Going with Roehl

well im new to this site, but i figured i would get some decent info from it. heres a couple of my questions..

1. after the evo's of training and everything, do you get your own truck, or do you drive and when u get off for those 3 and 4 days, is someone else in your truck? just been wondering that. i think it would be a pain if you had to take everything with you and completely clean out the truck everytime u went out n came back in.

2. next, i am a vet, did 4 years in the navy, but ive been out for over a year now. well, like 15 days over a year. am i still eligable for the honor program or no? if im not, hell, ill still go to the school with roehl.

any info would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
JJ

 

If you do 7 on 7 off or 7/4 7/3 you have to share a truck. That is the only way that these hometime programs work. No trucking company is going to let a truck sit that long. If you do national or regional you get your own truck but not as much hometime. Yes you are eligible for the honor program. It seems like a pretty good program to start out with.

 

Anyone out there on the Van Hometime Plus program? Specifically, what type of miles are you getting and what type of freight are you hauling.

I have spoken to a few Roehl drivers and keep getting conflicting information. 4 or 5 National Fleet Drivers told me that the HT+ are getting good miles (actually stated HT+ drivers were getting more miles than the OTR guys). The one HT+ driver I spoke to said he wasn't getting squat for miles.

The HT+ driver seemed like a bit of whiner. But a lot of new drivers come off as whiners because they don't fully understand the game(s).

I'd like to hear from drivers with experience out of the Mogadore, OH yard. But welcome comments from ANY HomeTime Plus drivers.

Thanks a bunch.

 

Don't feel bad about not using your degree. I too blew a bunch of money for college - luckily an employer paid for my MBA! I ended up in trucking after quitting my "career" in 2000 and starting my own biz that went belly-up last year.

FWIW I decided on trucking because I could not stomach the idea of going back to world of Engineering and Construction. Trucking appeared to offer decent money and a lot of "job" security. Nursing is about the only other thing you can get into that has tons of job openings.

The reality of trucking is you are away from home. The hometime comes with experience. If you go with a company that has operations near you, then you have a better chance of at least stopping by the house on a somewhat regular basis. Having a new bride makes this a dicey decision. Any chance of becoming a team?

Here's a link for ND trucking companies I got off google. Unfortunately, ND isn't a real hot freight lane. You need to go a little further east (MN), or a few blocks south (NE, KS).



One thing to consider is self study to get your permit. With permit in hand you can get a trucking school to knock off a grand or so. I got the PENNDOT booklet on tuesday and took the exam on wednesday. Passed everything including HAZMAT.

For tuition, use a low rate credit card. Dedicate your tuition reimbursement (most employers hiring new CDL grads have this program) to making the monthly CC payment.

One other thing. With your teaching background, it won't take long to get "recruited" into the training department.

Good luck. The consensus is to stay away from Swift. But if you don't want to pay for your own training, then your options become limited.

 

I do 7/7 out of Marshfield. I have trained a guy who went on to 7/4 7/3 out of Akron. The last time i saw him he said it was working well and he was getting good miles. There are some posts under the Roehl thread for favorite companies by Roaddog. He did 7/7 out of Akron for about a year then retired. It sounded like it worked out well for him.,
I doubt that the hometime drivers are getting more miles than national guys overall. On a per day average, yes the hometime fleets get more miles. That is why I got off of running national, after day seven out you will get low on hours and have to do a reset or have two or three days where you can't do much because of low hours. Basically you get more bang for your buck on the home time fleets. You will get run harder but will also get more time at home. A national driver will average about 2500 miles a week, 7/7 driver about 3000. I train so I usually get a few more milles. I usually get about 7500-8000 miles a month where as a national driver will get 10000 but I get 14-15 days off he gets 6-7. Three weeks ago I had a load to Miami and another back up to MN then back to WI. I ended up with over 4200 miles. Last week went to NC to GA to IL to MN to WI, about 3200 miles.
You are right about the guy being a whiner and not playing the game right. There are plenty of miles to be had if you work hard and are efficient. I bust my butt every day till I hit the fourteen hour rule. I also try to sleep at customers so I am the first in the door in the morning. If you work hard and get the right dispatches you can actually run 3000+ miles in six days and be out of hours. Then you can go home early and have an extra day off.

 

Geargrinder...lol, I was looking all over your post trying to find the links that would be ever so helpful in helping me find a job in the exact same place Im trying to move to and live...but I see Wiseone removed them. Since I can't PM or email or anything, maybe you can PM me (if thats possible) the links. Of course, Id hate to have you search again to try and find them. There is a company called J-Mar which is in that area...they run national stuff I think. I emailed them and they wanted some experience which I don't have. I dont think there is any local company out there that will train. I could go tot he local comm college, but they want an arm and a leg for their tuition. But then again...I could drive trucks maybe when sugarbeet time rolls around and then I could get hired in with J-mar or some other local company. We are trying to end up in the Fargo area as we have family there and my mom is about 2-3 hours east. Its growing fairly quickly up there too and I figger down the road I can run my own company too. I wouldnt mind at all training drivers...but like I mentioned, I dont think there are any local companies up there that train.

 

Just got to google and type North Dakota Trucking Companies. It's like the 3rd listing on the page.

 

Well after a month and half break I decided on Roehl. The 7-3/4 ended up selling me. The $3k sign-on was a nice accessorial I hope they have jakes, otherwise the 75 mph could end up biting me in the a#%

Some of the companies I considered -

• Averitt Express - Seemed like a great company and the employee share of benefits is dirt cheap. Lack of miles comments kept surfacing.
• Celadon - was close. The 30K/7day/$1k was attractive. I didn't want to deal with 14+ days out. Even a "light load member" know you will always end up on the + side of that equation.
• Crete - Bad communication (either by me or them) regarding orientation date. They ended up plopping me into "Declined" status. I didn't feel like re-applying.
• USF - Forced per-diem mileage pay. Didn't like that. Also, I don't think my neighbors would appreciate me parking a rig in the side yard!
• JB Hunt - So many dissatisfied drivers can't be wrong. I actually spoke to a few of their drivers. The universal comment was - "going to JB Hunt was the worse mistake I ever made." This was usually followed with "I never worked for a company that treated their drivers so badly." Apparently, JB's reputation is well earned.
• A smattering of TransAm, SRT, Schneider (after speaking with a recruiter they would take me - even though I bailed on it's school), LandAir, and a few others that I never considered very seriously.

I hope driving a truck is like riding a bicycle. A month and half off is quite a bit for a driver with <1 year experience.

Does anyone know -

• Do they care if you float the gears during the roadtest?
• What close manuevers do you do?
• What backing manuevers do you do?

Thanks to all the board participants!

 

They do have jakes. I have never once been in danger of getting over 75. If you are breathing and have your eyes open, you will not have a problem with it.

Good choice. Good luck!

 

3k sign on? lol where is that?
I must have missed that somewhere. The gal is know looking over my paperwork, although she sent me an email asking for something I faxed in last week. I replied and told her...will see if she can find it or what..

looks like you are on the hometime plus thing. What can you earn with that? I know they give a cents per mile or whatever...but you earn less than a regular driver I figure...just trying to figure out an average annual pay.

Thanks for the google info. Lots of those links are the same...trying to sort through and get some more info on some of the companies. Only concern I have is the lack of skills as I dont have a CDL...I dont think any of those local companies will train...and the local skills college wants something like 4.5k for training...nuts.