Roehl begins contracts to work there?!?!?!!

I agree Technoroom. I know of another company which is wanting a signed contract for a years service. If the driver leaves before a year money is owed for breaking the contract. Couple of thousand dollars I think. I equate this to many industries where one works with a contract, but am not an expert. Let's say you sign a contract as a public school teacher, you can't leave part way through the school year without ramifications. It will be interesting to see where this goes and if it becomes an industry norm.

 

Roehl used to do a contract even if the student already had a CDL from a different school. They were tired of training people and having them jump ship to another company as soon as their training was completed. I used to have JB Hunt driver/recruiters come right up to the truck and tell students to come to JB as soon as they finished training. Roehl then had problems recruiting when potential new hires found out about the contracts and they stopped doing it.

 

I think you're dead on. Too many drivers bailing early thinking it's better elsewhere. Can't blame them for doing this. It's certainly not slowing recruiting. Still getting a conveyer belt of students.

 

When you say their training is "hard to beat", what exactly do you mean? I am qualified to do their 1 and a half day orientation and then I am going out with trainer for 10-13 days. What other training is there? I'm just trying to make sure it is worth it before I sign this contract.

 

When I went through it a couple years ago, there were several days of classroom instruction and exercises on how to live successfully on-the-road as a truck driver. How to do trip planning, map reading, how to figure out where you should stop for the night, how to drive safely (a whole series on The Roehl Way of Protective Driving) and yet efficiently. There were exercises in the yard on close-quarter maneuvering and backing, and time on the local roads to get special pointers on navigating tight corners and avoiding hazards. For flatbedders like me, there was also a day and a half of securement training. This is all before you go out with your over-the-road trainer for one to two weeks.

I've read that they now also have driving simulators at their Marshfield and Gary terminals (could be at others also, don't know). I've never been on one of those, so can't offer an opinion on how valuable they are. If they can put you in certain situations (snow, ice, motorists doing stupid things in front of you) that would be hard or hazardous to do in an actual road situation, it could be useful.

The only thing that would give me pause about this contract is that it's mileage-based rather than time-based. Without something in there about the number of miles per week they agree to give you, it's an open-ended contract time-wise. For flatbedders, it will take longer to get to 75,000 miles than for a van or reefer driver for example. If things slow down and you start getting fewer miles than what you need to live, you're basically stuck unless you can afford to buy your way out.

Edit: If you're going to be in orientation for just 1 1/2 days, you likely won't be getting all the stuff I mentioned above. When I was there, they ran a week-long orientation, and likely still do for at least some people coming in. I suppose it depends on what experience you have. If they're having you sign this contract for 1 1/2 days of orientation and the time out with a trainer, $3130.00 seems a bit steep...in my opinion.

 

I start 03/02/2015 I heard nothing of a contract, I'm doing the Military Apprenticeship Program being that they are the only ones I saw that offer two years. I got my CDL's through a 6 month school here in Baltimore, going to be runnning Kraft dedicated NorthEast 5-2,

 

If you went to CDL school under your own means, that contract is bunk. Once you have your CDL and you are on the truck with a trainer, you are driving with loads. You are making money for the company as a working driver. There is no "loss" for them to recoup. I wouldn't sign it either.

 

Roehl renamed their school last year from RDTC to the Wisconsin CDL school or something like that right? So technically you can go to the school pay for it and not sign on with them when finished just take your schooling and go elsewhere right? I would never sign a contract for OTJT if I paid for my own schooling upfront which is what I'd do. Scott I've known you a long time but I disagree with it. It makes the cost closer to about $6,000 if you don't stay with them.

 

The student and trainer are on the truck together with the load. They are paying the trainer his/her normal rate per mile for all the miles the student drives (and any miles the trainer drives while with the student), plus extra money for performing the training. They are also paying the student a set amount per day during this time. Altogether, it means it's costing Roehl more to move that load that it would have cost for a regular (non-trainer) driver, driving alone, to move it.

 

Considering the high turnover in trucking most quit,in the not too distant future I wouldn't be surprised if companies are going to make all drivers sign a contract stating if you quit before so many miles or months you owe them.