POHL transportation: date of hire 1/6/21

New guy here , 5 weeks in. Inside of Truck VNL 680 Comfort is 5 star. Operational as in highway speeds not comfortable at all . Bendix alerts front and side can not stand them . Trying to adapt and over a month I haven't yet figured out if i will. truck dependability is outstanding , NO ISSUES thus far . CPM slightly below avg but you are paid miles home. Consistency in work is fantastic thus far, keep in mind this is a 5 week review. I'm 32 yrs out here , I trust my ability to safely navigate America's city rush hours without all the distractions of the proximity bells and dinging driving ya nutty. Safety videos we watch include the audio distractions as 1 of many leading to accidents right ? So how is this ok to exempt these types of audio sounds from that of a siren alerting you to other areas of travel, leading your eyes to areas not in your direct path of travel ? It's a distraction in every sense. Office personnel 5 weeks in are pleasant shop also seems to be ok . But I've seen shops go from good to bad in 2 yrs so ... I keep my fingers crossed. Pay is above avg for my location of living. but I'm guessing it's slightly below the national avg. As for the little things that will nag ya to death with other companies , I feel thus far POHL seems way below most , paper work is the easiest i have encountered. Navigating the people net was breaking my brain at 1st but that seemed to smooth out after a couple weeks with the help of a driver mentor John. 1if the pay can stay upward of 1600.00 gr pw and home every weekend I'll learn to accept 68mph and tune out a truck alert constantly telling me what i see before it sees it. IMO the bendix frontal censor is entirely too sensitive , at 45mph is beeps at ya with 4 seconds of following distance , that's getting within 200 ft , at which point that gap is a huge invitation for 5 vehicles to fill at their earliest convenience . as a veteran driver I can drive better than that bendix , if not why isn't it driving these trucks ?

 

53cpm , Med Dental Vision STDI LTDI Safety bonus not part of your mileage pay optional Straight pay over Per Diem they do not deduct out state driver taxes. their trucks mechanically are very sound. here's personally what I love , you add the peoplenet order number to top of your BOL , put them all in one envelope a tripak envelope and drop in a tripak on Fri.
Detention is paid at 20ph off the times you submit and you send a fuel form email takes all but 10 seconds on peoplenet ex: 100 representing your gals. The cat scale app is installed to your phone by POHL at orientation so it's electronically paid by them. Prepass and elite pass, Thus far use of tolls not restricted as long as your doing logical routing. No Hazmat No Canada Home every Weekend in PA KY OH IN IL WV
TN those are the states we were told in Orientation. Very little phone contact and If I don't recv load info by the time i drop at customer and go into my 10hr break it's there in the morning before i start truck.
No Apu's Aspar heat works fine , haven't needed to Idle to stay cool yet so it may become an issue in April because I will Idle as needed especially at night while sleeping if it's hot and muggy all night. The trucks are usually replaced 3 or 4 yrs old. Probably a good thing because the regen system is going to need a new soot pan most likely. All VNL 860 with Table and couch and bunk above if you want to sleep up top.

 

I hear ya , they don't come with fridge , however the cabinets are set up for the 2 door Fridge like 32inches tall . I like those better you give them and inverter up to 3500 and they'll install it. with the exception of the Bendix alerts the trucks are smartly set up for cold weather dependability. I don't know how they are about idling in hot weather but my guess is they're understanding. I never have idled a truck overnight when temp is at 70 degrees. Many do though and to me that's idiotic.

 

Ok over 2 months with Pohl . They have gotten me home each weekend.
Last Tues they got me thru the house with a load so i could take care of a dr visit on wed . Went back out on Wed at 2pm . Got back home with a load sat at 4pm . The miles are avg'n I'd say about 2750 a week.
I don't look at it as disp not getting me more miles .
I choose to run slower than the posted speed , 5 to 7 under . It just makes for a much more comfortable trip. Yes it takes longer and that's on me . I accept this as long as the miles stay avg'n 2750 or better .
I also have learned to enjoy 2 lane country travel a lot , much easier to maintain good following distance.
The beepers and nagging happens often on the interstate when i get in a hurry . Therefore I'm learning to not be in a hurry. If I'll be late i call disp and tell them.
Thus far they been as fair as can be to work with .
The week before last i nailed over 4000 miles . At .54 cpm ...should gr 2200.00 with 2 hrs of detention mixed in.
Not bad at all after 8.5 weeks slow truck n all .
The shop is darn good thus far. They actually bust it out when you arrive for a fix. They don't FA.

 

Ok over 2 months with Pohl . They have gotten me home each weekend.
Last Tues they got me thru the house with a load so i could take care of a dr visit on wed . Went back out on Wed at 2pm . Got back home with a load sat at 4pm . The miles are avg'n I'd say about 2750 a week.
I don't look at it as disp not getting me more miles .
I choose to run slower than the posted speed , 5 to 7 under . It just makes for a much more comfortable trip. Yes it takes longer and that's on me . I accept this as long as the miles stay avg'n 2750 or better .
I also have learned to enjoy 2 lane country travel a lot , much easier to maintain good following distance.
The beepers and nagging happens often on the interstate when i get in a hurry . Therefore I'm learning to not be in a hurry. If I'll be late i call disp and tell them.
Thus far they been as fair as can be to work with .
The week before last i nailed over 4000 miles . At .54 cpm ...should gr 2200.00 with 2 hrs of detention mixed in.
Not bad at all after 8.5 weeks slow truck n all .
The shop is darn good thus far. They actually bust it out when you arrive for a fix. They don't FA.

 

So far so good at Pohl , 1st week March i volunteered to work an extra load . Ended up with 4000 miles . Hit 69hrs and 7 mins then had to sit Sunday into Monday last week.
Had a dr appt on Wed , disp got me home Tues night with a load and I delivered it Wed about 6pm.
They got me home today. Till 11am Monday I'll head out.
54 cpm 4000 miles should be a good check.
And that's what it's all about .

 

So far so good at Pohl , 1st week March i volunteered to work an extra load . Ended up with 4000 miles . Hit 69hrs and 7 mins then had to sit Sunday into Monday last week.
Had a dr appt on Wed , disp got me home Tues night with a load and I delivered it Wed about 6pm.
They got me home today. Till 11am Monday I'll head out.
54 cpm 4000 miles should be a good check.
And that's what it's all about .

 

6 month review with Pohl transportation.
So far so good . Home Weekend and lately during the week too.
Living near Portsmouth oh, in Ky.
As a vet I use the VA in Huntington WV.
Been home too many weekdays last couple months due to Medical issues.
15 March to 26April truck at home with me while dealing with Kidney stones.
Filed with STDI and recieved 2 checks.
The company was patient n understanding.
I'm not killing it financially . Nor am I dipping into my savings. Kind of breaking even right now and seems like 4 of the last 7 weeks , I've work 3.5 days and was off 3.5 days.
I got home Sat at 1pm. Due to covid on Monday and a 2nd Lithotripsy on Tues , I will head back out in the morning about 9 am Wed. Should be back home midday on Sat.
Its hard to not like these people .

 

Update at Pohl ...
Start rate experienced CDL .56cpm.
Longevity pay includes half cpm increase yearly.
Still at Pohl , still ok with Pohl.
More docking and waiting recently like last week only ...
When it becomes weeks of live loading and unloading then it's time to go.
Walmart pays to well to be docking regularly without being paid stop pay .

If by chance A pohl office employee sees this tread ...

It is really time to start paying drop & hook pay and 25.00 per live ( unload / load ) .
I like the people at Pohl as they are great in treating Drivers as people not sod busting horses.
However ... seems recently there is a lot more docking and waiting and a lot less drop - hook and go.
When ya have 10hours or more a week without being paid for waiting at a dock , you eventually start utilizing that time looking for other options . Just a thought , if 9 weeks are hardly any docking and waiting , then 1 week you're docked a lot , then 9 weeks of drop n hook a driver can live with it. When it becomes 1 week a month you're docked a lot it's time to look around for better options.

 

IMHO Pohl rates as follows ...
Kindness and willingness to work with you on home time and Dr appts is
5star
The Shop As far as I'm concerned is 2nd to none and I been at it since 1986.
5star
The consistency to keep ya moving ... 1st year I'd have given 5star . However , recently I have waited close to a day 3 times last 7 or 8 weeks. Paid 1 100.00 layover out of 3.
3star
1st yr , I'd have given 5star in keeping you moving with drop & hooks. However 16months in , last couple months ...
3stars ...
Seems there are some changes happening in how we move freight , I'm certain someone is benefiting by hitting docks and live loading/unloading, I'm also positive the drivers are in no way the beneficiary of this.
I sure hope they revisit the fact they pay no stop pay until 2hrs after your appointed time.
And also if they wish to retain their Professional force add drop&hook pay.
Walmart is making not filling an app out really hard.