First Week At Roehl

Ok, that's a nice place. It seems like they treat the trainees well. You're lucky it wasn't wintertime.

Congratulations on jumping into the fray successfully and your great attitude. Thank you for continuing to post on your training time.

Sorry for the long delay, but week two didn't slow down any at all. Most days ran the same formula, drive out on the road before lunch, backing practice after lunch. My driving is solid, but sometimes my speed is a little slow (out of an abundance of caution). My straight line back and my offset is spot on, but my 90 degree is hit or miss. The weather out here is bipolar on a good day. Week three was more of the same, just stepped up in difficulty. More driving during the mornings, but now adding in driving down Central Avenue in downtown Marshfield, and some interstate speeds on 10 East. Practicing 45 degree parking and truck stop pull thrus. Afternoons still practicing offsets and 90 degree backs. Thursday was test day for me. For my pre-trip I drew the coupling and the trailer, in cab and brake test. I got 45 out of 48, then to my backing test. I aced straight line and offset, went out of bounds 1 time on my 90, straightened out with a pull up, put it in the box perfectly on my first GOAL for a total score of 2. Off to the road test. I was waiting for the examiner to tell me to take the truck back and park it, but I kept on. When we finally returned to the terminal , I was certain I had failed. When the examiner told me I had passed, to tell the truth, I wasn't sure if I wanted to scream or throw up. I didn't hear much of what he said after that, except my score, an 8 on driving. I did it, I earned my class A. Three weeks of what felt like at times as pure HELL, but I survived. Saturday was a half day on atlas reading, then driving a total of 16 hours home, arriving at 4:02 am Sunday morning.

Oh shoot, wish I had seen this. I live in Marshfield, probably saw you driving up the hill on Upham! I’d have bought you a cup of coffee. Where do they put up their drivers in town? I hope you keep posting about your Roehl experience.

Craig, They put us up at the Hotel Marshfield, would have loved to meet up with you. I enjoy meeting everyone on here and hope to meet a lot of members on the road in the future.

So, end of another day, and this phase of my training is already coming to a close. Phase 2 of training at Roehl consists of 19 to 25 days with a driver trainer, and the last 5 loads I have to do solo, without help from my trainer. Tomorrow is load #4. I pick up an empty here at the Gary terminal , run over to Nestle in DeKalb, IL for a dtop and hook and off to Walmart DC #7039 for another drop and hook. Then my 2nd 34 reset Sunday. By the end of the day tomorrow I'll have driven over 2600 miles since Monday.

Excellent thread! thanks for posting Thomas!

Thank you, and thank everyone for joining me in this grand adventure. Thank you to all the more experienced members for dropping by and checking upon me, the words of encouragement, and the laughs. A special thanks to Brett, without this forum and all of it's wonderful members, I wouldn't be here now. Momma Anne, you've got a wealth of information stored up, and I thank you for everything. I've reach a crossroads, and I ask everyone for their input. A penny for our thoughs. I'm on my 34 at the Love's in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and my load Monday will be my final solo load to finish Phase 2. Then my trainer and I will be routed to a terminal to test out and hopefully receive my own truck. Once that happens I start my 120,000 mile contract, but it's also called Phase 3. So, my question to everyone is this: Is it time to close my training diary, or do I soldier on? As the lawyer Steve Lehto says at the end of his YouTube videos: "Questions or comments, leave them below."

Close it when you post a photo of your own truck.

I agree with Packrat. But stop in from time to time to lets us know how you and Roehl are getting along, etc Best of luck! Hammer down!

Close it when you post a photo of your own truck.

I agree with Packrat. But stop in from time to time to lets us know how you and Roehl are getting along, etc Best of luck! Hammer down!

Tritto !!!

~ Anne ~

ps: Thanks for the compliments; I'm just 'me!' BK thinks I'm a 'MiniBrett,' tho ... LoL !

I agree with closing your diary. However, you are entering a new phase in your training. What you want to do at this point is be active in the General Discussion section of the forum. You'll have questions you can ask in there, and stressful experiences you can bring up for pointers from the many experienced mentors that frequent that section of the forum. It's a great place where you can vent when needed or you can share your learning experiences.

You've done a great diary. Now you can continue by sharing your experiences as a rookie laboring to finish what he started. Passing over into the realm of an experienced driver is a challenge. We want to hear how it goes for you. We look forward to hearing more from you.

Agreed!

Ladies snd Gentlemen;

I passed my Phase 2 test, and now am an official Solo driver. I fly out of Chicago's Midway airfield to Philidelphia where a Lyft driver will take me to our Bensalem dropyard for an abandon recovery. And with the unanimous consensous, I close this diary. Thank you to everyone who followed me on this amazing journey.

Be safe out there; Thomas D Roehl Transport