Going with Roehl

Their standing their ground is a good sign. I like them even more because of this, and so should you. Be patient and keep digging for what you need. Maybe you can contact the IRS and get copies of your W2 forms. I still have W2s from 1984, as I keep copies. Be patient, as it'll be well worth it later.

 

When I hired on with Roehl, Everything was taken care of on the phone with a recruiter.,To the best of my knowledge I was hired prior to orientation,as long as I could pass a driving test and physical exam. On the first morning of orientation I was road tested, then taken to a clinic for a physical exam. For the remainder of that day and the following day it was pretty much safety issues and logging. The experienced drivers and the new drivers were seperated, which I thought was a good idea, due to the fact that myself with 15 yrs. experience didnt need to listen to a lot of the ABCs of truckin that the new drivers did.The two guys in charge of orientation were both ex drivers, and were very knowlegable on what they were talking about.On the third morning we attended a regular Roehl safety meeting which we were paid for. From There they rented a car for me to get back home ,for about a week,then I started driving on a regular basis, which was the 7 on 7 off program. Roehl is a stickler for logging, if you go over the 14 hr. or 11 hr. rule the safety dept. will contact you about it. Of course right away they let you know what the problem is,time,date,etc..This is something else that can be cleared up over the phone. Not like some other outfits that will drag you into a logbook class and never even tell you why. At the end of April of this year I decided to hang it up again(retire). I left Roehl with a good understanding and I know that if I ever need to go back out on the road again,that Roehl will hire me back. So my way of looking at Roehls orientation,is that it is a short,no BS session,that I sort of enjoyed. I hope any of you who go thru it feel the same way. Roaddog

 

After reading your post and others since my last questions about going to Roehl or Schneider, I am sticking to my original plan.....to Roehl I go on Aug 6 as a newbie student. A little scary....quitting my job, heading off for 3 weeks into the unknown, starting off at the bottom of brand new career at age 48......'risking it all' you might say. However, life is full of risk and never get anywhere without taking it from time to time. Even though there is a lot to learn, I'm confident all will go well and I'll pass the tests fine.

No legal issues anytime in my past and a clean driving record. So, I should be fine about getting final approval to go to work for Roehl.....I hope. The only question I have is about previous employers. How far back do the gatekeepers check? My previous 2 employers (covering the past 2.5 yrs) are very easy to contact and I have had excellent working relationship & work record at both. The previous one to those (where I worked for about 20 yrs) is very difficult to reach most of the time. Also, they have a long-time company policy to verify only an ex-employee's dates of employment and give out no other info. Beyond the date info, 'neutral' reference only is the company policy. From you guys past experience, is that going to be a problem for Roehl as far as hiring me? I know they are pickier than most (which is probably good overall) and I really want to work for them. I do not want to quit a job, drive 800 miles, spend $350+ for 3 weeks, pass the program and then not be offered a job.

Thanks for all the advice and help. At the 'end of the day', I think I'll be better off and happier with Roehl than Schneider - not that Schneider is necessarily a bad company for training or work. Plenty of folks out there driving the orange trucks who are happy with their lot and no company is perfect.....not Roehl, not Schneider, not anyone. Even though Roehl training is a week longer, twice as far from home, more out-of-pocket $$ on the front end, and a smaller company....I think it is the right decision for me. If you think I am wrong, advice is always welcome. Thanks again!

 

Riversideblues. As an ex driver at Roehl,I think you have made a wise decision.,True Roehl is not perfect, but there aint no perfect company out there.While I drove for them,any issue I had could be cleared up by phoning my DSR or Fleet Manager.As for starting a new career at 48 yrs.old, I started my driving career at 54 yrs. old and never looked back.Best of luck to you.

 

ill be there aug. 6th as well.

 

Good to hear. Look forward to meeting you there.

 

Hey all.
Things went well during week one. I started off real shakey like grinding gears and grabbing the shifter to hard and snapping the clutch. In a couple days I smoothed that out and all is flowing well right now. The trainers are great and the atmospher is excellent. Everyone has a smile on their faces around here. I think everyone who chooses this place will like it from what i see so far.

 

Riverside, you're bucking the trend here:

"A little scary....quitting my job, heading off for 3 weeks into the unknown, starting off at the bottom of brand new career at age 48......'risking it all' you might say. However, life is full of risk and never get anywhere without taking it from time to time. Even though there is a lot to learn, I'm confident all will go well and I'll pass the tests fine."

That's a good attitude to have when setting off into unknown territory. It's too bad a lot of other people in the USA don't have your mindset. This is one of the big problems with the USA. People here have become so successful they don't have to take risks. They even have a "phobia" of risk. Those with mulla will invest it in low-risk avenues and won't go all out by risking it all on ventures. They sure as hell won't do any actual "work". Thankfully for them, someone else (a father, an uncle, or a patsy) did all the work and took all the risks for them in the past. So much for capitalism.

I think I read somewhere that in the next 25 years over 40 TRILLION dollars in assets will be passed down from fathers/mothers to sons/daughters. It's no surprise people sit on their money today and don't risk it on anything above electricity utilities. They can afford to sit in the sun and avoid sweating.

The US has become a country of lazy, fat-bellied drivers of powerjoke trucks pulling leisure boats to places like Lake Powell. We demand others take the risks and work the long hours capitalism demands. People in China make our "stuff" and Mexicans do our manual labor.

Like leeches, we all are living off the fat, and even the muscle, of those who did take risks and worked hard in the past. We are helped, of course, by sweatshop workers in other countries and the immigrants who do our dirty work for us today. It is any wonder the US is in decline?

 

I start training in WI on 13Aug and like a lot of others here will be starting this as a new "second" career. With a healthy PMA, I think anything is acheivable.

 

The time has come for me to retire for the third time,so I hung it up at Roehl the end of April. I will continue to keep my CDL up to date, cause you never know whats around the next turn.Best of luck to all of you who are starting into a new career.Driving is definitly a new experience,but its just what you make of it. You will have good days and bad days.If you are used to working a 40 hour workweek get ready for a change.Aint no 40 hr. workweeks in truckin,its more like 60 to 70 hrs. a week.If you do have a 40 hr.week you aint makin much money. I found that I was much happier keeping busy on the road. In your first few months you will probably be busy doing 2000 to 2500 miles a week. But as time goes by you will be up closer to 3000 miles and sometimes a little over that.But on the other hand you dont have far to drive to work in the morning,when you wake up you are already at work,just grab a cup of coffee and get going.Like I said its all in what you make of it and your attitude.Best of luck to all of you.