Starting A New Career

First, I want to say that this forum has been so helpful over the past few months while I considered a career change at 31. I grew up with a father that was a trucker, and I went through most of my young adulthood up until about 6 months ago telling myself I would never do the same thing. Truck drivers and their families make sacrifices, and I always thought since I went to college, got a degree, and even worked in my field for a few years that I would never do the same thing my father did. But about 6 months ago, after being laid off yet again, I wondered if that degree was even worth the paper it was printed on. I started looking at going back to school for something else, and that is when I came across this website. I read the forums and the information on the life of a truck driver, some I knew from past experience with my father and some things I never knew. I started to ask myself if maybe it would be a good life decision to move into a new career path, one I had told myself that I would NEVER do.

I talked with my girlfriend about it for months, and decided I would talk to my father about it. To put it mildly, he was not very thrilled at first. He lived that life and is recently out of the business of driving (although he still works in transportation as a dispatcher). He tried to talk me out of it on more than one occasion, but soon enough he came around to be supportive of the decision.

I have received an offer of employment from Roehl to work in their refrigerated division, a company that seems to be a good fit for me. I have received my medical card and will be filing the papers in my home state of PA to take the CDL permit test this week. I have been studying the book as well as the practice tests on this site for months now and finally feel like I am ready. I have worked in transportation in the past (as a dispatcher for a company in Pittsburgh, PA while I attended college) so a lot of it was just about getting back into all the rules and regulations as well the new information I have never looked at before like combination vehicles and air brakes. But, I feel like I am ready for the next chapter of this experience to begin.

I know it will be a lot different than sitting in an office, and being away from home for weeks at a time will not be great at first, but I do believe, after a lot of soul searching, that this is the right thing for me. I wanted to thank those who post here regularly for all the help you have given me so far, even though you may not have realized you have. I hope I will continue to learn more, get off to training soon, and start my new career. They have not given me a date yet, but I am guessing that is because I have not tested for my permit yet, which would make sense.

Any other Roehl drivers out there who went to training with any advice, it would sure be appreciated.

Thanks again!

I went to roehl with my cdl so i dont know how the school is run but i do know the guys that were there when i was were really happy with it. I know they preach safety alot as all companies should so i was impressed with that. My advice is to do the High Road Training Program. Im also in the reefer division

I went to roehl with my cdl so i dont know how the school is run but i do know the guys that were there when i was were really happy with it. I know they preach safety alot as all companies should so i was impressed with that. My advice is to do the High Road Training Program. Im also in the reefer division

Thanks for the info, Jake. I have started the High Road Training program and it is really helping a lot. I was using just the regular practice tests on the site before I signed up earlier today, but this seems very in-depth and has already helped a lot in things I thought I had down strong before but now I realize maybe I wasn't as strong as I thought at first.

Best of luck to ya Shawn! And definitely stick with that High Road Training Program. It's amazing. Your scores on your exams will be through the roof.

Here's how the different sections of the course break down:

To Get Your CDL Permit:

• Rules & Regulations
• Driving Safely
• Transporting Cargo Safely
• Air Brakes
• Combination Vehicles
• Pre-Trip Inspection
• Driving Exam

To get your CDL endorsements which are optional but highly recommend:

• Transporting Passengers
• Doubles And Triples
• Tankers
• Hazardous Materials

Two sections we've built ourselves with info you'll need for everyday life on the road:

• Logbook
• Weight & Balance

Two sections for anyone considering flatbed:

• Cargo Securement
• New York State Coil Endorsement

Just read your story Shawn and was surprised to see you asked about Roehl. I have been working the natural gas fields up in Rifle Co. the past year. Came straight up here out if trucking school, live in Las Vegas. Been driving water trucks, mostly straight trucks but large transports also. It is now time to move on and I was looking at Roehl. They have flatbeds out of Las Vegas and I was going to ask if anyone on here was familiar with Roehl. It was good to see someone already asked, looks like a good outfit! I was also looking at Andrus out if St. George Utah. Because it us all western state regional and close to home I thought it would be a good fit. Anyone on here know about Andrus,any info would be helpful.

Thanks, Love the site. B. Howard

Best of luck to ya Shawn! And definitely stick with that High Road Training Program. It's amazing. Your scores on your exams will be through the roof.

Here's how the different sections of the course break down:

To Get Your CDL Permit:

• Rules & Regulations
• Driving Safely
• Transporting Cargo Safely
• Air Brakes
• Combination Vehicles
• Pre-Trip Inspection
• Driving Exam

To get your CDL endorsements which are optional but highly recommend:

• Transporting Passengers
• Doubles And Triples
• Tankers
• Hazardous Materials

Two sections we've built ourselves with info you'll need for everyday life on the road:

• Logbook
• Weight & Balance

Two sections for anyone considering flatbed:

• Cargo Securement
• New York State Coil Endorsement

The training program has been an amazing help. Just reading the manual only gets you so far, but the way the training is set up has really been a huge help when it comes to my confidence that I am actually retaining the information.

Appreciate the words of encouragement!

Just read your story Shawn and was surprised to see you asked about Roehl. I have been working the natural gas fields up in Rifle Co. the past year. Came straight up here out if trucking school, live in Las Vegas. Been driving water trucks, mostly straight trucks but large transports also. It is now time to move on and I was looking at Roehl. They have flatbeds out of Las Vegas and I was going to ask if anyone on here was familiar with Roehl. It was good to see someone already asked, looks like a good outfit! I was also looking at Andrus out if St. George Utah. Because it us all western state regional and close to home I thought it would be a good fit. Anyone on here know about Andrus,any info would be helpful.

Thanks, Love the site. B. Howard

They do like a good company, especially for someone like myself who is trying to break into the business. I have been having a few hiccups with them recently, but hopefully nothing that can't be worked out. I got my one year medical card at the end of last month (only one year since I have sleep apnea) and I am still waiting to hear back from them if their safety department has cleared me or not. Two weeks ago I got an e-mail from the recruiter saying safety would contact me soon, and that hasn't happened yet so a couple days ago I called and asked if there was any problems and the recruiter seemed surprised that I got my one year card. She was under the impression I only had a temp one month card.

Anyway, to make a long story short, it's a small hiccup but hopefully nothing that will keep me from going out for training sooner rather than later after I get my permit.