Getting Ready To Start With Roehl

Hi all, I'm excited to say that I got accepted into Roehl's GYCDL program and will be starting their training program on March 24! I'll be heading to their headquarters in Marshfield, WI for 3 weeks of Phase 1 training, then have a 3-8 day break before starting Phase 2 (going out with a trainer for about 3 weeks). I've learned a ton of stuff through Trucking Truth over the past few months, so wanted to document my journey for those after me.

A bit of background about me: I'm a 43 year old single guy, no kids, and have been managing a very large youth gymnastics facility for the past 17 years (started at the bottom just teaching rec. classes part-time, worked my way up to general manager). I've been considering a career change for a few years now and have always been interested in trucking, so decided to make the jump now. Love kids but need a change of pace.

My last day of work was last Friday and I was originally planning on getting my CDL at a local community college and then finding a company at the end of that, but after a lot of thought and reading suggestions from people on TT to go a company-sponsored route, I cancelled those plans and contacted Roehl, which was my top choice. Recruiter got back to me quickly and less than a week later, I'm scheduled to go! I had already gotten my CLP a couple months ago, so that sped it up a bit.

Hello Shane,

Congratulations on starting your journey! Roehl is a very good company and you were VERY wise to go straight to a reputable carrier for paid training vs. a CDL school. CDL schools are there to make money (though there are some good ones in the mix) and the company will train you how THEY want to to drive their truck safely.

This gig is 90% between your ears. Just take in the instruction and take your time. Remember the most important trait of a truck driver is PATIENCE. Patience with your trainers, patience with the multitude of crazy and reckless motorists, and most importantly patience with yourself. You are going to make mistakes as we all have. Don't beat yourself up if you make a mistake or if there are some things you aren't getting as quickly as the other students. Emotional truck drivers make bad truck drivers. Always strive to keep your emotions near the middle and level.

Your training will be broken down down into 3 major areas (pre-trip inspection, driving, and backing). You will notice that you will excel in 1-2 areas and be a little behind in the other 1 or 2. Find students that excel in where you are not as strong and practice with them and conversely help them with the area(s) you are strong in. It makes the learning process a lot more fun and collaborative.

Best of success to you and please come back here and update frequently and let us know if you have any questions.

Lastly, on backing practice "less is better" with the steering wheel and always Get Out And Look ;-)

Day 1 is in the books. Checked into the Hotel Marshfield yesterday afternoon, which is a pretty nice hotel. I ended up getting a room by myself which I was really happy about, as I was expecting to have a roommate. The front desk said that it could change for week 2 and 3 but for this week at least, I have a room to myself. Woo hoo! A Roehl trainer came to meet us at the hotel at 6:45 to lead us over to the facility and my goodness, it was freezing cold this morning (in the 20s and had snowed yesterday). That woke me up really quickly. There are only 5 of us starting this week, which they said is a bit of a smaller group than usual.

Today was mostly onboarding and going over basics. We also took a tour of the grounds and facilities and I can tell that Roehl really cares about its drivers. The trainers were really thorough and easy to talk to and I'm really happy that I chose to go with this company. After lunch (company-provided), we went out to a truck and went over the pre-trip inspection and also had to show that we could climb in and out of both the tractor and trailer. It was easy--they just emphasized that they want a 3-point contact at all times.

Training schedule is going to be M-F 6:30am-4:30pm and Saturdays 7-11:30am for 3 weeks. We're also allowed to stay late and/or come in on Sundays if we want extra time with the trucks to practice inspections. We also have a ton of J.J. Keller modules that we need to complete by the end of week 1 (primarily on our off-time from what I've gathered), and I spent a little over 2 hours working on that this evening. Now it's time for bed, as I'm pooped and still adjusting to waking up so early.

Also thanks, Zen Joker, for your encouragement and feedback!!! I will keep that in mind.

Day 2: Spent the morning focused on safety (procedures, policies, expectations) and we had a discussion on what makes a driver safe or unsafe and watched some very sobering videos about people who have been killed by distracted drivers. It was a great reminder about how serious being a truck driver is and that it can't be taken lightly because if we're not careful then we could be involved in seriously hurting or killing someone. Again, just reinforces that I made a good choice by going with a company that puts such a strong emphasis on this stuff.

After lunch, we spent the afternoon outside practice pre-trip inspections and I got to drive a bobtail around the yard for about 20 minutes! I was really excited and because our group is so small, I basically got a truck and trainer to myself for most of the time which was awesome and really helpful to get that 1-on-1 time. He's a cool guy and said I did really well so I was happy about that. We also went over coupling and uncoupling a trailer and I believe tomorrow we're going to drive with the trailer connected.

I also was more proactive about working on the J.J. Keller modules throughout the day on breaks and lunch and finished the 4 modules that I wanted to get done today, so I actually got to relax at the hotel this evening and get in a short work-out at the hotel gym.

Day 3: Spent the first hour in the classroom going over fifth wheel mechanics and safety then went out on the range. Practiced pre-trip inspections and then learned in-cab inspection and brake testing. Spent the majority of the day driving around the range hooked up to a trailer and practicing right and left-hand turns. I got the hang of it fairly quickly and didn't hit anything so I was happy about that. Then after lunch, my trainer took me out on the road and we went on a variety of different types of roads while he explained the various driving techniques that are needed for each. He did all the road driving today since it was the first time and said I'd probably be driving on the road tomorrow. I'm excited about that!

After we got back, I did a few more laps around the range and then started learning backing. Did a few runs of straight-line backing, which I got pretty quickly, and then started learning backing turns. Mentally, I understood the concept but when I started doing it myself, I got a little confused and off-track from where I wanted the trailer to go. Not horribly but I definitely need to practice it quite a bit.

After that, we did one more run at pre-trip inspection and my trainer wanted me to try to do it myself and verbally tell him what I was doing. I did pretty well and he even said he was really impressed at how much of it I retained considering it was only my third day. That was great to hear especially considering how worried I initially was about how fast I would pick up everything in this new career. All in all, things are going really well so far and I'm so excited about all that is to come!

Day 4: Went out driving on public roads today! It was exciting and intimidating at the same time. My regular trainer got pulled to cover another group today so I ended up with 2 other trainers (one in the morning and a different one in the afternoon). I spent the morning in my normal truck (Freightliner Cascadia) working on backing maneuvers in the yard and successfully completed a few 90 degree backs. My brain is still working on the mechanics of when to turn the wheel and the trainer had to walk me through most of it, but by the third try I was able to do most of it by myself. It's slowly coming together and I have to keep reminding myself that it's only the 4th day of training and I'm not going to do it perfectly yet.

After lunch was when I went out on the road with one of the other trainers and two other trainees. I did well, especially considering that I had to use a completely different truck (International LT) that I had never driven before. I got used to the layout of the truck with no issues but the brakes were a different story. The Freightliner that I've been training on brakes so much smoother than the International and it really threw me off for a while. I adapted the best I could considering it was my first time driving that truck and by the end of the drive I got my braking a lot smoother. The trainer also mentioned that I tend to take my turns a bit wider than I need to so I need to tighten up on that. All in all though, he said I did good so I'm happy about that.

I've got my outside pre-trip inspections down pretty well so focusing more on the in-cab portion and brake tests. All in all, a pretty good day!

Day 5: Got my regular trainer back today...woo hoo! Today was split between road driving and backing maneuvers. We took a pretty extensive route all around Marshfield, doing city, country and highway driving for about an hour in the morning and another hour in the afternoon. He said I did really well overall, which I was happy about.

Back at the training yard, I spend another 3 hours or so on backing maneuvers. Mostly 45-degree backs in-between 2 trailers and a couple of 90-degree backs. I got the 45-degree back down after a couple tries and my trainer said he couldn't believe how quickly I was able to get it so accurate with minimal adjustments on my first day of doing it. I couldn't either, to be honest, but I'm so happy and relieved that I don't have to stress about it anymore. The 90-degree backs weren't quite as good but I'm understanding the angling movements pretty well so I think after another day or two of doing that, I should be decent at it.

Now for the bad news...today was the last day that I'll be working with this trainer, as he said they're pulling him to work with the new group that's starting next week because it's a full group and since I was his only trainee this week, they're moving me to another group so I'll be in a group of 3 for the next two weeks. I kind of had a feeling that this was coming because having a 1-on-1 training situation was a bit too good to be true. The worst part of it is I'm going to be losing the Freightliner that I've adapted so well to and switching to the International with the brakes from hell. Ugh... Nothing I can do about it though so I'm going to just go with the flow and make the best of it. A positive that can come from this is that so far I'm the only one in my cycle that will have trained on two different truck makes, so in the long run it will probably be helpful since I don't know what make I'll be assigned when I get my own truck.

We have a half-day tomorrow in the classroom on CSA (compliance, safety, accountability). So week 1 of driving and hands-on training is done and all in all, I feel like I've done really well considering I didn't know much at all about trucking prior to this week. I'm really going to miss my trainer from this week though. We had a really good rapport and he told me at the end of the day today that he's been very impressed with me this week and that if I keep it up then he sees no reason why I wouldn't pass the CDL test, which was awesome to hear and really helps my confidence.

Week 2 Day 1: Spent the morning working on backing and it was a very humbling and frustrating morning, to say the least. It snowed last night and froze overnight so the training yard was mostly sheets of ice scattered all over mixed with dirt, so that along with trying to adapt to the new (to me) truck totally threw me off. We worked on 45-degree backs (which I was doing really well with on Friday), and for the life of me I could not get this dang truck to go where I wanted it to go. I kept getting stuck and spinning on the ice and having to reposition and although I finally got the truck in the hole, it took quite a while. Second attempt was a little better but not great. I told my new trainer how frustrated I was afterward, and he basically told me not to be so hard on myself considering the ice and the different truck. I know he's right but it's still frustrating to regress after having such a good day on Friday.

Afternoon was spent on road driving, which I did pretty good on. Biggest thing I need to work on there is slowing down earlier when approaching intersections. Turns and turn positioning is going really well.

I also finished all of the J.J. Keller modules yesterday, so glad to get that off my plate. I have a few other training modules to do before I finish training next week, but I can probably knock all that out by tomorrow.

Rest of week 2 update: all is going well and I passed my practice test with flying colors yesterday! My CDL test is scheduled for this coming Wednesday. We've been primarily focused on road driving and backing maneuvers this past week and I learned how to do offset backing fairly well. We also did one morning of serpentine backing, which went horrible for me. I don't know why, but my brain was just not comprehending the timing and angling and I got really upset. After taking a break for a little while, I asked if I could try it again and although it wasn't great, it was improved which I was happy about.

As I said, yesterday we took our practice CDL tests, which were scored by a different trainer, and I did really well according to the trainer. I'm pretty solid on the pre-trip inspection and brake tests, and the road test went well as well. We didn't have a backing portion for the practice test but I'm not too worried about it because I've been doing well.

So two weeks down, one to go. I'm glad I'm testing on Wednesday so I can get it out of the way and just spend Thursday and Friday practicing without as much pressure. Then starting the long drive back to the DC area on Saturday, where I wait to get my CDL processed by the state of Maryland and then I go out on the road with a Phase 2 trainer!

Week 3 update: I passed my CDL test this morning! I’m so excited and relieved. I had a 7am test and got to the terminal at 6 to mentally prepare and my trainer let me get in a practice back before the test.

The test itself wasn’t too bad. Pre-trip inspection and brake tests, then backing maneuvers and then road test. I scored a 9 overall which is pretty good. 1 point off for the pre-trip, 4 for the backing and 4 for the road test. I was a bit annoyed with my backing because my practice run would have scored a 0 but then in the test backing my setup was off which threw off my initial approach and I had to do 6 pull-ups before I could get it fixed. Ugh. But I passed so woo hoo!

I have a few more days up here doing various training and transitioning stuff for phase 2 (OTR training) and then go home Saturday for about a week. I’m looking forward to getting a little break and I’m also going to get my TWIC and Hazmat endorsement while I’m home so I’ll have an advantage at getting more/better loads plus a pay boost. That and visit family and friends.