Roehl Training For New Driver With CDL

Day 4 with trainer.

Woke up to snow in Appleton. I was really impressed with the showers at the terminal. Very clean and nice.

I drove 10 hours and over 500 miles from Appleton, WI to Sonora, KY today. Trainer did not drive. We don't have to be to Atlanta until Monday afternoon but we should make it just in time for the Packer game if weather holds up.

Rained all day today and temp is supposed to keep dropping so trainer said we might not leave the truck stop tomorrow if it don't look good.

Been curious what they are gonna give us after this drop. I know that Friday is the earliest I can be done with my trainer so hoping they keep us south so I can avoid the crappy cold temps back in Wisconsin.

So how do they do the drug testing? Hair or urinalysis? Im clean but not for a year like another company wanted

So how do they do the drug testing? Hair or urinalysis? Im clean but not for a year like another company wanted

They do hair and urine

So woke up this morning to ice everywhere. Wasn't sure if we would end up just staying at the truck stop all day or trying our luck.

Trainer asked what I wanted to do and I chose to drive. Gotta learn to drive in unfavorable weather too.

Well roads ended up being fine and we arrived to the truck stop without any issues. We are an hour from the drop with a 1300 delivery time.

So here we sit enjoying some football and Popeyes chicken.

Still no preplan for the next load but figure we will have it tomorrow morning sometime.

I drove the hills of Tennessee today so glad I got to experience that and learned how to navigate them without having to brake at all. Since this is a route I will likely run often I am glad it went well.

Day 6 with trainer.

Well woke up late and didn't rush for anything. Didn't have to deliver until 1300 so no reason too.

Arrived at consignee at 1130 and was allowed to dock around 1200.

Got our preplan for a route back to Wisconsin with a Friday delivery. Trainer is taking his off days on Saturday so looks like this will be my last week with trainer.

We got a pick up tomorrow for 1200 in Atlanta so we parked early and will spend the night here in the ATL about 30 minutes from our pick up.

Glad to see we are headed north so I can get my own truck but not looking forward to the cold temps.

Day 7 with trainer.

Got up this morning knowing out pick up wasn't til 12:30 but convinced my trainer to go early.

Arrived at the facility and a line of 6 trucks sat in front of us and I thought I might of made a mistake coming early.

Told my trainer I was gonna head in and see what the procedure is since he never been here before.

Guy at counter took my ID and said go ahead to door 3. Got loaded 2 hours early and we're out of there in no time.

Drove as long as I could tonight since we deliver Thursday at 8am and need to make good time on this one.

I ended up talking to my fleet manager last night and she set it up for me to test out on Monday. Then Tuesday I will head out solo. Technically I am supposed to start my on days on Wednesday but offered to head out right away after testing out.

I ended up talking to my fleet manager last night and she set it up for me to test out on Monday. Then Tuesday I will head out solo. Technically I am supposed to start my on days on Wednesday but offered to head out right away after testing out.

Congratulations on how far you've progressed, and good luck next week, Nate. I hope you finish this diary and begin a new one next week that describes your adventures as a professional driver with Roehl.

Stay Safe!!!

Day 8 with trainer.

Had about 10 hours left to drive to our destination but only 12 left on my 70. So I drove the majority today and with 2 hours left on my 70 the trainer took over.

We got about 20 minutes from destination and found a place to crash.

Talked to my FM to finish my training brief with her. We will deliver tomorrow at 8am and then wait for a route home.

Day 9 with trainer.

Well today has been a very long day. Started out good but noticed air pressure kept dropping so got to the terminal for repairs.

That set us behind a few hours. I did at least get a shower so not all bad.

Dropped our load and found a place to park for the night.

Tomorrow we get loaded and drop the load at one of our drop yards. Then off days.

Sorry if anybody missed a post last night. Will be happy to explain why.

Day 10 with trainer.

We woke up and headed down to the shipper about 30 minutes away from where we slept. Arrived to see they offered over night parking. Gee thanks for sharing that info Roehl.

At least 15 trucks in line and I head inside. Imagine my surprise when she gave us a door right away.

Got loaded fairly quickly and was off to one of our yards to drop this load and then in the morning head for home.

By day 8 I am running on recap hours and I had just enough hours to get us to the drop yard. Actually had 21 minutes to spare when we pulled in the gate.

Dropped the trailer and hooked up to an empty and then we blew another brake chamber. That's 2 in 2 days. So trainer called it in and they said bring it home. We were about 30 minutes from terminal.

Since I was out of hours trainer drove us to terminal.

Once at terminal I quickly packed up my stuff and headed for home.

So I am now done with a trainer. On Monday I will test out. Not 100% sure what that consists of but will let everyone know.

Sometime before then I will get on a computer and give a recap of my experiences with a trainer on the road.