Roehl Transport, Inc. - Marshfield, Wi.

Recent discussions have me wondering . . . with Roehl can you work the 7/7 schedule and run flat beds???

I plan on retiring soon and want to run out of the Richmond VA terminal. I want to hire on for initial training, run 7/3/7/4 and eventually the 7/7 schedule. I had not really considered flat beds before, but it seems that one can make more money running flat beds and run vans as a back up. It seems that would be a best of both worlds situation; good miles and good schedule (home time).

Comments are appreciated! Mike

 

They pay empty miles you are dispatched on.

I have talked to alot of guys running Blume since Roehl took them over and most of them are sitting between loads. I have heard guys talk about 12-28 hours between loads because Roehl doesn't want to put dry freight into the reefer vans. Should get better as Blume assimilates into the system, but right now, there aren't a whole lot of happy campers out there driving the reefers.

 

Don't let that recruiter talk you into doing that reefer stuff unless you want to. You can do dry van 7/7 out of the Newport yard. I'm not sure about 7/4 7/3.

Another choice for northern MN is Halvor Lines. They are a smaller company based out of Duluth, MN/ Superior WI. I have a buddy that works there and enjoys it. If they had a 7/7 trainer program I would be there.

Whats wrong with teaching in WY?

 

I think the Richmond yard only does vans 7/7. To be sure you'll have to ask a recruiter.

 

Well crap...lol, I haven't heard of that before. What do they do...just drive somewhere...unload and wait for another dispatch? Thats insane waiting that long. I keep hearing good things about Roehl....but I havent heard anything bad about Blume up til now...jeesh. Gives me something to think about.

Well, Im planning on moving to St. Cloud if hired...and for that zipcode: For van options, they have national, midwest regional and hometime plus. For their flat options...all they have is hometime plus. No curtainside.
They also have dedicated and blume options. I guess I dont know why I was looking only at Blume...will need to call and ask for van tomorrow. Might ask about their dedicated stuff too. Not looking for national.

As far as dry van 7/7 out of newport. I guess I dont know how much per year the average 7/7 or 7/4, 7/3 driver makes, especially a newbie. Either way...it would suck having to drive from St. Cloud to newport just to get to the truck.

Well my wife and I were hired out as teachers out here. I made some booboos in the 1st half of the year. Corrected them...but it was too late. I was not renwed for contract. My wife who was told had a permanent position was given a line about a lack of funding and also was not brought back. So...the only reason Im down here now is because we have a double wide we own and until we figure out what our job status is...we will be staying here...otherwise hopefully moving asap.

 

Well, the problem with Blume is part Roehl, and part growing pains.
For the Roehl part, sometimes the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Happens everywhere you go.
For the growing pains part, some of Blume's old customers stayed when Roehl took over, and some didn't. So Roehl had to make do with what they could find until they built back the customer base. They seem to have done a decent job with that, so it remains to be seen.
My advice would be to go van or flat and then if you really want the extra .02 per mile to deal with lumpers and grocery warehouses, then ask your DSR if you can transfer to the Blume side. With the problems they are having getting drivers over there, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

RW, thanks for the reply...but can you explain this part i quoted above? Keep in mind that Im new and have no idea about most everything, lol. Well not really...just the terminolog and how certain things work.

 

Wow, what a monster...12 hours of my life was just spent on this baby, 47 pages of pure content, some spots better than others.

My first question is, what is the reality on running teams hauling a bed?
I know bucks you had mentioned that the bed work is more of a open business hours type of operation. If I were to get into the flatbed venture, could I possible get a team going (have a friend in mind)?

Thanks for the input.

 

Lumper = People you pay to unload your truck, with the intention of being reimbursed by the company.

Grocery Warehouses = best analogy, 12 trucks, 1 dock, and people inside that get paid by the hour.

Blume's Reefer folk get paid equal to Roehl's Flatbed. which is $0.02/ mile higher than Roehl's van.

Blume is technically a subsidiary of Roehl, at this point. so there's paperwork, and paychecks say "Blume" trucks say "Blume" So to go from one to the other, is switching companies.

 

Is I70, especially through Ohio, a major freight lane for Roehl? If it is, would a driver tend to get more home time if he/she lived along that route?