Roehl Driver Training From Start To End.....

Thanks Lynn. Did not do anything on the range other than back up to the trailer in the shed. Heading out this morning so I'll see ya out there some time.

WT, THAT IS AWESOME!!! I will be sure to check drivers boxn for supplies...good tip! LOL Enjoy your truck you deserve it buddy! Be safe, be careful and breathe!! Hope to see you soon!

WT, Well I got my permit today...only had to take combinations since I have a class B with Air brakes, P, and S already...so I figured I would take the hazmat , tankers, etc later. Knock em off one at a time so to speak. I hope you are enjoying getting the feel of your very own truck and will soon be home to show the wife and kids!!

<~ Me doing the I can't wait dance! OF course the boss will frown upon that as I keep laughing when all h##L breaks loose at work and say, "Only 2.5 weeks to go!" LOL Counting down the days...Be safe and stay in touch! T

Wine Taster,

I have been following right along with you through school and training and your instructor and now your own truck. I can say that I am so happy for you and wish you all the best and brightest that comes your way!!

Take it easy and of course SAFE!!

You guys and gals are too kind. Hopefully, this helps others see what it takes to get to this point.

Today was insane. I did not get done loading and unloading my truck until around 2300 I guess last night. This morning I got up at 0630 and got showered. I talked with my FM as soon as she arrived. We had to take care of some log paperwork so I would have copies of the past 8 days. I had to finish my paper logs for the past three days I was off to show my reset. She gave me a printout of everything from the e-logs from the truck for the past week. Once I got logged into my fancy truck PC and called safety to get my logs all certified in the computer, everything was all set. Around 1000, I got my first SOLO dispatch.

Take a deep breathe! Breathe! It is all on me now. Really it isn't. I have everyone here and all the other drivers out there to ask for help. My FM is also available. Anyway, I was told to bobtail 50 miles to pickup my load in Schoefield, WI. At the time I did not realize we had been to this drop yard in CDL school. So, I write down the directions and then check them against the truck co-pilot (gps). Everything jives. All of my stuff was loaded this morning when I was waiting on stuff. I hit the road. Then the GPS did not like where I was going. I got confused so I turned around and went back to the terminal and parked. I re-wrote the trip directions. Then I set out again. The GPS finally caught up somewhere along the way. I made it to the drop yard and found my trailer. OMG! A low stepdeck with a huge fan sitting on it. It is a very light load. Test the rookie with a low trailer, I guess. I switched off the equipment that had been used to secure the load and started on my trip plan. Next stop, Gary, IN for fuel. A guy I meet in the drivers lounge this weekend was having brake troubles. We trouble shot the system and he called his FM. He thought he had an air leak. I asked if he had done a leak check. No. So, we idled up and got his pressure up. Shut off the truck and pressed the breaks. Pressure held firm. I think the drop in pressure when the airbags inflated on the trailer was higher than he had seen before and it made him think he had a leak. Anyway, we said our goodbyes and hit the road.

I hit Gary, IN with about 50 minutes left on the clock. I needed a 30 minute break to get 3 more hours of drive time. Guess I had wasted a little more time helping my friend than I thought. When I got off my break, I only had 2:47 remaining. I had more drive time than that but now my 14 hour clock was ticking. I started rolling. Next stop is Hudson, NC. 900 miles away. I stopped at three rest stops on 65 looking for a place to shut down. Everything was insanely packed. Between the stops, there were trucks parked on off ramps and side roads. Ol boy! I had 22 minutes when I rolled into a small place just outside of Layfette, OH. I made a spot. I did not think I was going to get a place. It was nerve racking. I went on duty at 0105. I did my post trip and went to sleeper where I am now. It was a long day. I did not even tell you guys the part about having to turn around because I took a wrong exit. Then I made a bad decision and got myself wedged in a teeny tiny parking lot. Somehow, I managed to get turned around without hitting anything or tearing the tire off that spread axle. A long day it has been but I actually enjoyed it. As soon as I stopped, I told my Iphone to set an alarm for 9 hours and 30 minutes from now. In the morning, I will hit the road and try to make it to the deliveries a day early. I don't think they can unload me that late but at least I will be there waiting the next morning.

If you had not noticed, I got lost, well not really lost but on the wrong road twice. It is a whole new ballgame when you are all alone out here. TTYL! Sleepy time.

Whew!!! What a day WT! Glad you made it safe and sound. Like everyone on here says, time will teach you a lot. We can't expect to know everything! I really do enjoy your posts especially when you make me laugh. I have 2 weeks and 2 days left at my current job and right now everything is looking up. Just going to concentrate on studying CDL manual and try to absorb as much as I can before I get to school!

Be careful, be safe and know we are all pulling for you!

Whew!!! What a day WT! Glad you made it safe and sound. Like everyone on here says, time will teach you a lot. We can't expect to know everything! I really do enjoy your posts especially when you make me laugh. I have 2 weeks and 2 days left at my current job and right now everything is looking up. Just going to concentrate on studying CDL manual and try to absorb as much as I can before I get to school!

Be careful, be safe and know we are all pulling for you!

How many times do I gots to tell ya! STUDY the High Road Training Program! It is all you will need. I promise!

This morning I woke up three hours before I could drive. I did not think I needed to turn the bunk heater on last night. Guess what? I was wrong. I woke up like a mummy popsicle inside my mummy 40 degree sleeping bag. Being the type person, that once you are awake, you are awake... I got up and did my pre trip. I read the manual to my truck so I know what all the knobby's do. Learned how to set the clock on my radio. Learned how to actually get the radio to work. Did some trip planning.

It dawned on me today while I was driving.... This is still a thread about training with Roehl. This is Phase 3 of training. What that means is.... you have a feet manager like other drivers. However, your fleet manager has less drivers to manage. That gives him or her more time to help you if you have questions. It, also, gives them more time to watch how you are doing.

Today was all about driving. After doing my trip planning, I knew it would be really close but I wanted to make it to my first drop. I had already called the company and received directions. I asked if I could park there if I got in late. She said no because the gate would be locked. She said that if I continued down the road about a quarter mile, there was a park with a huge parking lot. She said it was secluded and I could park there. That sounded like the perfect plan. I needed to cover about 650 miles to make it. I did not waste any time. I stopped every 3 hours and did a quick vehicle check and got right back on the road. For my 30 minute break, I had a quick dinner. It was the only thing I had eaten all day. My 14 hour clock was not an issue today.

Up first leaving Indiana and into Ohio. Next was Kentucky. Then Tennessee. And finally, North Carolina. My home state. Somewhere along the way I got a message on the truck PC. It gave me new routing and fuel instructions. I was confused. So, I gave the FM a call and asked which route to follow. I - 75 to I - 40. What I did not think about was the smokey mountains. A lot of I - 40, you can only go 50 MPH speed limit. However, some of the curves, you would be insane to take them loaded even light at that speed. I was still hoping to make it. Then, I cam upon a sign. All trucks must enter the information center on the right. Hmmmmm... what's this? Basically, you pull in. There is a huge map for you to read about where the runaway ramps are. Truck speed is 35. USE THE PROPER GEAR! There were two lanes. They each had a stop light. After you sit there long enough, your light turns green. It spaces the rucks out going down the mountain. Luckily, the load I have is light. However, it was pitch black outside except for the big almost full moon. I grinded a few gears because I started picking up speed as soon as I headed out of the lane. For a second, I was scared I would not get back in gear. Got it in 8th and set the engine break to high braking. The truck was screaming at about 1500 RPM's but that was almost perfect to let the engine break do its job. I turned on my caution lights and slowly went done the hills. There were signs every so often that would flash if you were just one MPH over 35. There were three runaway ramps along the way. I took my time and coated down with only hitting the breaks twice. It would have been much harder had I really been loaded down.

All the different thing slowed me down a bit. I got about an hour from my destination with 50 minutes left on my drive clock. I was not sure if I would make it and I did not know if there were any truckstops close to there. I decided to play it safe. I hit the rest stop just 45 minutes from where I wanted to be. 567 miles driven. I probably could have made it but I did not want to push my luck. In the morning, I can't drive until 1000 so I will sleep in. As for now, it is time for a baby wipe bath and bed.

Day 3 of phase 3 training.

I got up about an hour before I could start driving. I went into the rest stop and nobody was stirring. I had taken a baby wipe bath last night but my hair was looking bad. In my shaving bag was some shampoo. I used the sink to wash my hair. It was not easy because it was the type sink that only gives you a short burst of water when you put your hands under it. The plan was to get a real shower at my next fuel stop.

I hit the road as soon as I could. I wanted to get to my first drop as early as possible. It took about an hour for me to get there. It was about 1045. They were supposed to have a crane there at 1030. By the time everything was said and done, it was 1300 before I got out of there. Errrrr. My next stop was in Raliegh and I had to be there before 1600. My fuel stop was along the way so there goes time for a shower. Just call me stinky. I head out to my next stop and my FM calls. She ask why I was late to my first drop. Late? What? After I talked to her I looked back at the plan and it said 1500. I was way early. I asked my FM about it again and she said she had not sent me the updated plan so it was her fault not mine. Sigh! First delivery NOT late. Phew! Anyway, I talked with the next drop point. I was giving regular updates as to my location. Then I ran into the I - 40 Triangle parking lot. Around 1700, the guy calls and says he has waited as long as he could. They would be back Tuesday morning. Wait! Tuesday? It is Easter. Good Friday is tomorrow. I said it is what it is. I just wanted to get home for weekend too. The guy asked where I was and he said that will be an hour longer. He said the people that had the alarm codes and keys were leaving. He said he would call me back. He called back 10 minutes later and said he had called his boss and his boss was going to come back to get me unloaded. PHEW! I really thought I was going to be sitting for the next three days waiting to get unloaded. It is true sugar catches more flies. Those guys were so nice to stay 2 and half hours late just to get me unloaded. I thanked them many times.

Sitting in the parking lot, I got paperwork from the trip done. I get a call from an FM saying that they needed my help. A truck had broken down and they wanted me to relay it the last 80 miles. Ok. No problem. They gave me the other drivers number. I called her. She was pulling a reefer. I was to drop my step deck with her and take the reefer to Wally world. I have no clue about reefers. I talked to the other driver and she was about 70 miles away so I headed out. I told her that she would have to show me how the reefer works and she said no problem. I talked to her a second time and she said her truck was fixed. Huh? Then why am I coming to relay the load. She said she did not understand it either. Then she called the FM and I got canceled two miles from where she was. The FM told me to park for the night and my regular FM would take care of me tomorrow. Sadly, the closest truck stop to me was more than 50 miles away. I still had almost 3 hours on my 14 clock but I did not think they would like it if I went that far. So, here I am in another rest stop, taking another baby wipe bath and eating vending machine food. Funny thing is, I am really enjoying this job. I made some things happen today. I turned 1300 miles in the past three days so all in all not too bad for my first time solo. With no pre plan I am going to crash and sleep until I wake up.

Whew!!! What a day WT! Glad you made it safe and sound. Like everyone on here says, time will teach you a lot. We can't expect to know everything! I really do enjoy your posts especially when you make me laugh. I have 2 weeks and 2 days left at my current job and right now everything is looking up. Just going to concentrate on studying CDL manual and try to absorb as much as I can before I get to school!

Be careful, be safe and know we are all pulling for you!

How many times do I gots to tell ya! STUDY the High Road Training Program! It is all you will need. I promise!

I am I am!