My Roehl (Gary) Experience Early 2017

Day#1 Got to keep it short. But suffice it to say, me and my two classmates were thoroughly impressed with the professionalism of our trainer and the Gary terminal. The simulator was excellent and we learned all about the company's ethics and their emphasis on safety. I have a roommate at the hotel and was lucky to have one with many things in common with me. The Best Western room has a refrigerator and microwave. I am able to save alot of money by bringing my own food and preparing. I also am a bit lucky in that I have a car. The breakfast is free. The lunch at the terminal is free.

That terminal has a decent variety of food. Not as healthy as I prefer, but for most people that is fine. They have rooms to sleep, free laundry and relaxing chairs. Their facilities are state of the art and relatively new and clean. We are employees in training. We are being paid about $500 weekly and no obligation to pay back if we stay on for 15 months. This is an excellent deal.

We did well on the simulators and will get to drive a truck tomorrow. Took many notes and have been practicing shifting quite a bit. Stalled alot, but we need more practice. Gotta finish studying the textbook and get to sleep.

Exciting!!!! I'll definitely be following your journey, as for the saving money on food, I highly recommend a trip up to the local big box store and picking up something like a cheap George foreman or an electric kettle, itll let cook a few more things than the microwave and they can go in the truck when youre done with the hotel.

Exciting!!!! I'll definitely be following your journey, as for the saving money on food, I highly recommend a trip up to the local big box store and picking up something like a cheap George foreman or an electric kettle, itll let cook a few more things than the microwave and they can go in the truck when youre done with the hotel.

Great advice.

Day#2 I'm on lunch break. Spent the morning learning and practicing right and left turns on the simulator. Instructor snuck some smoking brakes, engine blow out and intoxication hazards on me. My first corner turned was on the curb. Told me "imagine a baby sitting there" and never do that again. Problem fixed. Next we will spend "class" outside on the truck coupling and uncoupling. Then we might get to drive around the lot with bobtail. Proof that this company cares about new hires: Last night they called our room to see if we needed anything from the local Walmart and shuttle would pick us up. Although it doesn't mean much, as someone that grew up in the Atari age, I am impressed that they keep arcade games in the cafeteria. I've already blown a few dollars on quarters playing The Walking Dead pinball game. Back to studying and practicing double clutch shifting in the air.

Tip: Bring a backpack with notepad. Be organized. Have all your handouts and be caught studying. Also bring all the supplies they recommend--and more. Have your steel toe boots, gloves (I bought 2 different kinds). I also brought a flashlight. Be ready for sever weather changes (especially if you're in Gary like us). Don't be late. Be early for everything. Keep your space clean and organized. Push in your chair. Think of it like a military. They like order and neatness along with safe behavior.

Awesome. I'm up here at Appleton training. I'm like you, this company is top notch. Hope everything goes well with ya!!

Awesome. I'm up here at Appleton training. I'm like you, this company is top notch. Hope everything goes well with ya!!

Thank you sir! We drove a bobtail around the course all day. I feel like I climbed a mountain. Exhausted. Overwhelmed. Very difficult.

Day #3 Drove the bobtail around the course. Rough muddy path. No lanes. Stalled a couple times. Lots of driving, frustrations, joy. This job requires intense practice and self-discipline. Keeping my head clear and not beating myself up seems to be my biggest impediment. So much pressure on myself to perform is not good.

This is my first week. It feels like three weeks. Don't apply for this job if you cannot study. You really can't do this intense Get Your CDL program "part time." You'll be tired at the end of the day. Eat, study, sleep. I've been sticking to my exercise routine thanks to the Best Western's exercise room. Eating well has been a challenge. But it is not impossible. Roehl put us in a good hotel, just 10 minutes away from the terminal. My 2 classmates are incredibly good at this and friendly. We have much in common. Our trainer is easygoing and straightforward. He also has a great sense of humor and pushes us when we need it. He's a former Marine and not a whiner.

I am beginning to understand when veteran truckers say "you get what you put in" for this.

More Day #3. Forgot to mention that was yesterday. TODAY, I hooked up a trailer and drove it across the lot. Made turns. Sweated alot. Stalled twice. On lunch break now. But gotta go back out and practice pretrip inspections and more driving. More shifting, turning. Got to get better.

Day #4 Focused pre-trip inspection sessions on our training truck. The Roehl pre-trip is not as long as I expected. But the trainers expect us to memorize it. Our trainer assigned me Driver's Side Fuel Area and Rear of Cabin. My partners have the other parts. After tomorrow, we will rotate out of our sections and do the next one. Need to finish memorizing tonight. Although he only wants us to be at least 30% correct, I'm shooting for 100%. There will be no margin for error with the Air Brake Test, so I want to get this Pre-trip stuff out of the way in my mind so I can focus on that Air Brake Test.

We spent the rest of the day driving around a slightly hilly industrial park in Portage, Indiana. All three of us were sweating and nervous. This was our first day on a public road with traffic. My daily practice of "pretend shifting" started to pay off. Seems I get spooked out with grinding the gears and stalling. So I decided it was going to happen and I'll get through it. I stalled once because I simply forgot to click the high gear switch when I was stopped at an intersection and tried to move out in three (but it was actuall gear eight). All three of us turned with our trailer well. No curb run-overs. Had to enter today and previous days in our logbooks.

I never felt more confident about driving this giant steel machine. But I am humbled as well. It can destroy anyone or anything in a split second. Although not as heavy as a locomotive, the need for safety is nothing to scoff at. I consider myself lucky in that I have partners with whom I have alot in common. I'm the oldest one there--older than the trainer. When I graduated high school he was in third grade. He calls me his "undercover boss" and tells his co-workers to "be careful" what they say around me so I don't write him up.

One student in the class before us was fired today. Not sure exactly why, but we often saw her in the simulator room. I broke my high score on pinball in the cafeteria during lunch. Called home to tell my wife: A drove a real truck on a real road today. She was very happy. I consider myself very fortunate to be training at Roehl. $500/week salary to be trained and get a CDL for free is still somewhat unbelievable. Yet, I am here. I'm not taking it for granted.

Week 1 Day #5 At lunch break. I recited the Driver Fuel Area and Back of Cab and Tractor sections almost 100%. We each have our part and will switch soon so we can know the entire trip. On the range, we focused on straight backing. The instructor said we did very well are ahead of he expected. After lunch, we're going to do offset backing. If we do well on it and have time, maybe we'll do parallel parking.