Made A Commitment. I'm Jumping Into The Pool. Look Out Roehl, Here I Come, Cannonball!!!

I just updated my status to preparing for School. I decided to join Roehl's Get Your CDL program starting on 11/18. Holy cow, That's only a couple weeks away. This stuff is getting real now. I'm still terrified to leave what has been a good long career in Retail management, but, It's time for a change. I've always told my team that if you wake up for weeks on end dreading comint to work, it's time to find somethig else to do. Well, It's that time for me. I know I can do this and I'm comitted to doing whatever is necessary to "win" at trucking. Failure is not an option. It was still pretty strange to give notice at my current employer to venture into the great unknown.

I started looking at Roehl first. Based on your recomendations I expanded the search and talked to recruiters from Prime, Wilson, CRST & TCM also. In the end, Roehl seemed to be the best fit in the long run for me in my area. My decision was based on Roehl having -

1) A well respected training program.

2) A solid pay and benefits program,

3) A strong safety record. (I know all the big players do as well)

4) The most opportunity in my area for changing into regional , local or dedicated routes as I get settled into my career.

5) The most opportunity to change to reefer , van, flatbed etc if I want to try something different at some point.

6) Flexibility with Hometime options and the ablity to move from one program to another.

7) Shiney red trucks! (ok, that's not really a reason, but still, it's red, c'mon, red always looks good)

After 4 weeks of Phase 1 training and 3 or so weeks of Phase 2 training I'll be starting phase 3 training going solo OTR in the National Reefer division, which sounds like it's mostly east of the Missippi, but they call it National anyway. 11-14 days (or more) on the road and 3 home. that should give me a good balance of time on the road to get some good miles in and time at home to be with family.

I'm very excited about heading to Marshfield in a couple weeks to get going. I used the High Roead training to pass my CDP a few weeks ago. I'll be spending the next couple weeks digging in to the on the job modules to jet a head start on this new adventure.

Finally, I want to once again thank everyone who participates here, not just the moderators, but everyone. I've learned so much from the questions, posts, jokes and tough love. There is a world of information here and I often find myeslf going down the rabbit hole of topic searches and finding a thread from 2 years or more ago that helps me to understand the business a little more. So, Thank You for the High Road and all the great articles and posts.

Bill

That’s great, man. Best of luck to you. You’ll do great!

Hey look at you, man! Well done, pay it forward, and everything else. Getting outside of your comfort zone is definitely one of the many ingredients of personal growth!

Congratulations!! Roehl sounds like a great company to me!

I don't know how company sponsored training goes exactly, I went to a CDL school but I will suggest if you have time you can be moving that truck, backwards or forwards, use it. Just because you can pass the State test doesn't mean you're a skilled truck driver. Some people in my class got bored with backing especially straight back, me I just purposely pulled forward a little crooked and made a game out of straightening out, I did become one of the best backers in my class and I didn't have really any experience backing trailers.

Just food for thought. I hope you have a great time and kick a**!!

Congratulations and good luck! They seemed like a great company unfortunately I got sent home from there for failing the agility test, try to lay off caffeine for at least 48 hours before you get there it will help keep your heart rate lower. I missed by 1 beat per minute

Congratulations! I start Roehl on the 25th in Gary for their National Flatbed Division.

Both of you---bring lots of warm clothes.

Thanks all for the kind thoughts.

Amber Solid advice, thanks. I plan to get as much time behind the wheel as they’ll let me get.

Bobcat Bob, good to know about the caffeine. It’ll be tough to give up my morning coffee but one day won’t kill me.

Brandon good luck with your training next week, that’s awesome

PackRat, I’m in Minnesota so cold is second nature. We don’t zip up our coats here until it gets below zero.

We don’t zip up our coats here until it gets below zero.

Wild-Bill: You zip your coats?

No wonder we Packer Fans are tougher than you (no doubt) Viking Fans!

3-points of contact!

Best of luck! Eye on the prize!