Question:
Well I finished my 3-day orientation and will be going out with my first trainer on Saturday. The orientation was pretty much typical of other posts. The one thing that really stood out was a very STRONG emphasis on being safe AND legal out there. If you need to shut down because of weather, illness or fatigue, there is no problem as long as you notify your fleet manager. There is also zero tolerance for fudging the logbooks. I talked to other drivers and they said pretty much the same thing. The company doesn't just pay lip service to safety.
I like that. As I mentioned before, my goal is a million safe miles and not to be tagged with the title of supertrucker.
If my personal experience with Roehl is the same, then here I will stay. If I can't make a living being safe and legal, then I need to find something else to do.
Being just out of truck driving school with a shiny new CDL, I don't yet call myself a truck driver. There is still so much to learn about operating the vehicle safely in all types of traffic, weather and backing situations. The guy giving the orientation used a good analogy. When you first got your drivers license at 16, you probably weren't an expert driver. The same thing, he said, when you got your CDL. That was just the first step. Now we are going to help you reach the next level.
Till next time...be safe out there!
Stillday

Answer:
Are trainers available for all of the new recruits? Are any of the new-hires getting sent home/laying over at the motel etc. until a trainer can be routed in?

Answer:
They do have enough trainers for the most part, but they are a little short on flatbed trainers right now. I'm going national van. The reason they sent me home first was because they had me take my personal vehicle to Marshfield, WI for orientation. That's about 4-5 hours from home. I'll be based out of the Iron Mountain, MI terminal which is fairly close to home.