip it was time for break. Afterwards we split into our 2 groups (they decided to swap out one person from each group). We hit the road again. The other 2 guys in my group drove making a loop around town back with right and left turns, RR crossings, sharp turning intersections, and crowded streets with close ontersections. Because of time I wasn't able to drive. Then we took our lunch. My group decided to take 30 mins early from lunch and head out and start doing some of the pre trip on our own. After lunch we hit the backing range. One of the guys from the other truck went home at lunch because he was sick. Not sure on if he will be back tomorrow or not. And the remaining 4 of us all piled in the same truck (our other instructor had to teach another class for the afternoon) Took turns on the 45 degree back (not on the test buy will be the most common used) and the 90 degree back. We all did pretty well. Our instructor said that he was glad to see we were all still cathing on fast. We spent all afternoon on backing with a break in between the 45 and 90 back. Then the instructor had us do the post trip on our own. And it was time to head back to the hotel

Boomshaker, I can't say I know how many autos they have or if that is what they are moving towards. We train on manuals of course, but as far as I can tell most of the tricks I have seen coming in and out of the terminal have been manual. I do know that an experienced driver that came in to orientation at the same time as my class said that he got a 2017 freightliner with an auto.

Karen, congrats on getting your start date. It is nerve racking when you first get in the truck and especially when you hit the road for the first time. The biggest thing to deal with that is to not let your nerves get the best of you. Especially out on the road. That is when you start making mistakes, and if you dwell on a mistake just made within seconds you've made 5 more. But don't worry too much. The instructors are there to help and guide you and will do everything they can to help you to perfection

Razor or Thomas, what is the length of orientation time? From the time get there till out on the road with a trainer, till you get your own truck? Thank you

You are in the school for 4 weeks, although our instructors told us that 4 of us are advancing so fast we may be able to test out the 3rd week and not have to stay a 4th week. Then it's home for a couple days and out with a trainer. They say the average time is 15 days with a trainer (not team driving). Then you get your truck and they route you home for a couple days and out on your own

Day 3 down. Bad news. Razor had to leave this morning for a family emergency. I can try to do my best to keep up with posting the day to day. For my group, morning started out with doing some on road driving around the block making left turns. Then after break time we hit the simulator for backing exercises. After lunch was back out to the truck for more on road driving. For me it was two times around the block on right hand turns, then headed into the industrial district. Crossed railroad tracks (make sure window is down and no shifting while on tracks), making left and right turns on small curvy roads (ended up jumping 1 curb and scraping another on 2 narrow road sharp corners), and back to the yard. The other 2 guys in my group only worked on right hand turning around the block. Then shortly before leaving was back to the classroom to get our ID badges. Instructors told us that tomorrow we will be going over the pre trip in the morning. And then it was back to the hotel