Comments By Aubrey M.

Most all of the parameters can be enabled or disabled by your company, some even over there air via satellite. So like mine, you may not have manual mode on the transmission nor be able to change the over and under speeds for cruise, etc, but you should still have the cruise descent control which works pretty well and it's not so jerky on downshifts. Also when in cruise you should just be able to turn on the engine brake and it will slow the vehicle until you turn it off or give the truck fuel. There is a noticable delay when using this method though.

That upper bunk ventilation issue is for real in the dog days of summer. My plan for having some chance at air moving up there is to work small ducting from one of the two vents near the control panel of the bottom bunk. Might not be much but better than nothing.

My company does that standard now and puts a vent in the upper cabinet. It does help a good bit.

27250 miles so far and no leaks. However, you will get drenched if you have to roll the window down and it's raining given the shape of the cab and door. Despite being a company truck i put vent visors on mine to stop this as well as to help keep my convex mirrors visible/usable in rain when driving over 55mph.

Strictly for the cdl test left offset, we were taught: pull all the way forward to your boundary line or cone, turn your wheel all the way to the right, back until you just barely see the down tube of the right side of your landing gear come into view on your West coast mirror (sitting Straight in the seat), stop, turn wheel all the way to the left, back until your tractor is straight with your trailer, stop, you should now see the right front corner cone in your right West coast mirror.

From here you now have to use your right convex to get your tandems past and around that cone. Might have to back up straight a few feet before turning the wheel left to start your trailer turning. Just go slow and don't oversteer. The slower you go the faster you can catch your trailer when you need to and leave yourself more room to correct if needed without a pull up.

Coleman 12v cooler here, but i got a thermostat to put in line off of eBay for about 6 bucks so i don't have to worry about unplugging it. Now it seldom ices up on the cooling fins and doesn't freeze things in cooler weather.

I watched several of his videos both before and after school. They are a good visual of how the trailer reacts and moves in given situations, better than just using a toy semi.

Ok, the last time I got off topic here, I really took a lot of heat, and deservedly so. Don't want to stir the septic tank again. But I do respect those who have Christian values. Must be hard to find places of worship while OTR.

Nope, it is not necessary to be in any particular place to worship God and the fact that we are talking about Him on this forum is considered church.

I am Also a Christian.

The agility test with Roehl is just a crt machine test. They have a video of it on their site or YouTube. I saw guys in their 60s as well as guys who weighed well over 300 lbs (not muscle) pass it with no problem aside from being out of breath.

Everyone else who will be there with you is just as nervous. Just don't let the nerves overwhelm you and use school to find out what helps you settle them, cause you will need that skill out on the road once you're solo and dealing with crowded truck stops, traffic, bad weather, tight shippers, wrong turns, etc.

For me it helped watching others and identifying (to myself) the mistakes they were making and either realizing oops i do that, or at least i don't do that. Even once out solo.

I’m at Roehl and we really have the best equipment. Late model internationals and cascadias. They keep them well maintained too.

Eh, maintained to run reliably yes... Maintained for comfort, not necessarily. Apu and truck ac problems (especially in high mileage trucks) don't always get addressed. I speak from personal experience as well as first hand info from fellow drivers. I lucked out though since my truck had over 440000 on it when my ac went out. I only had to run for a couple weeks before getting a new one. I and many others i know also had ongoing battery issues with the older trucks that led to fuel mileage issues (from idling too much) or interrupted sleep. However, Roehl did buy a ton of new trucks this year and i think you'll be getting one at a time when there aren't many old (i say old but mean highly used) ones left. My new one was completely new with only 60 miles on the dial.

Before catching any crap... I know I'm whining, but apus and comfort was part of my criteria in choosing a company. If it were like the old days with a coffin size bunk or way back with Armstrong steering then i wouldn't be doing this otr. Not at 43 at least.

I've also managed to get unloaded 8-12 hours early by getting to the consignee for my 10 hour... And being very nice to receiving. This usually only works for smaller places though. Big DC's sometimes penalize a company for early deliveries. So find all that out before just showing up early.