Background is I got my CDL through another national carrier. I left due to my recruiter giving me false information about a policy. He just said, do not worry about it, no one will care. Well, it turned out they cared, so I left. I did not know of problem until I went to pick up my truck and was told I was not going to have a pet on the vehicle due to size. Since my pup was my best friend, I did not come back.
My first choice was Roehl but they have a no pet policy, that is why I went with another company. Sadly, my boy passed and that allowed me to look into it again. I went through the same process as before. Contacting multiple companies, asking questions and using my previous experience to ask the right questions. What ever answer I got I always asked the recruiter to email me the answers they gave. I eliminated 90% of the companies because I could not get them to put it in email form.
I had Swift and Roehl who were willing to put it in an email. I did not feel Swift was a good fit, so I went back to Roehl. My recruiter (kim) was open, honest and would follow up right away with emails. So I decided to go with them.
I was told I was going to Marshfield for training. I have been out of trucking for 2+ years so I would have to go through their program. She called about 10 days before class started and told me Appleton, WI had an opening and I could leave earlier, no issue there, just wanted to get started.
Appleton, WI is not Roehl, it is a community college truck driving school that Roehl contracts through. I was not told this but after arriving and sitting in the class, then driving, they had their crap together. The company that I went through before used their own drivers to train. This college uses instructors who have no affiliation to a company.
I am through my first week. I have about 20,000 otr driving through the other company. Being out 2+ years I was very rusty but it came back quickly. The instructors are smart, patient and have a sense of humor. Even if a student screws up they may yell to get the point across in a dangerous situation but they always back down and discuss (not yell) about the past events.
I have trained in the Military, other private companies and I have to say this school is a blast while learning again.
So far I have nothing bad to say about Roehl.
Starting at Roehl after some time off.
Discussion in 'Roehl' started by bullmastiff4000, Oct 5, 2014.
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Welcome to Roehl.
Great company to start with if you getting back into the hang of things. However, just a few flaws to give you a heads up about.
Dispatchers, and load planners are suppose to run hand in hand. However, it seems that 50% of the time they fall short in that area. So you will spend a couple days out of your trip sitting because of a minor flaw. Such as, load planners book the load but haven't gotten a ETA on when the load will be ready to ship. However, you are already driving to the shipper at that point. You may arrive, but your appointment might not be until the following day at 8pm.
That is not a EVERYDAY deal, or EVERY load deal. But they are not rare enough to say one offs either. Flatbed, awesome division. Hands down one of the best, and given the opportunity to go back to it, I would. But local life suites me happily.DrtyDiesel Thanks this. -
Roehl has been around a long time, and they seem to have good equipment. Some of their flatbed loads look a little tense, but that's flatbed. I've heard stories of drivers that were no where near their home when asked to take their 7 days off, so just kept on trucking, but not sure if that's true. You could do a lot worse than Roehl, for sure. Good luck.
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Thanks for the information. So far I have had nothing but positive interaction with Roehl.
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That's awesome. Do not take what I say wrong, every company has their issues and I am sure dispatch is a common issue with most carriers. But Roehl is FAR from the worse. Getting back into trucking? Roehl is perfect. Long term? Not so much. But if I go back OTR I would go back to them and work until I found something bigger and badder to do.
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Met up with a couple of employee's of Roehl at their local terminal. It was more of a meet and greet, again, very positive experience. My group seems to get the same old international each day to drive. It is a pain but also a positive. Drive this and you get in a newer truck and the shifting is so much easier.
I really have untrained myself from the other company I got my CDL from. Just driving day to day and talking with the instructors they just kind of look at me and say really. They just could not believe they trained people that way and they know the previous company and cannot believe they are doing it this way.
New group in this Monday as they do a week by week schedule so the classroom changes +/- 6 or 7. -
Only thing bad I can say about Roehl is they left me hanging for 3 weeks from phase 1 to phase 2 I attended marshfield
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Home now. Had a random drug test before I left so I was delayed 1 day driving home. Still waiting on fleet manager to call me to set up the trainer.
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The community college you are going to is Fox Valley Tech college. I got my CDL through their sister college in Chippewa Valley. The course has changed over the years but Fox Valley has always had a very good reputation for giving you a good start/refresher course. The course is based totally on passing the state's exam. However since you have driven before I am sure you have found it to be a good refresher. You should find Roehl driving standards will be in agreement with your training. Had you gone to Marshfield for training, it would have been the same since Roehl's school is under the same requirements by the state as Fox Valley is. Roehl is a good place to start/return but you might find it limiting once you get your feet back under you. Good luck. PS Have fun on the skid pad! Outside of Chippewa Valley Tech I don't know anyone else that has a skid pad for training.
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working out of Green Bay I go by Fox Valley often
another driver and I always wanted to try that wet road jack knife set up they have there
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