Life After Roehl

Well I never intended to leave after just a year but I needed to go somewhere with less hand holding and more miles. I start my new company next week and I'll pop in from time to time to check on my old Roehl buddies.

 

I went back to a factory job about a year and a half ago, after two and a half years with Roehl in vans. I could never get the miles on the national fleet to come close to the pay of my factory job, and missing family life sucked. I work next to a wharehouse and see the trucks waiting to load and unload and I really miss the road until I jump into bed in my own home every night. I probably should have looked into a few of the smaller trucking companies in my area but a factory job opened up and I took it. As always good luck to all who remain at Roehl, I still check this site on a regular basis, I just don't post as I am not driving.

 

That's quite the compliment, you've had some really good travel agents. I can think of two (mostly because I only know two others you worked with) that I would have to say had to be better than me.

 

I originaly intended to stay with roehl...but miles were falling on van fleet....so i switched to reefers in search of more money and miles...and found less miles..and an FM that loved to hand hold......I liked reefers...in fact I really fell in love with them...i pulled a couple vans on my last few trips....and couldnt believe the difference in trailers...

I start with my new comany next week too...a small reefer company out of nw iowa....

 

I have no complaints with my FM, no hand holding, good guy, just not enough miles and I acutally like my wife and would much rather be home especially if I am just sitting around going broke. LOL

 

For you guys that left roehl. Does roehl conduct exit interviews to find out why drivers are leaving ?
You would think roehl would use info from the interviews to make improvements and chages to retain drivers.
Also there is no need for hand holding from dsrs, that should stop as soon as you are put on a regular board.

 

I got asked why i was leaving...told them more money more time home and less babysitting....then they offered me hometime or dedicated fleets position.....ummm no..evidently they dont listen....

 

My FM asked me what led to the decision and I was very honest which he said he greatly appreciated. I felt the miles weren't consistent, and the rigidity of routing was annoying. If you can trust a driver with a $100K truck and thousands of dollars of freight, then you should be able to trust that they know the best route. Countless times I was sent routing that wasted time and was not the SAFEST route to take when loaded heavily. Driving through very busy small towns with sharp turns while hauling 40K in the box is not wise.

Also, one route in particular from Northlake, IL to Watertown, WI wastes a ton of time. Roehl's route is 3.75 hours, Rand McNally's route is 2.0 hours. Roehl's explanation for that one is they don't want to pay the toll on the last section of the 294. One time on this particular load they deadheaded me from Toledo, OH to Northlake, IL for pick up, routing me across the 80 toll road. Once loaded, they wouldn't authorize anymore tolls. Poor decision from a company that values safety as its cornerstone.

 

In addition to that, those rural highways have more stop and go. I doubt the few less miles and the absence of tolls is actually saving them any money on fuel. The average big truck when loaded over 35K uses anywhere from a half to a full gallon of fuel to go from 0-55 mph.