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

Sorry I missed posting yesterday. It really was an uneventful day. I got up and called my FM about 30 minutes before it was time for me to be able to start driving. She asked if I was ready to get home. "Sure is!" She told me to head home and asked when I would be ready to go again. I said Tuesday morning at 0800. She said that was good. Then she asked how long I would be staying out. I said I would stay out until May 15th. I need be home on something on the 17th. I will be out for 24 days and that will give me 5 days at home. I drove my empty to trailer to the mini storage that I will be parking my truck at. Paid the $70 monthly fee and headed home. So, for the next 3 days, I have nothing to report except yard work, movies, beer, etc. See you guys and gals when I get back Tuesday.

Guys and gals, I am back at it. Last night I got back to my truck and got everything settled in. It is amazing how much stuff I need to buy. It is like stocking a mini apartment. A message popped up on the truck PC giving me my load assignment. Sweet. Ready to roll in the morning. I decided to call the shipper to see if I could arrive early than the 1130 appointment. They said I could. So, I headed out early. I had to drive 115 miles empty to get there. Once I was there, I checked in and they said to wait in the truck until someone came and got me. So, while I waited, I tired out the new TV with the truck antenna. It worked great. After watching Family Feud, they were ready to load me. Everything is going great. Hopefully, I will hit the road soon. They got me loaded quickly. It only took me 2 and half hours to strap and tarp it alone. ROFL! A couple of drivers gave me some help and some tips. It was much appreciated. I trashed my favorite shirt. I knew I should have changed before going to work. Then I headed out. This is where things get worse. I have to make a tight right turn back onto the scales as I leave. My spread axle did not seem to like the turn. The right side tire on on the front axle was close to the concrete edging of the scale. I backed up a bit and readjusted. It was still close but I thought it would be ok to let it rub a little. Guess what? It was not OK. As I watch my tire drag the curbing, poooooof! I see dust fly and I knew my tire just went flat. I got onto the scale and got weighed and then I pulled out of the way of other drivers and called my FM. Yeap, I am a bonehead. She was not nearly as upset about it as I was. She transferred me to maintenance. They found a place to get it fixed and told me to drive slow for the 16 miles to the place. I got there fine and they had a new tire on in no time. I learned how to write my first EFS check. I thanked them and then hit the road. I pulled into my fuel stop with just 19 minutes on my 14 hour clock. I only got 4 hours of actual drive time in. Yeah, it has been a long day. Amazingly, I am still pretty relaxed. Things happen. I learned a good lesson that I will not forget. Tomorrow, I got to knock down some serious miles. Hopefully, I can still make this delivery on time.

Guys and gals, I am back at it. Last night I got back to my truck and got everything settled in. It is amazing how much stuff I need to buy. It is like stocking a mini apartment. A message popped up on the truck PC giving me my load assignment. Sweet. Ready to roll in the morning. I decided to call the shipper to see if I could arrive early than the 1130 appointment. They said I could. So, I headed out early. I had to drive 115 miles empty to get there. Once I was there, I checked in and they said to wait in the truck until someone came and got me. So, while I waited, I tired out the new TV with the truck antenna. It worked great. After watching Family Feud, they were ready to load me. Everything is going great. Hopefully, I will hit the road soon. They got me loaded quickly. It only took me 2 and half hours to strap and tarp it alone. ROFL! A couple of drivers gave me some help and some tips. It was much appreciated. I trashed my favorite shirt. I knew I should have changed before going to work. Then I headed out. This is where things get worse. I have to make a tight right turn back onto the scales as I leave. My spread axle did not seem to like the turn. The right side tire on on the front axle was close to the concrete edging of the scale. I backed up a bit and readjusted. It was still close but I thought it would be ok to let it rub a little. Guess what? It was not OK. As I watch my tire drag the curbing, poooooof! I see dust fly and I knew my tire just went flat. I got onto the scale and got weighed and then I pulled out of the way of other drivers and called my FM. Yeap, I am a bonehead. She was not nearly as upset about it as I was. She transferred me to maintenance. They found a place to get it fixed and told me to drive slow for the 16 miles to the place. I got there fine and they had a new tire on in no time. I learned how to write my first EFS check. I thanked them and then hit the road. I pulled into my fuel stop with just 19 minutes on my 14 hour clock. I only got 4 hours of actual drive time in. Yeah, it has been a long day. Amazingly, I am still pretty relaxed. Things happen. I learned a good lesson that I will not forget. Tomorrow, I got to knock down some serious miles. Hopefully, I can still make this delivery on time.

WT, We all gotta learn sometime... good to know for us up and at 'ems! We will be learning behind you, but I hope your week goes smoother and the miles fly by!!! Be safe buddy and stay in touch!!

Thanks Tracee! Today was very uneventful. I drove. Well, except for the parking lot on US-35. Every time I have been on that road, I have sat. When I was with a trainer, we sat almost in the exact same spot as I did today. With him, we sat 2 and half hours due to an accident with fatality. Today, I sat for about an hour due to an accident that shut down the road. Me thinks that road is bad. Anyway, I drove. I was trying to make it to our terminal in Gary, IN. It is my next fuel stop. I knew it would be hard to get there because it was almost 650 miles away. I was looking at my drive clock and the GPS estimated arrival. When I got near Cincinnati, the two clocks were about 15 minutes apart. I realized that if I continued, I would hit Chicago at the very beginning of rush hour. With only a 15 minute window, it was not worth the risk. Once you start through Chicago, make sure you have at least two hours on your clock. There is absolutely nowhere to stop. If you run out of time, you are hosed. It was decided then. Get really close to Chicago and shut down. It was early so I knew getting a spot at a truck stop would not be bad. I drove until I had to shut down because I only had 14 minutes on my 11 hour clock. Yeah, no chance I would have ever made it to Gary. I hit two other slow downs and stops in traffic that really ate my clock. I am about an hour outside of Chicago on I - 65. 3:30AM is going to be an early start. But, that was the plan. Shut down early and get up early. Blow through Chicago at 0430 and not have to deal with the traffic. Stop in Gary for fuel and head to my delivery. My FM seemed impressed that I was still going to make my delivery without an adjustment to the time. She said today, I was moving up the favorite list. I asked if I was at the bottom?? She said, "Not even close!" So, I am not at the bottom and moving up. Wonder how long it will take for me to get to the top of the list?

Tracee.... how is school going?

Hey Wine Taster,

That is excellent you are "moving" up the list in terms of favorites. I'm sure that means a lot to most all drivers.

I should be out there in a couple months. Be safe.

Tracee.... how is school going?

I start May 5th. SO excited... can't wait to start. But I will let you know buddy!

Glad to hear you guys are getting ready for school. It will be awesome.

Today, I hit the road at 0430. My hope of getting past Chicago did not workout. Then I got confused and some hour ended up going straight into downtown traffic. The first time I took a exit the bridge to go under to get back on I-90 did not look tall enough. I was not sure so I just went straight back onto the ramp and back down to the interstate. The next exit, I finally got turned around and then sat in traffic for an hour. The driving was on. With a tight schedule because of my stupidity left very little time. The only stops I made were for cargo checks and a mandatory 30 minute break. Once in Arcadia, WI, I got my first experience of untarping a load in heavy rain. I was soaked to the bone and freezing. It took me a long time to get it done. When I finally got unloaded, I had 1 hour left on my 14 clock. I buggies out of there to the only truck stop in this area. It is in the middle of nowhere here. When I say truck stop, it is more like a gas station with like 6 spots for trucks to park. They were all full so I made a spot. Already had a new trip plan when I finished up. It is a short run but I will get extra pay because it is less than 100 miles both ways which means double short pay. Hopefully, when I finish the short trip I will get a long one to keep me rolling all weekend.

Glad to hear you guys are getting ready for school. It will be awesome.

Today, I hit the road at 0430. My hope of getting past Chicago did not workout. Then I got confused and some hour ended up going straight into downtown traffic. The first time I took a exit the bridge to go under to get back on I-90 did not look tall enough. I was not sure so I just went straight back onto the ramp and back down to the interstate. The next exit, I finally got turned around and then sat in traffic for an hour. The driving was on. With a tight schedule because of my stupidity left very little time. The only stops I made were for cargo checks and a mandatory 30 minute break. Once in Arcadia, WI, I got my first experience of untarping a load in heavy rain. I was soaked to the bone and freezing. It took me a long time to get it done. When I finally got unloaded, I had 1 hour left on my 14 clock. I buggies out of there to the only truck stop in this area. It is in the middle of nowhere here. When I say truck stop, it is more like a gas station with like 6 spots for trucks to park. They were all full so I made a spot. Already had a new trip plan when I finished up. It is a short run but I will get extra pay because it is less than 100 miles both ways which means double short pay. Hopefully, when I finish the short trip I will get a long one to keep me rolling all weekend.

Sorry I missed posting yesterday. I was so exhausted. The morning started with a pretty easy run to pick up some trailer chassis and delivering them 81 miles away. Then I had a pre plan to pick up a pre loaded trailer for an almost 1000 mile run over the weekend. When I was getting loaded, I got a call from my FM. Well, it was an FM that had talked to my FM. He asked if I could save the day. I said I would do my best. He said he had a driver that was out of hours. He needed me to drive to him, drop my trailer with the other driver, take his trailer and deliver 100 miles away, drive back the empty, pick up my load from the other driver, make my delivery and then get to my pick up. It was insane. By the time I made it back to the truck stop, I only had 1 hour 45 minutes on my clock. The place where I was picking up said they were about an hour away from where I was. After dropping and hooking, I had 1:20 on the clock. I started out but then decided, I would be cutting it way to close. Any snafu and I would have an HOS violation. Luckily, the place I was to deliver too, it was a normal place we go to. I was told to just pull in and drop my trailer and pick up the one I was delivering. So, I decided to crash. I was exhausted.

This morning, I started driving as soon as I could. I got to the place and dropped my trailer. We are supposed to take all securement devices off the load. Got all that done. The driver I had relayed the load for yesterday showed up to pick up as well. He had given me a shower because I had none on my card. I thanked him again. He said "No, thank you!" I was puzzled. He said that if I had not relayed the load for him, he would have been sitting all weekend. Then the real fun started. The trailers we were picking up all had big farm equipment. Then are a bunch of smaller pieces. It took both of us over three hours to get our loads secured. I think it would have taken the other driver a little less time but he had this new guy asking him questions. He was a very patient person and very helpful. I would probably still be there securing had he not helped me. So, I hit the road after dropping paperwork off. I thought I was lost but the weekend FM said I was right on track. I was concerned about fuel and she told me to fill up in Marshfield, WI. The really strange part, I have chains on this load. I have two chains that keep getting loose. The load has not moved. Every time I stop they are loose. I crank them back down. Then I stopped every 100 miles or so because I am worried about the chains. Loose again. And again. The last stop at a truck stop, I had 2 hours remaining on my 14 hour clock. Being so tired, I decided to shut down. I totally re-secured the load. I added two extra straps and completely re - did the chains. Hopefully, tomorrow everything remains tight.

Slowly, I am getting settled in. My truck was covered in mud on the inside from my boots. Just so happens the Petro I am at had a 12V shop vac on sale for $24. Sweet. I bought some cleaning supplies and did I good cleaning inside the truck. Last night, I had walked over to Walmart and got sheets and things I needed. It is unreal the stuff you need for the truck. I still need a cooler and something to cook with. Another really long day. Hopefully, tomorrow will just be driving. Goodnight!