Comments By Wine Taster

Yes they are an excellent company. I was starting to get a little down on them because I was listening to other drivers. Somehow, trucking has a way to make you very humble, very fast!

Man, Thank you for this post. I feel even more confident that I made the right choice joining Roehl.

You are in Kitty Hawk? Awesome. Bet I know you. I was a Paramedic for Dare county!

Thank you Winetaster for your posts. I am leaving a career of 24 years as a L.E.O. and feel the same way as you did when you left your "guaranteed job" or there about. I really liked your step by step approach. I am taking this slow as I don't want to make a mistake at any level. As a cop I can be aggressive and know how to get things across in a respectful manner when I have to but I am unlike most officers as I am pretty down to earth and have had a hard road to follow coming up. I know what it is like to struggle and have to put up with BS. I do so much appreciate your contributions to the trucking industry and us new drivers. God Bless and oh, I serve in the OBX of NC. Glad to see your from my home state. Take care buddy MSDonna

So guys and girls,

I had my first major mishap. I was at a gas station and I realized as soon as I turned that the lot was going to be too small to accommodate me. So, I stopped and looked around and came up with a plan. Apparently, the place had just opened that morning. There were some small orange cones on the left along the road way behind the place. They were spaced far apart. I thought they were left over from construction and marked the edge of the road. To the left of the cones, it appeared to be a gravel lot that had been set up for trucks. So, when I stopped and looked, I saw some tracks when others had driven through that gravel lot. I went around the landscaped median and spun into that lot just to get turned around. My truck sank. It sank bad. My trailer tires were just a foot off the pavement. The 2 tow truck arrive, a small one and a medium one. The hooked to the front of me and I asked, "Would it be better to pull me from the way I went in?" Meaning pull from the back. They guy said no and I figured they knew better than me. It got a thousand times worse when they pulled me forward. By the time they were done. The truck was buried to the fuel tanks, the drive tires were completely buried,and the trailer tires were buried and the trailer leaning. The big guns were called in and this old guy walks up and looks at it. He set the guys to work and got me out in 2 hours. In total it took 8 and half hours and 5 tow trucks to remove me. The bill was quite high. I knew I was going to be fired. I drove the load I had and delivered it and then head to our terminal. I was sure I would hand in my eyes and rent a car home.

The gravel lot turned out to be some type of seeding spray material they had spread down. It looked like gravel. My fleet manager talked with me and told me to not worry. Everything was fine. Then I got called into the office of the flatbed division managers office. I thought it was over. He was amazing nice. He said I made a mistake almost any other driver could make. He explained that Roehl was a training company and understood that mistakes would happen. He said he understood how I made the mistake after seeing the many many pictures. I was due for a reset anyway so I started that while my truck went in for repairs. The front bumper got ripped off in the process.

I asked if I could get the corporate rate that Roehl gets at the local hotel. I told him I did not want to stay at the terminal for my reset because I needed to just take a breather on my reset. He made some calls and said, "You are all set. Go and decompress. The hotel is on us." Wait? What? So, I screw up and cost the company thousands of dollars and they pay for my hotel for two nights. They don't fire me. This morning I head back out onto the road. I am humbled and amazed. This showed me my research starting out about companies was why I came to Roehl.

Thanks Weatherman, this is helpful. However, I have follow up question. Is it good to have both FAST and TWIC if you want to be OTR driver?

Hopefully this helps

The Free And Secure Trade Card, better known as the FAST Card, is part of a program designed to expedite handling of shipments through customs between the United States and Canada.

TWIC is a common identification credential for all personnel requiring unescorted access to secure areas of MTSA -regulated facilities and vessels, and all mariners holding Coast Guard-issued credentials. Individuals who meet TWIC eligibility requirements will be issued a tamper-resistant credential containing the worker's biometric (fingerprint template) to allow for a positive link between the card and the individual. (homeport.uscg.mil)

Basically FAST helps speed up deliveries crossing the border and TWIC grants you access to shipping ports/docks.

TWIC does both I think. FAST does not.

TWIC and FAST do the exact same thing. TWIC is the better option but more expensive. There is no point to have both of them. As for Roehl, they require you to have a TWIC if you pull flatbed. I have used mine once in 4 months. It did make life a lot easier when I was delivering to a military base. The guy started asking all kinds of questions and when I should him my TWIC, he says, "Ol you got a TWIC. You know where you are going?" He gave me directions and off I went. Otherwise they were going to wait for an escort to come and get me and all kinds of extra checks and paperwork.

Reefer is only an option for the western fleet I think. And if you got a letter, you are good to go. Who is your recruiter?

I am from the outer banks. They will not hire you from east of I-95. I had to get creative. My truck resides in Roanoke Rapids according to the company. I had to find a place to park and commute home.

Awesome man. Seems like it is going well for you.

Wow! You guys are too kind. I have been doing great. I rolled almost 12000 miles in the month of June. I am still learning every day. The other day I saw a driver folding his tarps on a low steel load. He folded them without pulling them to the ground. Today, I had a similar load and folded my tarps the way I saw. It worked great! So much to learn out here. School is a blur. It seems like it was years ago. It was only three months ago. I have had my frustrations but I am starting to really settle in now and enjoy what I do. It amazes me how many people follow this tread. It is an honor to inspire so many. Thank you for the kind words.

Every one of us has had the exact same feelings. Take a deep breath, slow down and enjoy the ride. You will get through this. We were all there at one point.