AJ's Truck Driving Journey

Have you tried dryer sheets? We use them in my daughters 85 impala over the winter, under the seats, in the glove box, trunk and inside the air cleaner. They don't like the smell and its easy. Good Luck with Roehl!!

I'm using dryer sheets, also ! lol

No rodents in MY GT !!!

I only use 2 moth balls in the trunk and 1 on either front floor board .. the smell is not bothersome to me.. I have always liked it, actually ... smells like my late Grandmothers house !

First day at Roehl Transportation complete. Standard paperwork / drug test and physicals. All passed, but my eyes are starting to worry me a bit. I'm going to go ahead and get some glasses when I get back home.

The Staff is great and I still feel I made a solid choice for a first year Company. All will be reevaluated at that point.

In the trucks tomorrow...

Great to hear from you AJ - best of luck at your new company,

Great to hear from you AJ - best of luck at your new company,

Thank You , my friend.

I hope all is well with you. I will have lot's of updates to come.

Thursday, 10/30/14

Tuesday was more classroom activities and winding up paperwork. Yesterday, we finished up classroom with the rest of the atlas work and got in the trucks. The rust was knocked off nicely as I whipped around the yard course in fine form and had minimal struggle with the quasi 90 degree alley dock setup they had. It sets up more as a real world 45 degree angle like getting in a hole at a dock or truck stop. This was the first real test to see if they cut you loose quickly. Perhaps more than a few butterflies in the gut there. Then it was off to the road for the skills evaluation. I did well enough to be cut short on my time to get on with the next driver. A bit of a confidence builder there. I had a sore throat I when got back to the hotel and wasn't feeling well, so I took a few meds and crashed a bit then woke up to catch the end of the World Series... Great Series !! I'm feeling better this morning. .....just was run down a little, I suppose.

The shifting came back famously and I did well as long as I stayed focused. The second I became comfortable and lost focus I would get lost - that's when the grinding starts ! lol .... The driving will become more intense as these days progress culminating with an all day backing fest on Sunday followed by a potential hire on Monday and off to Roehl Phase 2....

One day at a time....

Very cool AJ!

Indeed just roll with it. Whatever they ask of you, just do it with a smile. Try to stay relaxed and enjoy yourself as much as possible. Trucking really is all about living the moment. Sure you'll plan everything out ahead of time as much as possible once you get out there but the only thing you can count on in trucking is constant change. Your plans will get blown up half the time. You simply adjust and keep on moving ahead.

If they change the schedule on you guys three times a day - fine. No problem.

If they ask you to do something a little different than the others had to do it - fine. No problem.

Just roll with it one moment at a time, stay positive, and learn all you can. You're going to do awesome - no question about it!

Thanks, Brett for the encouragement.

Yesterday was a bit of a step back. The shifting on the road was more difficult as I wasn't quite as focused as prior. I was really rusty on the backing since I only had the one attempt on trial day, so yesterday was #2 in three weeks.... Not enough for me, as I was just getting the hang of it leaving school. My Roehl instructor says he is not worried about me since he saw what I did on trial day, so he knows it's in me somewhere. lol ... I actually tapped on shuttle van when we got back to the hotel and asked him where I was in the journey. He said " I haven't pulled you aside, have I ? " ...

I am miles away from where I want to be as a driver.

Let the new day begin :)

I am miles away from where I want to be as a driver

Everyone that's new can say that. No problem. In fact I like to say that watching new drivers fumble, bumble, and stumble around the backing and shifting course is the most fun and rewarding part of the day for the instructors!!! I mean, they can't go to lunch until they see someone jackknife a trailer trying to do a straight back. Then they've had a great laugh and it's time for a break!

Seriously though, attitude is everything. When they see you're dead serious about learning all you can to become a safe, productive driver they'll work with you. If you have a cr*p attitude and they don't think you're taking it seriously enough they'll kick you to the curb. Because hey....everyone is terrible in the beginning. So you can't keep certain people and send others home based on skill level because on a scale of 1 to 100 a student is going to be a 5 at best. So what do you do? Keep the 5's and send the 3's home? No, of course not. You keep the people who are making progress and taking it seriously and send home the people that aren't willing to put in a serious effort.

Once in a while you'll see someone get sent home because they're not picking up on the skills quickly enough. In fact, some companies have a pass/fail test they'll give you. If you fail they'll send you home. I think Swift Transport does that with a straight line back on like the 2nd day. But even that's more to test your nerve than anything. Trucking is a high pressure job and a lot of people can't handle a lot of pressure. They try to find that out right away by giving you a very simple task but attaching a big consequence to it.

I can tell you from experience that almost anyone can learn the basics of shifting, backing, and driving if you give them enough time and they take it seriously. But these programs don't have a lot of time and not everyone takes it seriously. So people really tend to weed themselves out with their poor attitude and effort.

I am still miles from where I want to be as a driver!

You're killin' it man, no worries!

Thanks guys, for the inspiration...

Today was cut day for the road testing. Four have fallen from the ranks, including my roommate whom I have hung with since CDL school in Tennessee. I think I took it harder than he did. I have to admit I teared up a bit .....

So now I am alone in my room, and into the future. I'm not quite sure what Roehl has in store for us for the weekend, but I assume by Monday we will be on to Phase II - Training and running loads for real. I still feel the butterflies every morning and expect to for several weeks, if not months, to come.

The wife and I are handling the separation well, but it is difficult.

Day by Day....