Does Roehl Charge Tuition If You Fail Your CDL Exam?

I disagree that a person with some common sense cant do it you certainly can and be succesful but i agree that pittsburgh is a tough city to maneuver in and you can get yourself in some real trouble there without experience and honestly i dont think otr will ever give you the experience you need to deliver in pittsburgh or in my case nyc which is worse than even pittsburgh i also agree that the hours of a local driver are brutal and while you may go home everyday youll have 10 times more of a life staying in the truck im very happy running regional and being home every weekend and occasionally on a weekday

I disagree that a person with some common sense cant do it you certainly can and be succesful but i agree that pittsburgh is a tough city to maneuver in and you can get yourself in some real trouble there without experience and honestly i dont think otr will ever give you the experience you need to deliver in pittsburgh or in my case nyc which is worse than even pittsburgh i also agree that the hours of a local driver are brutal and while you may go home everyday youll have 10 times more of a life staying in the truck im very happy running regional and being home every weekend and occasionally on a weekday

It depends on the company. At my Fedex location a regular day is about 10 hours. But since Fedex pays overtime after 8 that "long" day is not so bad. I still get home in plenty of time for the family and am back at it the next day.

There are trucking companies that abuse you and will make you work 12 or 15 hours a day. Those are the ones that do NOT pay overtime after 8.

First Rubber Duckie.... You just painted a very dismal picture of local driving. Although it is not for me and I cannot fathom why anyone would want it, that is not to say those drivers are all ready to just end life as they know it. Many people feel safe and comfortable in familiar areas. Plus local knowledge helps.them. Many want to be home.

I know two guys who started local out of school. One kept hitting things and his pay kept dropping to "offset the cost for insurance". He cant switch companies because of the accidents so he is stuck, making less pay. The other one works for a small company with crappy equipment that breaks down. He is paid hourly, however, his schedule is shortened the week after a breakdown. They do this to basically average out his weeks. When he asked why they cut his hours to save money, he was told he was the one with the least experience so he gets the shaft. Go figure..sounds sucky to me.

I also disagree with Jeremy who said OTR doesnt prepare a new driver for local. Of course it does. Understanding turn radius, how much room you need to swing, gaining control of emotions, and of course backing is essential when running cities.

Think back to being a rookie when you were nervous over the slightest thing. Recently, I drove the streets of downtown Atlanta and got lost. Now I just pull the brakes, put on my hazards and figure out what to do. Before I was so nervous i would have jeopardized hitting something.

I couldnt have gone local right away. Now yeah, but back then... no way. I didnt have the skills. I think it is foolish for someone to be overconfident enough to assume he/she can do it. It is going to be tough, really tough.

When i say that im just refering to how tight it is and navigating the low bridges and challenges that an individual city presents basically you gotta know or learn the cities you will be in. I certainly worded it wrong all experience is good experience even the mistakes (provided they werent catastrophic)

When i say that im just refering to how tight it is and navigating the low bridges and challenges that an individual city presents basically you gotta know or learn the cities you will be in. I certainly worded it wrong all experience is good experience even the mistakes (provided they werent catastrophic)

Cause we all know I made a TON of mistakes. You can't imagine how many times I called the cops on myself in Elizabeth and Newark NJ.

Yeah, a fail is better than not trying. If OTR was the only type of driving jobs there were then I wouldn't enter the field, I have no vested interest in that path. Just like working for a company and let's say you can do sales and work your way through different levels or do MGMT, someone may not to take that path if they have no interest which could potentially hurt performance just by that person not wanting to do that job. I am going to go for what I want to do.

This industry is very diverse, as are those people in it. There are needs for all aspects of it. Not all aspects are for everyone by any means. All aspects pose their own challenges. Those challenges are diverse as well. It takes a brand new driver time and experience to find their niche. Once found this business can be very rewarding. We all have different needs and desires. I learned many years ago, you have to be happy with yourself, as well as your career to thrive. It’s up to each individual to rise to the challenges they invite into their life.

I am tending to lean towards this opinion. If you fail you fail, but it is up to you and what you choose to make out of it just like any job/career. You don't know if you don't try and also if you do fail or simply don't like it at least you didn't waste too much time in the process so then move on to the next path or go back with what you know.

You also have to keep in mind that this is one of the deadliest jobs in America, and not only for the drivers, but for the innocent civilians we share the highway with. If you're going to begin a career knitting blankets and you want to knit the most difficult blankets in the world right from the start then go for it. The worst thing that can happen is you waste a little yarn.

But this is trucking. You're driving an 80,000 pound building on wheels on public highways surrounded by innocent families. You don't just say, "Oh what the hell, let's just go for it and see what happens" by diving into the most difficult job on the planet from day one. It's selfish and irresponsible.

You have to be able to assess the risk/reward ratio when you're doing anything as complex and dangerous as trucking. Jumping into a tanker or accepting a city job straight out of school shows a real lack of respect for the danger you're putting yourself and others in.

Another point I'd like to make is this:

Saying, "Well I know someone who did it and it worked fine for them" is not a valid argument in the context of a dangerous activity like trucking. Just because someone made a bad decision but got away with it does not turn that bad decision into a good one, nor does that make it a valid path for others to follow. There are people who have successfully jumped from planes without parachutes and swallowed razor sharp swords but that doesn't mean those activities have an acceptable risk/reward ratio. Those activities are not putting others at risk either, which is a major concern with trucking.

I disagree that a person with some common sense cant do it you certainly can and be succesful

It takes a hell of a lot more than plain ol' common sense to drive a big rig safely in a complex and dynamic city environment. It takes a ton of knowledge and a lot of skills that new drivers simply do not have.

I certainly dont mean to give bad advice i guess for some who grew up around trucks and operating equipment and having to make very important decisions from a young age i fell natural to this carreer but not everybody has those experiences and ive gotta remember that sometimes