May Need Help Moving On From Roehl

I recently completed all initial training with Roehl's GYCDL program and have been waiting over two weeks to be assigned a truck with a lot of mixed messages along the way about when and where I am going to actually pick up the truck from. I live an hour east of Roehl's terminal in Appleton, Wisconsin (which is where I did GYCDL) and was informed by my management a week ago that I was to return to Appleton at the beginning of this week to pick up my new truck. That day I was informed that I was not going to be picking up my truck in Appleton but rather at their Marshfield, Wisconsin terminal the next day. So I drive two and a half hours to get to Marshfield the next day and as soon as I arrive I get a phone call from management telling me that I am now going to need to fly to Dallas to pick up a new truck from their Dallas terminal. Mind you that they had about a dozen new Freightliner Cascadias prepped and ready at Marshfield but apparently none of those were for me.

Now I'm just sitting waiting on more information about some potential flight to Dallas. A big problem is that I have all my stuff ready to transfer into my new truck in my personal vehicle and I can take very little of it on a flight. So I'll have to be routed back to Wisconsin to get all my stuff and I don't know how long that will take.

If for some reason things continue to not work out I'm going to request that my contract be rendered null and void due to the fact that Roehl is not enabling me to fulfill the terms of said contract and I will refuse to pay $7,000 for my GYCDL debt obligation. I understand that there is a truck shortage but honestly I've been led to believe so many things over the past week that I'm very distraught that the company simply cannot get their things together and keep feeding me bad information.

So I have a CDL-A and experience of basic company training, what are the best options for OTR in the event that I need to look at another company to work with?

Very little options, if any. No 160 hour certificate, no experience and a contract.

I don't know much about Roehl's operations because that's not my wheelhouse but I'd suggest maintaining communication and don't be afraid to ask for higher ups or their contact info.

Have you asked your boss if they'd be willing to pay additional luggage or at least reimburse multiple bags if you needed to check 3 or so bags? Probably still couldn't move a microwave or anything really large like a tv but it'd get your clothes and bedding and other smaller goods in

I recently completed all initial training with Roehl's GYCDL program and have been waiting over two weeks to be assigned a truck with a lot of mixed messages along the way about when and where I am going to actually pick up the truck from. I live an hour east of Roehl's terminal in Appleton, Wisconsin (which is where I did GYCDL) and was informed by my management a week ago that I was to return to Appleton at the beginning of this week to pick up my new truck. That day I was informed that I was not going to be picking up my truck in Appleton but rather at their Marshfield, Wisconsin terminal the next day. So I drive two and a half hours to get to Marshfield the next day and as soon as I arrive I get a phone call from management telling me that I am now going to need to fly to Dallas to pick up a new truck from their Dallas terminal. Mind you that they had about a dozen new Freightliner Cascadias prepped and ready at Marshfield but apparently none of those were for me.

Now I'm just sitting waiting on more information about some potential flight to Dallas. A big problem is that I have all my stuff ready to transfer into my new truck in my personal vehicle and I can take very little of it on a flight. So I'll have to be routed back to Wisconsin to get all my stuff and I don't know how long that will take.

If for some reason things continue to not work out I'm going to request that my contract be rendered null and void due to the fact that Roehl is not enabling me to fulfill the terms of said contract and I will refuse to pay $7,000 for my GYCDL debt obligation. I understand that there is a truck shortage but honestly I've been led to believe so many things over the past week that I'm very distraught that the company simply cannot get their things together and keep feeding me bad information.

So I have a CDL-A and experience of basic company training, what are the best options for OTR in the event that I need to look at another company to work with?

Are you joking? You're getting to go solo, in your own truck. The company is paying for your transportation to Dallas and will probably have you on a return trip through the terminal in under a week. You're ready to throw in the towel already? Are you expecting a new truck each time yours has a mechanical breakdown? Did you expect things to get easier during your first year as a solo driver? I promise you they won't, Roehl or anywhere else.

Act like a professional adult driver and go get your truck from Dallas.

"If for some reason things continue to not work out I'm going to request that my contract be rendered null and void due to the fact that Roehl is not enabling me to fulfill the terms of said contract and I will refuse to pay $7,000 for my GYCDL debt obligation."

Yeah, good luck with that. Go ahead and "refuse to pay your $7,000 obligation. Roehl will then refuse to give you your CDL school certificate, and good luck getting a job anywhere else without it. CDL or not, you have no experience and very unlikely that companies are going to hire you without that school/cdl training certificate. As Packrat stated, go to Dallas and get your truck. Roehl will no doubt route you back to get your other possession's.

Yea, I didn't even think about the option of them just routing him back up there to pick up whatever wouldn't fit in however much luggage they authorize.

"If for some reason things continue to not work out I'm going to request that my contract be rendered null and void due to the fact that Roehl is not enabling me to fulfill the terms of said contract and I will refuse to pay $7,000 for my GYCDL debt obligation."

Yeah, good luck with that. Go ahead and "refuse to pay your $7,000 obligation. Roehl will then refuse to give you your CDL school certificate, and good luck getting a job anywhere else without it. CDL or not, you have no experience and very unlikely that companies are going to hire you without that school/cdl training certificate. As Packrat stated, go to Dallas and get your truck. Roehl will no doubt route you back to get your other possession's.

Welcome to trucking. I laughed out loud at the "refuse to pay" line. I would request mileage pay and or layover pay for running back and forth between terminals though. Get rid of any expectations you have right now. Go with the flow.

Get past the entitled "they had brand new cascadia" sitting there. A new driver is more likely to be placed in a truck that has some miles on it so when they wreck it.... And probably will do some damage their first year... It isn't as big of a loss. Often new trucks are saved for experienced drivers as sort of a reward. My company allows a million Mile safe driver to order their truck...so what makes you think I should give up my rewarded truck for a new driver who wants to give up before he even turns a key by himself?

"I know there is a truck shortage". Dude you have no idea had bad the shortage is right now. I know for a fact that I wouldn't be able to get a brand new truck right now... And honestly wouldn't want one cause many "covid" trucks are junk. My company just had 200 people waiting for trucks because a shipment of expected trucks didn't come in.

I already know where this is going... So be forewarned.... It may need work. It may need to be cleaned. Prime puts ours through a detail shop and even then we often still have to shop it. This is trucking. It's no problem for them to route you back home for your stuff. This happens all the time.

Good luck and keep an open mind. You signed a contract. Even if they terminate you, you are still responsible for that $7,000. Read the contract.

A new driver is more likely to be placed in a truck that has some miles on it so when they wreck it.... And probably will do some damage their first year... It isn't as big of a loss.

I just got my first assigned no slip seat tractor with FedEx last week. It's a 2016 KW T680 that'll hit 800k miles this week. It took me 2 hours to clean it.

I had a whole long post typed out, but decided to leave it to what has already been said.

Get on the plane.

Uncle: it is very common to have issues getting assigned a truck when you are new. The truck availability situation changes every day for the big companies. For my first truck, I had to drive a rental car from Green Bay down to Atlanta and pick up the truck. Then they got me a load routed back to Wisconsin to pick up my stuff. No big deal. If you want to be successful in your new profession you need to develop a team player attitude. It sounds like you have a ways to go with that.

And a new truck? All these big companies have new trucks sitting on their yard. You don’t even know the reason they are there. As far as I know, it’s very rare for a brand new driver to get a brand new truck. My company considers me to be experienced and my truck is a 2018 with 540,000 miles.