Comments By Nate W

I hope I feel the same when my turn comes. I know i will feel so relieved when I finally leave my current job. What division are you going in?

At the moment, my nerves are fine. I'm more excited and relieved that today has finally come.

hey that's awesome! Maybe we will all run into each other at a terminal one day. How are your nerves? The more I think about it, the more nervous/excited I get. I'm kinda nervous about the unknown but I'm also excited to be finally following my dream. I will definitely keep you all posted on my progress and I look forward to hearing yours as well

Congrats and good luck!!!

I too have always wanted to be a trucker amd have just started my journey with Roehl. I'm currently waiting on my bus to their Grand Prairie (Dallas) terminal to start training tomorrow.

And WOW, 3 of us on here (that I've seen so far) going to Roehl at roughly the same time (albeit at different terminals). One that's already been at the Georgia terminal for a week, you starting on the 17th at Appleton, and myself starting tomorrow in Dallas.

I look forward to hearing your progress.

thank you all for the words of encouragement. I'm definitely going into this with an open mind. I'm going to learn everything I possibly can. I'm not the expert, they are, so I'm going to stay focused and not act like a know it all. I think you can expect ups and downs with every company, no matter what profession it is. This ain't a perfect world so I don't expect any different with my new future career. The only thing I'm expecting is that my office view is gonna be better than my current view from a forklift in a warehouse lol. I'm sure I can count on that. I've done my research, A LOT of research. I couldnt tell you how many threads I have read on here because honestly I don't know, I just know its a lot. I've read every Roehl related topic on here to help my decision of choosing them. I was actually thinking about making a training diary about my experience with their school and going out with my trainer and maybe even continuing on when I go solo if anyone would be interested.

Hey, that's all really fantastic news! Glad to hear it and I really wish you the best of luck.

My advice is to expect a lot of ups and downs the next few months because that's trucking, especially early in your career. You're with a great company but that doesn't mean their trucks won't break down, or you won't meet some surly personalities, or they won't have some policies you don't like. It means you can expect to be given solid equipment and every opportunity you could ever hope for to learn your trade, prove your worth, become a top tier professional, and make a really good living.

So buckle up, work hard, and stay focused on reaching that one year mark with the company. Learn how their operations work, get to know some people in the offices, communicate really well with everyone, and don't sweat the small stuff.

Oh, and one last thing. Keep us updated. Let us know anytime you come across situations you're unsure of. So many times people run into challenges, blame the company for all of their problems, quit their job needlessly, and then come here to tell us about it. Well it's too late for us to help! They should have come to us when things became challenging and we could have helped them work through it.

So keep that in mind. We're here to help you make it to that one year mark with the company so make sure you give us the opportunity when challenging or confusing circumstances present themselves.

Have fun and best of luck!

Finally got everything all taken care of and in order after a little over 2 months of getting my health in good status. Its been a long struggle dealing with my blood pressure but its all good, got my health card, my permit and a start date at Appleton for Roehl's cdl program on July 17th. Finally get to follow a lifelong dream of mine to get my CDL and drive trucks. I'm super excited but super nervous since this will be a huge change for me and my family. Will this be the right career for me? I can't answer that but I have to follow my dream and find out. I'm going to give it my best and at least stick it out for the contract and go from there. Any advice from you fellow members? Anyone else going at the same time as me? I wanted to thank all of you for your numerous posts and Brett for your high road training. All of your words of wisdom and your training program have helped me immensely pass my test and pushed me to finally follow my dream and leave my factory job where I was miserable.

that's awesome! I will be starting in Appleton for the national reefer division, no exact start date as i gotta get my official birth certificate from the courthouse and then I go back to the DMV to get my permit. I already passed the test so its all waiting on a piece of paper. Good luck to you

This morning I received my official acceptance into the Get Your CDL Program at Roehl's Grand Prairie, TX (Dallas) terminal and am almost set to start on July 3rd. I'm supposed to be having another chat with my recruiter on Monday to finalize all the details.

Can't wait to get started.

how was the schooling for the program? Did you enjoy it? I will be starting in Appleton soon.

I've been an Ironworker for 18 years. I'm now in the final phase of training for Roehl. I wanted to try something different, so I figured getting a CDL and learning to drive a truck would be interesting. I decided to go with Roehl's "get your CDL program" after researching for a while and discovering that a class A CDL isn't of much use without experience. Once I start driving solo I've got to complete 120,000 miles to fulfill my contract, after that who knows? I've got @13 days left with an OTR trainer, then I'll test out and get the keys to a truck. I'm enjoying everything so far. It's a big change from Ironworking. A lot of things had to line up in order for me to take advantage of the opportunity to try a new career. So far so good.

great article. I wish all the papers would print that. I'm about to go to cdl school with Roehl and I've always had the most respect for truckers. I wish others would feel the same and everyone that drives should read this. Maybe they would care a little more and think about what they do. I've seen far too many accidents around here involving people not putting that phone down. Just saw one the other day. Young girl turning left off the highway on a very wide turn. She ran over the curb onto a bike trail and ran over a sign for the bike trail. Very scary. Lucky for her, nobody was biking there at the time but its a very used trail.

The New York Times just published another article about truck drivers:

Truckers’ Message for You: Chill Out, Stop Texting, and Have Respect

They asked truck drivers "...what they would say to drivers of four-wheeled vehicles if they got the chance."

They also published some funny and interesting pictures from inside the cab.

I replied to the author, Trip Gabriel, a National Correspondent for The New York Times, that I really appreciated the positivity in the comments he chose to publish. We all try hard here at TruckingTruth to be professionals and to promote a more positive and professional image for truck drivers, and it's very much appreciated that someone of the stature of the New York Times is choosing to do the same.

Who knows? With enough persistence maybe someday more carriers will begin expecting the same level of professionalism from their drivers that they would expect from their office personnel and our image will come full circle to what it was many decades ago - The Knights Of The Road.

We certainly have many Knights here at TruckingTruth. We're still outnumbered, but we'll keep pushing forward to change that!

I'm going to Appleton in the next month or two for training. I believe I'm going refrigerated. That's what my recruiter said is available in my area. From what I understand from a few people that drive flatbed, you will either have a cascadia or a prostar mid roof

I have decided on going with Roehl to get my CDL's and drive on there OTR Flatbed fleet , But I'm curious on what truck the use. Thank's Guys

I'm personally going to be going to roehl for their get your cdl program in the next month or two when I get everything lined up. I think they have a great program, you get paid 500/week before taxes during school and then 90/day when you go out with a trainer. You do have to stay with them for 120 or 130 thousand miles (which comes out to about 15 months or you habe to pay them for the schooling. In my opinion, its not a bad deal. You shouldn't be jumping from company to company anyways.

Getting ready to follow my dreams and become a driver but cannot decide what company to choose to attend for training. Any insight? Roehl is offering more money doing flatbed (.41 mile) plus getting paid starting on day 1. Swift is only offering .31 mile and you don't get paid for the training. Roehl sounds like a no brainer but something is telling me I wont get no where near the miles that I would with Swift. Thanks guys

do you have to sign up for the rewards cards or does your company hand them out to you when you start? Sounds like a dumb question but I'm going to be starting with a new company (and career) in a month and just wondering how would a person obtain the cards

As a Company Driver, I do not choose my fuel stops. In my opinion Loves has the best rewards program. Any time you buy fuel, the Major Truck Stops will give you a free shower. If you are looking for Big Truck Stops with lots of Parking Spots, then TA and Petro seem to be the best bet. They both usually have a sit down restaurant attached. Dennys, Iron Skillet, Country Pride. Most Truck Stops or "Travel Centers" have fast food places attached.