Profile For Brandon Kitts

So after a year of flatbed I'm becoming a door swinger due to a previous shoulder injury acting up. Any tips for pulling a van after being used to a flat?

Congratulations!!

Maybe instead of going straight for your own authority, look at companies that offer a lease program. I just started lease at Roehl. It will give you a chance to learn how to run your business before being thrown to the wolves. Roehl's lease program is a walkaway program which means if I find that lease isnt for me I just bring the truck back to the terminal to have lease decals removed and I can go back to being a company driver. With the questions you have asked it appears you need to do a lot more research before deciding on a truck. Good luck with whatever you decide.

They usually try to put you with a similar trainer. However swinging a door is swinging a door from a driving point of view. There is a rare chance you may end up with a curtainside trainer like me but that is only if there aren't any van or reefer. If you end up with a curtainside trainer if you can back a spread axle your reefer will be a cake walk. Lol. Good luck!

If your interested in Paid Company Training, Roehl is a good choice. We have a terminal in Grand Prairie just outside of Dallas so getting you home when you want would be easy. As the others have said there are drivers older than you on the road. The big thing is based on your physical fitness or just how much you want to do physically will determine what kind of driving you get into. For instance if your not interested in dirty physical work, i wouldn't recommend flatbed. Good luck on whatever you decide.

As a flatbed I sometimes feel reefers search us out to park beside at night. Lol. However after about the first week it no longer bothers me. Besides most of the trucks with tripacs are louder than a reefer anyway.

Thanks everyone. I thought about buying a few sets as they take up less space and weight than actual chains. Plus they seem faster to install. I about got smashed in the Rockies last winter by FedEx while putting on chains after a truck in front of me stalled out on an icy hill.

I was wondering if snow socks were acceptable replacement for chains in states with chain laws? I figured I would ask the accumulated knowledge here before actually making phone calls.

Welcome to Roehl! Good luck!

Our trucks at Roehl are clean idle certified. So often times our exhaust is cleaner than the air it pulls in. Lol

Thanks everyone, didn't realize companies switch it up so often. The reason I ask is because in my experience with the major truck stops (albeit non-trucking experience) Pilot/Flying J seem to be the nicest.

They are also some of the nastiest. It all depends on where the stop is located. In my opinion Loves and Petro are the cleanest. Most companies fuel where the best price is and what is on your route. At Roehl we have deals with Pilot/Flying J and TA/Petro and Loves in which we get a discount off the pump price. But we still look for the lowest pump price out of them. Regardless of where you fuel for the most part you pick where you park for the day. Ive fueled at at a Pilot and driven across the street to a Petro to park for the better food options.

I don't know about other companies, but at Roehl if they are paying for the room it is considered the same as their property so the same rules apply as if you were at a terminal. It isn't free time if the company is footing the bill. Good luck in the future and don't give up.

Direct tie down ( from trailer to cargo or trailer through point on cargo and vac to same side of trailer) gives you 50% of WLL on item used. Indirect (from oneside of trailer of through or around cargo and to the other side of trailer) gives 100%. Whatever the weakes point between chain ratchet and anchor determines your actual WLL per securement device. Aggregate is the sum of all securement devices and must equal at least 50% of cargo weight. It must also stop movement in all 5 directions.

If you fail the test your career is over before it even started.

I just switched from a 10 speed manual to a 12 speed auto shift. Once I quit trying to press the imaginary clutch pedal I have grown to love it.

My rookie year is going pretty well. I've been solo since January 20th. As flatbed and curtainside I've done 48200 miles as of yesterday. I'm on schedule to fulfill my 120,000 mile contract in 12 months or less. It would be even faster if I was a door swinger.

We were just told to pay attention to local news. I put some hose clamps on my glad hands to make it harder to disconnect if I were to get swarmed. Luckily as flatbed/curtainside I mainly pick up and deliver to industrial locations on the outskirts of cities and I'm usually parked before sundown when the crazy tends to start.

Welcome to Roehl Chris Z. I did my training at Gary as well. Who is your instructor? Just listen to what they tell you and you will be fine. Most importantly learn the pretrip. That is what gets most drivers. The give you a script to learn for the test. It is up to you to learn that with your truck mates after they teach it to you the first time.

When you apply to Roehl, they just slot you where they need someone? Can you apply to a specific Division?

A lot depends on where you live as to what fleet you can join at Roehl. The big thing they are hiring for now is flatbed and reefer.

The big thing is take your time. If you have a CB in your truck turn it off when backing at a truck stop. You will receive far more negative feedback than positive.

Watch where your tractor is going when backing. It is easy to swing your tractor into something because you are concentrating on your trailer.