Roehl reviews

I can recommend Roehl. I got my start there and things went pretty well. The training was very good. I came out of it feeling like I was a safe, capable driver. They give you the training without much out of pocket money. You just have to agree to work for them for about a year and they will forgive the cost of the training. The pay there is ok to start out, but they aren't a place you want to spend too many years working at. Once you get your training forgiven, it's time to start looking around because there are better-paying jobs out there when you have a year of experience. They are a good place to start out at. They are good people, and they do what they say they will do.

Roehl's not a school. You are hired on your first day. Getting your cdl is part of the job - you get paid while you do that.

Week 1

Started day after Labor day. Tuesday was strictly new person paperwork at the Roehl facility.
Wednesday we got in trucks, most had 3 students and 1 instructor. one in the group only has 2 students.
We had 9 students on the list, one was a no show. Got stung by a bee 5 minutes after going outside to the trucks. My 2 co-students neither had driven manual ever, they got to learn first. I got to go last, was slightly ahead of them, double clutch threw me way off. They thought I was doing much better than them, mentally I wasn't thinking so. Stayed at the facility and just used their track.

Thursday was a bit of a change, instructors swapped out. They have partime instructors and full time. In truck training is at Fox Valley Tech. Some of the instructors are Roehl trainers others are from Fox Valley.Instructor we had from Wed did not come in he got stung in eye by bee. They are out in force this week. Swapped instructors. Went thru the school course for the morning so he could get a feel fro where we were each at. then we went to a local industrial park for some low traffic training for rest of afternoon.
I swear we are in Canada Eh! the instructors all have a northern accent that is pronounced.

Friday morning started right away at industrial park, in afternoon we started there again. My co-students went around 2 laps then he sent them into some light traffic over to another industrial park. My turn I seemed to have stepped back in progress, nearly hit 2 vehicles in turns. Very frustrated, struggled with down shifts. Instructor kept me in park 1 did not advance past go. Very bummed, went to Planet Fitness and took out my frustration.

Saturday was spent at Roehl facility with safety classes and videos and paperwork. Laundry can be done there for free. Hotel has a set of machines $1 to wash and $1 to dry. At training had a video about detention pay., they do pay it after 2 and half hours, You do have to complete paperwork to receive it. It is NOT dependent on if the company is able to bill the shipper or receiver, just have to follow the steps for logging and paperwork.


Great hotel, breakfast provided. Lunches and dinners are from a sub sandwich franchise. Great subs, but gets old really quick. We are told that those are the only meals unless we buy our own. Yes they are free, and when I read previous posts complaining I thought what the heck. Now I know. 

WEEK 2
Monday I was still struggling bad with down shift, so Tuesday morning they switched me from a Fox Valley instructor to a Roehl instructor. Little different teaching method and I got better.

Started learning backing up Wednesday, put alot fo time into that, frankly I dont think I improved on the 90 at all. My left thigh was throbbing from holding the clutch so much during backing practice.

We drove to Lambeau Field on Friday. Instructor stayed with the truck, we couldnt get the truck all that close. So we walked about half mile to stadium and walked around taking pics. Mind you i grew up just outside of Chicago as a Bears fan, so my going along was peer pressure. SO we start walking back and drip drip drip the rain starts. started trotting but it didnt help got soaked. Curse you Packers!
Btw....Green Bay is the smallest city that hosts a NFL team. It blew my mind seeing houses on 2 sides of the stadium.

They pulled a week 1 student because he had difficulty listening and following directions. I think it was a slow connection, he could listen but just not fast enough to react. He looked like Garth from Waynes World, kinda sounded like him too.

Again same sub sandwiches from Erbert and Gerbert. 1st world problems right! lol

They had driver appreciation day at the terminal, so we all ditched the Erberts for real food. they also handed out Roehl flashlights to everyone at the dinner. Got to talk with a few drivers while we were at terminal. The guy with 4 weeks out on the road was all set to give us advice on our careers in trucking.

Thursday and Friday were longer drives out into less populated areas. Instructor said we will be focused on in town next week as well as getting down backing up. I have to be careful i tend to single clutch and he warned me that's a problem on the test.

Hard to comprehend that in less than week and half we will be graduating and be headed out. Testing starts on next Tuesday and typically 4th week students leave on Thursday. They did say sometimes there is a short delay between graduation and getting lined up with a driver trainer. 
First payday is this coming Thursday, everyone looking forward to having money to buy food to not eat the subs.

Saturday at the terminal we had some explanation of using an Atlas and brief overview of internal communication, but was pretty glossed over as instructor stated don't worry your trainer will fill you in.

We stopped at a truck stop on one of the short trips, then it occurred to me this may be a bad career choice considering my hatred for cheap toilet paper. All kidding aside, cant decide if I am more scared or excited that in 1 and half weeks they deem me fit to drive with a potentially 80k lb machine.

This week my confidence was building, last week I was the most unsure of myself in my entire life, even more than trying to talk to a woman for a first date. Feels like falling into place, just cant compare my skills against others. Especially when I know some of them had some form of heavy duty driving equipment before CDL school.

I did go to wally world and buy a matchbox semi truck to try to use for help with angels of backing up.

To clear up some confusion, from day 1 at the training facility they provide lunch and dinner even on weekends. Some people were under the impression that weekends they were on their own. First week you are provided with a shuttle to training from the hotel, 2nd week you are highly encouraged to drive yourself. if you take a bus, train or pane in. there are plenty of students who did drive in that you can ride with.

If you started the process of CDL permit a while back, check your dates on the permit, one guy had to get a new permit, which pushed him back 2 weeks because the law sayd you cannot test unless 14 days has passed from time of receiving permit, getting a new permit set the clock back.

Medical stuff, so a few people hasd issues with their medical conditions. Roehl arranged with a company to send you to get your DOT physical, (Lab1?) Lab1 sends you to Urgent Care or Physician Care or what every place near you has a DOT medical examiner. You do a drug screen and physical, which is send to Lab1. Lab1 verifies info and checks to see if more details are needed on any medical condition or medications you might be taking. Well it turns out once that is done a safety/medical officer at Roehl relooks at it. Which may cause more paperwork to be needed from your primary physician to explain your condition or medications. So you may have more hoops once you get to training.

The pool and hot tub are nice at the hotel. Breakfast is provided every morning. You will have to fill out a form for choosing your lunch/dinner sandwiches. Make sure you are filling out all the sheets the clip board will hold sheets for the whole week, not just one day. Fox Valley facility is 5 minutes away from the hotel and the terminal at best 15 away. Pretty easy to find everything. NO smoking at Fox Valley for you smokers, figure a plan ahead of time.

I found brought more clothes and things then needed, will pare that down before going with the trainer. You will go home after CDL school then get your license from your state, So you will have a few days before you start with trainer. 

If you drive to training, you will get .11 cents per mile reimbursed, paid on week 3.

Thats alI remember for week 2, will add more if it comes to me.

Roehl is an excellent place to start your career. Their CDL program is top notch and they treat you well. You can pick the fleet you want and change fleets upon request. I would recommend one of the dedicated fleets.

They usually teach on 10 speeds but you may be assigned a manual. Yes, they do pay for transportation to training and you will take a truck home.

Just understand that if you go through Roehl for your CDL they do require you to stay for 150K miles or they will charge you for the training. It is NOT prorated. Wasn't a big deal to me.

Ive been with Roehl for several years... Yes, you can take your truck home. Requirements are that you are in the National fleet , and you must live at least 50 miles or more away from any terminal or drop yard. Since you live in Crossville, then yes, you would take your truck and trailer home with you. If you live less than 50 miles from a terminal or drop yard, you must leave your truck there. Also, you would have to leave the truck at a terminal/drop yard if you choose one of the hometime fleets such as the 7/7, 7/3-7/4, or 14-7 fleets in which you would be slip seating different trucks. Hope this helps..

Q: In terms of being put with a trainer after finishing classes and achieving your class A license, do you get to choose if its a male or female trainer? I really don't care either way but I'm just curious what the program offers.

A: Yes you do get to choose. I had to wait 8 days for a female tho. But I think it was worth it. I got to train with local female trainers during that time I waited also, so I was still getting trained

Q: Hello everyone. I have been considering applying to roehl. I was just wondering from some of the current roehl drivers how many miles are you averaging? I realize it going to fluctuate depending on the time of the year. Thanks

A: Really miles depends on your fleet and how hard you run. I am on a dry van dedicated fleet and average just under 3K per week. When I was regional van I averaged 2100 to 2400 miles per week.

Q: does roehl do any canada runs and if so which division does more canada runs? roehl is on my short list and just trying to get as much info as possible

A: I was on the Cans fleet and did Canada runs regularly. Not far....50 miles max but it paid an extra $50 bucks each load. i think National Van runs into Canada also.

A: When I was there they ran flats and vans into Canada. I ran in with both. Probably more vans tho.

A: When I was with them I ran reefer into Canada quite a bit.

Q: Any info on their BOSS L/P program?

A: Of the LP programs out there Roehl has a good one. Good support and training. What I found was that the comp at the time was only slightly more than what I was doing as a company driver. They have recently improved the comp package and program. Might be worth giving them a call.

Q: I'm thinking about going to Roehl Transport's CDL School. Does anyone know if there trucks are setup so you can have a refrigerator, microwave, tv, outlet to charge your laptop etc.? I'd like to use a toaster oven but not sure if that's possible. I read on another forum a guy said he worked for Roehl and he had to buy a $350 inverter from Roehl but he could only run it for 2 hours then had to shut it down for 10 hours. I'm not sure how that stuff works.

Also if there trucks are set up to use heat and air conditioning as much as you need?

A: Roehl is a great place to get your start. Inverters are on you as far as cost and you have to buy them from them. As far as I know they are high quality. Trucks are equipped with EPU's. Always been fairly comfortable.

A: The truck are all very new, but very basic. No refrigerator microwave or TV. You can use a cooler. Colman has a good cooler you can plug in. All trucks set at 63 miles per hour for fuel savings.They have EPU"s for AC / Heat. They work ok, but nothing like AC at home.