Profile For Lady Lanes

LadyLanes, I've never considered proximity to a terminal to be of any value in the decision making process. I've never lived near my home terminals. The location of a terminal isn't what helps them get you home. It is the destinations of the freight they are moving.

Right now my home terminal is Gulfport, Mississippi. I live in Texas. I am never even near Gulfport unless I request to go there for service on my truck. I am constantly on the move, I move where the freight takes me. When I need to be home, I put in a request and they get me a load of freight that gets me within a few hundred miles of my house. Then I'll deliver it and go home - it's that simple. Don't get all tangled up about terminal locations.

Great. It's good to know that the terminals and drop yards won't effect my home time. However, I do find it odd that I can't find any info on Roehl's flatbed division on the west coast. Does anyone know anything about this? To be honest, I am afraid to ask the recruiter about it because I've heard that they are just going to lie to me anyway. So if anyone on Trucking Truth has any info, it would be absolutely golden.

Oh, and I should also add that I don't want to completely rule out Roehl before I get the info I am looking for (and only if it doesn't suite my needs in a company). But I just don't know where to find this info. I am hoping someone here knows something about Roehl's fat bed division on the west coast. If not, I will follow up with the suggestions above about Swift.

Thank you Ironmike and Errol V.

LadyLanes, I've never considered proximity to a terminal to be of any value in the decision making process. I've never lived near my home terminals. The location of a terminal isn't what helps them get you home. It is the destinations of the freight they are moving.

Right now my home terminal is Gulfport, Mississippi. I live in Texas. I am never even near Gulfport unless I request to go there for service on my truck. I am constantly on the move, I move where the freight takes me. When I need to be home, I put in a request and they get me a load of freight that gets me within a few hundred miles of my house. Then I'll deliver it and go home - it's that simple. Don't get all tangled up about terminal locations.

Great. It's good to know that the terminals and drop yards won't effect my home time. However, I do find it odd that I can't find any info on Roehl's flatbed division on the west coast. Does anyone know anything about this? To be honest, I am afraid to ask the recruiter about it because I've heard that they are just going to lie to me anyway. So if anyone on Trucking Truth has any info, it would be absolutely golden.

I applied to several truck companies and the ones that got back to me were Swift, Prime, and Roehl. My first choice was Swift but I couldn't get in touch with my recruiter because every time I called him, I was sent to his voicemail which was full and couldn't leave a message. When I tried to email, he responded by saying that I should give him a call. Needless to say, I decided to go to Roehl and have a start date for company sponsored CDL training next month in Phoenix, Arizona for their flatbed division. However, I am now realizing that I might have a problem...

Despite countless research, I have found very little information about Roehl's flatbed division, especially on the west coast. It seems that most of their fleets operate on the east coast and in the south. The closest terminal to me is in Phoenix, AZ and I live in Reno, NV. I also have never seen a Roehl truck out this way, to my knowledge. On the other hand, Swift has a drop yard (or a terminal, can't remember which) in Sparks and I see Swift trucks out this way ALL the TIME. Now that I am thinking about it, I am worried about how I will able to be successful with Roehl when I clearly do not live within the areas that the company operates. I am afraid that I will not be able to come home for several months at a time, OR that I will not get much freight at all. Based on my research, it seems that Swift would be the better option for me because I live right in the middle of the states in which they operate and they have a drop yard very close to where I live.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, I couldn't get in touch with my recruiter at Swift and I'm afraid that I was too quick to choose Roehl. Did I make a mistake? Someone please help!!! Not sure if I made a bad decision or not. Also, I can't find ANY info on Roehl's flatbed division on the west coast.

One of my deciding factors in choosing Roehl was they pay for training, which is nice but not necessary, and the fact that I couldn't get in touch with my Swift recruiter. Even if I did decide to try to follow up with Swift again, I'm sure they have thrown out my application at this point because I eventually just stopped trying to call the recruiter. What should I do here...? Is it a good idea to stick it out with Roehl or try again with Swift, if that is even possible at this point?

Thanks everyone!

Thank you. I will post an update when and if I get hired as a Truck Driver.

Perfect. Thank you!

From the CDL learner's permit testing details section:

At minimum, you will need to pass General Knowledge, Air Brakes, & Combination Vehicles tests to get your Commercial Learner's Permit

The rest are additional endorsements. (Hazmat is not complete without a background check, so wait till you're hired and the company may pay for that. Swift will.)

My question is, which part of the High Road reading material is the general knowledge portion?

I have been studying the High Road Training Program and I am going through the practice questions now. Question is, which part of it is the basic knowledge section? Obviously, the sections on Tankers, Hazardous Materials, and Air Breaks are endorsements. Is the rest of the material part of the basic knowledge section or am I overstudying?

[Recruiter #2's] email also stated that if I am contacted by other recruiters, I should inform them that I am working with him.

I laughed out loud when I read this! Go with the first, don't answer the second.

You know: Early Bird vs Worm, and all the Brownie points for a personal phone call.

Recruiter #1 said "take the basic knowledge test" where? The one on TT or the local DMV?

He said I should contact him after I passed the basic knowledge test at the DMV.

Hilariously ironic isn't it? Just the other day you came in here worried you might not have a chance at this career, now you've got recruiters fighting over you! That ought to feel pretty good right now.

It really makes no difference which one you work with. If it were me I'd just go with the first one and follow where that leads you.

I can't lie. I am feeling pretty good right now.

I decided to take Brett's advice which was to just go ahead and apply to all companies instead of just focussing on the few that were at the top of my list. I was immediately contacted by Swift. Yes! Awesome, that's one of the companies on my list anyway. Problem is, I was contacted by two different recruiters with two different instructions about how to proceed and I'm not sure which one I should follow up with.

The first recruiter called me via cell phone and informed me that I should take the basic knowledge test and contact him once I've passed. The second recruiter sent me an email stating that I should proceed by officially submitting a full application on their website. His email also stated that if I am contacted by other recruiters, I should inform them that I am working with him. Not sure how to proceed right now and who I should go through. Any suggestions?