Profile For David K.

September 22, 2021. I passed the close quarters evaluation and have been transferred out of Phase 3 training and into the national van fleet. Thanks for all the support, here

August 26, 2021

My fleet manager decided to schedule me to take the final test for Phase 3 and the Roehl GYCDL training program. He will route me to a Roehl terminal next week for the test. If I test out successfully, I will exit the training and enter the Roehl national van fleet.

August 19, 2021 I'm about three weeks and 13 solo trips into Phase 3. On the second trip, I bent the fender on another truck at a truck stop. No police or tow truck was needed, and the other driver drove off after we exchanged information. Neither the truck nor trailer that I was driving suffered any damage. It's a long story as to how I could hit a parked truck while I was driving 3 mph, but basically, I was moving, and the other truck was parked. It was at a Love's truck stop late in the evening. I was running out of drive time, and I could not find a place to park. Lots of trucks were coming and going, and the truck stop was a complete cluster. I was watching other hazards and did not notice the truck on my blind side.

That accident put me in a bad situation with Roehl. They immediately cut my pay by about 10%, and I must go through some further training, without pay. Apparently, however, no training slots are available anywhere, right now, so I have been continuing to run. The accident occurred during trip #2, and I finished trip #13 yesterday.

I can appreciate what Christopher P. has said that he "wanted to quit so bad" during Phase 3. I have felt that way, a lot, lately. Maybe driving gets better with experience, but right now, I struggle to convince myself that all the risk and headache is worth the low pay and personal sacrifice.

July 28 -- Starting Phase 3.

Thanks, Christopher P. That's very helpful. Yesterday, I finished Phase 2 and passed the Driver Safety Exam (DSE). The DSE was no joke. I was under the impression that the driving test was simply a formality, but in my experience, the exam included several potential fail points, including a king pin hookup that looked OK, but was not completely closed, even though it looked closed. Some of the turns were tricky. My DSE test did allow for the use of a GPS navigation device, which I otherwise would rely upon heavily, so I was not comfortable relying solely upon street signs. I came into the test thinking that backing into a parking space would be the most difficult part of the test, but I managed to do that with only one pullup. The driving and pre-trip inspection were actually more difficult than the backing because they were designed to test drivers with unusual conditions.

The 19 days of driving in Phase 2 was an intensive learning experience, not only as to the fundamentals of driving and parking a truck and trailer, but also the details of entering and receiving information in the digital tracking system. Interacting with people at shipping and receiving was a little intimidating, at times, because some people are simply rude, or angry, or tired, or otherwise not eager to interact with drivers.

But I got through it, and now I am waiting on my truck so that I can begin Phase 3.

July 16--In Phase 2, the trainee's progress depends, for one, upon the trainer's methods of training. Fortunately, I have been with the same trainer during the entire time, and I am progressing through the program quickly. Other trainees end up driving with two or more trainers in Phase 2, which can slow down completion.

My typical day starts off at about 4:00 a.m. and finishes at about 9:30 p.m., but I am only driving about seven hours per day. My trainer is driving about the same amount. We spend more time than I expected waiting at shippers and receivers. In the next day or two, I will start the solo driving part of Phase 2. That means that the trainer will still be in the truck, but not providing as much instruction as in the early part of Phase 2. I will be expected to complete all the tasks of a company driver without help.

My understanding is that 30 days is the maximum amount of time that a driver can spend in Phase 2. After that, the driver either progresses on to Phase 3, which is solo driving, or the driver is dismissed from the company.

July 2, 2021 Today, I finally received a start date, July 6th, for Phase 2 of the GYCDL training. In Phase 2, I will be driving with a driver trainer, and the trainer will not be team driving with me, as occurs at some companies. Instead, the trainer will be teaching me the basics of driving in the Roehl van fleet while we deliver 19 loads. For the last 5 loads, I must be able to complete pick up and delivery on my own. After that, I must be able to pass Roehl's driving test.

Although I had to wait more than two weeks after Phase 1 to start with Phase 2, I will have an excellent trainer who has more than 2 million safe driving miles of driving experience. Waiting for a trainer of that caliber should be well worth the wait.

Before I received my Class A, I had a Class B for a few months. I took the Class B test in a straight truck. For me, the most important piece of information that I used for parking was that the rear tandems or wheels are a pivot point; that is, the truck is going to turn around with the tandems when backing. Further, the radius of your turn when backing is going to depend, a lot, upon the length of your wheel base or the distance between the front tires and the rear tires. Finally, I was mindful of the tail behind the tandems. If the tail goes out of bounds on the test, you are going to get penalized for that. I spent some time backing and parking in an empty parking lot, with the help of my trainer, until I felt confident that I could pass the test.

Thanks Anne, PackRat, and Old School.

Ryker, (1) your cpm will depend upon which fleet you are driving with and your experience level, so your recruiter will know that better than me. The cpm varies a lot.

(2) As for personal conveyance, I have not heard much about that, but I believe that personal conveyance would be quite limited because I never heard the trainers talk about that as a way of solving a problem. Every foot that the truck moves is recorded and requires some explanation. If you live within 50 miles of a Roehl terminal or drop lot, I know that you are required to leave your truck there, not at home, during your home time.

(3) After Phase 1, Roehl provides transportation, except for short distances near your home. You might have to find your own way to a truck stop or terminal in order to meet your Phase 2 trainer.

(4) Yes, Roehl has three different groups: the GYCDL group (no license), the inexperienced group (license, but no experience), and the experienced group. Roehl provides a different level of orientation and training for each of those three groups. Those groups are separated at the beginning of the first day.

(5) The trainers will help you find someone to give you a ride if you ask for help. No one is going to stop you from using Uber, but that would be an expensive option. When I looked into using Uber in Conley, a one-way trip from the hotel to the terminal was $25 and up. The drive from the hotel to the terminal takes about 20 minutes, and a lot of that is down a highway.

(6) The orientation information sheet explains that trainees will share a room with another person, but you can get your own room for about $30 extra per night. When I was there in Conley, everyone had their own room without having to pay extra, but that may not happen if the training slots are full when you get there.

Hope that helps.

Week 3--June 18th. Success! All five of the people in our group passed the CDL driving test. Tomorrow, we have a half of training; then, we travel home for three to eight days. Once we have our CDLs from our home state, Roehl will schedule our Phase 2 driver training. In Phase 2, we deliver nineteen loads under the supervision of a driver trainer in the truck, and the last five loads must be completed on our own, with limited help from the trainer. In Phase 3, we are solo driving.

Week 3--June 17th. Today three people in our group drove to TN to take their CDL tests. We heard back that two of them passed, but we have not heard back about the third person, as I write this note. The fourth person and I will test tomorrow. We spent the morning practicing the backing maneuvers a couple of times. I managed to successfully perform those without losing any points, so I am fairly confident about testing successfully on Friday.

The group in Week 2 lost another trainee, so they are down from six to only three.