Comments By Tracy H.

PJ - What do you haul if I can ask

Looks good. Never think your over securing a load. No such thing in my opinion. Do what you are comfortable with. I am very lucky and never have to tarp. I also haul the same product all the time and that makes my life pretty easy. I will never complain.

I used the 12v luchbox oven to bake these chicken thighs (in oven bags) & bake the potatoes for mashed potatoes - BTW this was my Thanksgiving meal on the road...

Yes LOTS of tucking was done for that. Really didn't like that part but...... Did that one forst so the steel tarps went quick... :)

You don't have any canvas or half tarps I'm assuming? I don't know the size of your tarps but our lumber tarps are 8ft drops. That would be a nightmare for such a low profile load.

You got it about the tarp - I was about 10 feet short with the 2 steel's & 2 feet short with the lumber & one steel tarp...

Hey welcome to the flatbed side. It's really not too bad once you "get it". I wouldn't really say these loads are hard, but definitely dangerous for a 1st load. I noticed they loaded you terribly but not much you can do sometimes. They tell us not to have any gaps between the bundles so you'd only need one or two bulkheads. Also, I was wondering why you needed a lumber tarp? We're your 2 steel tarps not long enough?

Matt

That is the nice thing at Roehl - if you try it & do not like it - just go back to Van......

I see now. The stacks of dunnage chained down in between. I've never noticed anything like that before. I haul dry van. Also for Roehl. In my previous career as an Ironworker I unloaded many trailers of structural steel, rebar, precast, etc. I might try flatbed with Roehl someday.

I have been driving Van for Roehl for 3-4 months now (on my own after all training.) And wanted to try flatbed, and if I hated it I can alway go back to Van - that was one of the reasons I went with Roehl from the beginning. This is a load that I found out later is a harder one as all the metal rods are cover in grease so they slide all over. Took 4 bulkheads, 17 straps, 2 steel tarps & 1 lumber tarp. I guess if I was going to get one from he beginning might as well be a harder one. I drove it from Chicago to Dallas. Really no shifting to much, but I felt a LOT better with all the bulkheads in place. Only hard thing was a sleet storm from St. Louis to Mt Vernin, 20-25 MPH. Now for my Christmas off time & head back out ion the 1st. I will post more on here if you guys want me to.....

-4

I was there (in my first week) Dark ROCKED IT!!!! In all honestly everyone I talked to said that the cones were to narrow compared what they are suppose to be - he should have passed the first time. But all is good now!!! Nice meeting you Dart & glad for TT to we "kinda" knew each other before I got there.....

Thanks

Congrats Tracy!!!

I'm at the Grand Prairie terminal for the GYCDL program now. I started July 3rd and am scheduled to take my skills tests on Friday in Canton. The instructors here are good guys and good teachers, and they'll work with you as long as you listen and can show improvement (and don't do anything like have alcohol in the hotel room).

If you want to see what the day to day here in Grand Prairie is like, check out my diary on here.

I do not know why the info is all jumped together - looks OK before I submit it - sorry

Roehl’s pre-employment stuff I have done. The day after I applied I was contacted by Roehl & was asked a few real basic questions & she said she would call me a a couple days. Two days later she called me back & asked to schedule a phone interview. At that time I was way to busy on my farm asked if she could call me in 10-14 days to schedule, she said “No issues.” Two weeks later she called my & I apologized for making her wait & she said no issues she wanted all my stuff in a good way before I started with them if they offered me a job. That paid was nice of her saying that. Phone interview, just basic questions about me, my work history, & my future standard questions here real no surprise. At the end of the interview she told me that everything looked great & wanted me to get a physical for them before they offered anything. You can not use another DOT exam results. Here is a good tip for anyone going to Roehl, this will be a standard DOT physical with an added hair drug test. So I already have my CDL permit so I paid for one already, so if you are going to Roehl wait to take your tests ill you get the DOT physical in your have & save the $70.00. The scheduling of the physical was GREAT, I was called my a doctor of Physician assistant I do not remember about my health history. After that call, I was emailed a number to call to a local place that does the physicals & they scheduled my for a couple days ahead for an open appointment all day (that was nice!!) The physical was standard with the addition of the hair test, since I shave my head they took a big patch off my chest, no issues. I did have a hearing test & after I was tested she said “sorry, you did not need that. But you passed with flying colors” So I got a free hearing test!!! The day after the physical my rep called me & said they would like to offer me a job knowing that if I failed the hair test (takes 3-5 days) it would be rescinded. If I failed the drug test I would be the most surprised person involved here, so I knew I had a good offer. They asked me when I wanted to start training & they said they had an opening for July 17th – they start a class here in Dallas every 2 weeks. I said great thanks. That was around June 25th. The Rep calls me every week to check in & the first time she called me & asked if I could wait till the Juky 31 class, as I could get everything finished here on the farm, she looked & said no issues & logged me in for that start date. Even though I live in the Dallas area they are paying for my hotel room which is nice as the training in just over an hour away so I can stay there Mon-Fri & come home over the weekend or if I get off early one day. On Monday the 24th or Tuesday the 25th they will send me all the information I need for the training & hotel info. So until I get that - have a good one everyone!!

Sorry abut the above - hopefully this is easier to read - looked fine before I hit send.....

Hello All I hope to keep this updated during my training at Riehl Transport, Get You CDL Program [GYCDL]). A little about my & why I picked Roehl. I am a late 40 year old Army Vet (not retired from the Army). I closed my computer store about 2 years ago & have been working on my small farm here in North Texas (North of Dallas). Trucking is something I always have wanted to do, when I got out of the Army I worked for Brinks Armored & worked in there over the road team, & loved it. That though was 20 years ago so I am a rookie & newbie to driving & all that was straight struck driving so…… Enough about me so why did I pick Roehl, I really did not have a preference on weather I went to school & paid for it or had a company pay for it, I was about the training & job. I applied at 8 different companies, 3 out right said no since I have been self employed for over a decade they said “sorry that is to long for us” So TMC, Raider, & Hogan I guess do not like self employed people. NONE of them would say what the time limit is for self employment. I could show my W-2’s from my taxes the last decade but they all said – no thank you. So about other companied why I did not go to them (maybe I will in the future). I have NO hard feelings on being told no, they have a business just like I did I really did not care one way or another but would like to have been told straight answers though. I called Knight Transport & talked to 3 different recruiters over a 2 month period while I go my farm & home in order to go to this profession. All 3 I called 3-4 different time & the best I could get was, I will call you back & training for Texas residents is hard on us. That is really all I got, sad I thought that could be a good fit for me. USA Express & US Transport NEVER got back to me on 3 attempts to talk to them, so I can not tell you anything about them. So it really came down to Schneider, Roehl, & McElroy. I wanted flatbed as I am a worker I thought that would be nice since I am coming from a job (my farm) where I am outside working 14-16 hours a day. McElroy would not give me an offer till I graduated, since I wanted an offer before & started any training that left Schneider & Roehl. I picked Roehl for a few reasons. 1 – They have a flatbed division I can transfer to if I want to (I am starting in Van) 2 – All the drivers I talked to really had nothing to bash them, everything they complained about was nit-picky or slandered “working for the man” issues. 3 – Training – EVERYONE I talked to about Roehl’s training said it was top notch & felt real comfortable after the training & OTR training. 4 – Pay – although not a real big issue pay is nice (as if you guys/gals did not know that) They pay was right there with others with pay raised after 4, 6, & 12 months. 5 – Terminal – where I live there is a local Roehl terminal (there is a lot here in Dallas) 6 – Tie here with Schneider – both the reps I talked to were Honest, Answered all my questions without BS’ing me, & kept me up to date on everything. That is why I picked Riehl – the next post will be everything I did before my training starts.