1-12-07- Friday - Almost out of here,,

Today I got over to the Roehl terminal after another free breakfast at Perkins and at bout 8:00am my mentor called me. He told me we were headed to North Carolina for a Monday delivery. He lives right here in Marshfield and said we would get going at about 7:00pm. So I have the whole day to wait. I got a bunk room and I'm probably going to try to get some sleep. I figure if I get some good sleep, I will be able to drive tonight if he wants me to.

I'll try to keep the blog updated as much as I can. I'll be on the road for the next 7 days, so the postings here might be every couple of days instead of everyday.

Well, time for some rest now.

1-11-07 - Thursday - Still in Marshfield

I'm still in Marshfield. I got up this morning and checked out of the Super 8 and drove over to the Roehl terminal. We stopped at the Perkins for a free breakfast and then spent the morning waiting to get picked up by our mentors. At noon we were still waiting and eating some cheese curds and pasta salad for lunch. After lunch we were still waiting. By 3:00pm we called the fleet manager and I found out that my mentor was still in MN. We asked what we should do and they sent us back to the Super 8 for another night. Oh well. At least I'm getting paid.

I really am ready to get rolling. The sooner I get this 6-7 day mentor program done, the sooner I can get my own truck and head back towards Denver.

Just a quick observation. There was a guy here going through orientation with us who went home today. He decided that he didn't want to drive for Roehl. That's fine, but his reason was a bit childish in my opinion. He was a very experienced driver who lives in Ohio. He talked to a recruiter who, he says, told him he wouldn't do ANY driving in the northeast. He didn't want to do any inner city driving in New York or any of the other big cities in the east. He didn't get this in writing, and who knows if he misunderstood his recruiter. Well, Roehl was ready to issue him his truck and had even issued him his locks and other gear. Yesterday, they put him in a rental car to drive to the terminal in Akron, OH. He got half way there and they called him and told him to come back to Marshfield to get his truck. I admit that he did get a little bit of a run around, but that's what this industry is about sometimes. So anyway, he got back here to Marshfield and said that his driver manager told him he would have to run to the east and to the cities he didn't want to run to. He got pissed and told Roehl that he wasn't going to work for them and he was going home. He got a ticket on Greyhound and was on a 19 hour ride home. Now, why would you come all the way to Marshfield, WI and think that you would be GUARANTEED not to drive to a certain place. That's not how this industry works.

That's my rant about that. Have reasonable expectations and understand that everything will not work out and things will not be perfectly what you hope for.

1-10-07 - Time for a Nap!

Today we went over to the Roehl terminal and most of the others either went with their trainers or got rental cars to go back to their home terminals. Today another group of drivers started orientation. Mondays and Wednesdays they start driver orientation. Anyway, at 8:00am one of the orientation managers told me and 2 others to go ahead and go back to the hotel and be back tomorrow. My mentor driver will be in Marshfield tomorrow. I went back to the hotel and took a long nap. Nice!

Also, they gave us 3 meal vouchers and put us on the payroll. Great! I'll take $100 and three meals to wait. Time to get some dinner now. I hope by this time tomorrow I'm rolling down the road getting my mentor time done. It should be 5-7 days.

1-9-07 - The Van Driver

That's me. The van driver. Oh well. Today we finished orientation and got all the rest of the employment paperwork done. We got our payroll and other important things taken care of also. I got a $3000 signing bonus. Cool! It gets paid out over the course of about 120,000 miles, but it's money I'm happy to get.

It was REALLY COLD here today. REALLY COLD! What am I saying, it's Wisconsin in winter. Of course it's going to be COLD!

Tomorrow I'm not quite sure what I'm going to be doing. I was told this afternoon that I wouldn't be leaving until Thursday to go out with a mentor for 5-7 days before I get my own truck. Some of the others are leaving tomorrow. It's ok. I'll just relax at the hotel for another day. Not my choice. Just how things happened. Maybe I'll take my camera over to Roehl tomorrow.

1-8-07 - Orientation

I'm in Marshfield, WI now going through orientation for Roelh. It is such a difference than my experience at CRE. Roehl is paying for my room at a Super 8 hotel, they also provide a really good catered lunch and a dinner voucher for the Perkins here for $8.50. A good deal all around.

Today I met about 7 other drivers in the hotel lobby at 7:00am. We rode in a van over to Roehl and started by filling out some employment paperwork and getting a physical and drug test. At about 8:00am I took the driving test which was driving around for about 20 minutes and backing up once.

They served us lunch and the afternoon was a class on the Roehl driving philosophy. We got back to the hotel at about 5:00pm.

Just a side note. I did my best trying to avoid the orientation instructors eyes when he was looking for someone to drive the van, but it didn't matter, I ended up getting picked to drive it. Oh well.

Time for some dinner now. Tomorrow is going to be more classes and paperwork. By Wednesday I should be going out with a mentor for 5-7 days and then I get my truck. I'm really looking foward to getting my truck and heading back toward Denver!