Are You Ready for Roehl's PreNup Agreement?

Oppressive, immoral, enslavement......

o my.....what the did I just read!?

 

An Ayn Rand novel!

 

This is extraordinarily simple. Don't work there if that is how you feel. The end , move on.

 

I've learned they are one of the lowest paying companies, the tuition is cheap in comparison and if they offer you school and "pay your way", you do have to pay it back. There is also the fleet training that they offer and the phase training, well they can be a bit more forgiving than most...... Take what they offer, pay back what you earn then move on. That simple!
Every state is an "At Will" State, Anyone can quit or be fired with or without cause..... Do you want the job or not? You can't get top bill if you aren't willing to pay your dues.

 

Flip this question around - if guys are quitting in less than 6 months what is the work environment like?

Also why is a company hiring people that they think will quit in less than 6 months?

I'm not talking about Roehl or any other company in particular. I'm talking about the way the industry as a whole treats inexperienced drivers and the interview/hiring process at large companies.

A Roehl trainer told me they have to hire 10 guys to get 3 to make it a year. I don't know how true that is but it's what I heard. I know that at least 1 out of 3 people who arrive at Schneider's new driver orientation don't 'graduate' and get their own truck. You have to ask why. Is the CDL test so weak that unqualified people can pass it? Are recruiter's caring more about getting anyone with a pulse into orientation than finding qualified individuals? Is the recruitment/training phase so rushed that new drivers misunderstand pay structures/company policies/ trip planning/ etc? How much feedback does a new driver get on how well (or poorly) he is doing?

My problem with policies like this is that I don't think they will effectively solve the problem. It's like putting a band-aide on an ingrown toe nail. Sure it collects the puss but it won't stop the pain.

Companies need to stop hiring job hoppers and people that abandon trucks. I'm not a fan of Hire Right but actually checking references/employment history is important. Interviews need to be more than discusing the driver's application. The interviewer should be asking pertient questions and hammering home the expectations BEFORE a new hire gets on the bus.

Drivers need to do their due dillegence and make the commitment to stick it through.

The government needs to stop shoving every unemployable person into CDL school.

Getting a CDL and then a job in the trucking industry should be an ordeal in itself. Right now it's harder to find a McDonald's than it is to get a trucking job. Putting effort into something creates value. The only true currency is labor. All other commodities base their value off of how much labor they can command or how much labor it takes to obtain. Making a prospective driver work hard to get their foot in the door will hopefully make the employee value the job. Making hiring someone expensive and time consuming should make an employer value the employee and make the employer work to reduce turnover.

If making an employee pay back company orientation costs if they quit before 6 months slows turnover through the first year than there is an argument to be made if it's legal. I don't think it is under the FLSA, but I'm not sure. And I definitively don't think it will solve the underlying problems.

 

Roehl will make money off a new driver by the second week. Third week if you count all their B$ advertising and recruiting.

 

For what it's worth, I work in marketing at Roehl. I mentioned this thread to a colleague and this was the response:

Adventureron called our safety and Job Skills Training Agreement a “pre-nup.” That’s funny as heck and true.

Much like a marriage, everyone’s going in with a lifelong commitment. We know marriages end and so do employment relationships. We hope it lasts forever – it probably won’t. Some people think it’s wise to define the terms of a break up in a pre-nuptial. We think it’s wise to define who’s responsible for what if there’s an early break up.

We invest a lot upfront in preparing someone without any experience to be a successful heavy duty truck driver. In exchange for that investment we ask for a minimum period of work. We think it’s a fair exchange. We don’t train to extend the productivity of the truck – in fact we have less productivity. We train to teach, prepare and ensure success, of our employees.

We know some folks won’t like it however many do and that’s who we’re connecting with. We train to ensure the success of our employees and we’re pleased that our program can be a choice for you. It’s good to have choices – choose well.

Since first introducing our agreement we’ve gathered feedback and we modified our agreement to be very clear that if we ask someone to leave the program, they’ll owe us nothing.

 

Those numbers are actually a bit better than what I'd heard about the industry -- which was that less than 5% of new drivers make it through the first year. The problem is that it's very possible for a person to pass the CDL test and still not know whether they'll like life on the road or not. Loneliness, the stress of driving to unfamiliar destinations (basically every destination at least until you've been around a few weeks), and so forth. There's plenty of info out there on the Internet about what life as a trucker is like, but it seems that's not getting through. And of course, even reading about it and understanding it in the abstract doesn't fully prepare you for when you're actually out doing it, day after day.

 

Before I found this website my expectations of OTR trucking and the lifestyle were those of what I saw in movies. I thought DOT officers were just like Lyle from "Convoy", found out a lot aren't but some are.

I thought other truckers would act like they did in " Smokey and the Bandit", there aren't many left respect each other without the "its all about me" attitude.


After talking with drivers on here I had a small idea of how OTR life was. It was still a shock for someone who's never driven out of the state of Florida. I missed my family and friends but I knew trucking was what I've wanted to do since I was a kid and I toughed it out. I'm glad I did, lasted a year with Roehl before personal reasons drove me elsewhere. (No pun intended)

I still recommend Roehl as a great company to start with, I enjoyed working in the flatbed division there and made decent money for someone who was single, no kids, and lived with my father at the time.


A lot of people, including some of my friends, wanted to be drivers but had no idea what was ahead. I have one friend who went otr for a few weeks and quit, while others who are still at it. People don't really know what to expect and they think experienced people on this board are just trying to scare them or are over exaggerating.

 

One of The hardest part I found about adjusting to otr is the smells at the truck stops..... & the darker side of the job. (Anyone that has seen some of what goes on can understand). Trying to manuver 70 feet of something that does not turn or stop on a dime can be frustrating enough to quit. I've landed my truck in the mud that required a tow to get out, got turned around on bad routings more than a handful of times and restricted routes are a b i t c h !!!! I miss my family and its hard to leave them for days or even weeks at a time. I've been fortunate enough to meet some real great "old hats" that share the job secrets and a few punks that really shouldn't be driving anything let alone a truck! Some days make me want to throw the keys into the basket and say #######..... And there are times I want to do nothing else. Take the good with the bad and don't give up too soon.