Idle Policies at Roehl?

With APU 4% max to obtain bonuses per month, without APU anywhere from 30% on down depending on the month to qualify for bonuses.

 

Assuming you don't get a truck with an APU:

we give you a small diesel powered heater that will prevent you from freezing to death if it's over 20 degrees.

for the warmer months, buy a 12v fan.

 

prisoners don't have to worry about getting hot ,,cold or working... your weekly taxes will make them comfortable....so,,,hurry up and get that trucking job...

 

Roehl does not want you to idle at all but they do allow different pecentages at times you can idle as much as 20% unless you have an APU like i did in that case it is no more than 4%. but as far as comfort most of the guys and girls there were always complaining about the driver managers yelling at them about their idle time.

 

another thing to remember is that every saturday at midnight your miles are zeroed out. the quallcom counts idle time at a faster rate with zero or low miles, the more miles you put on the slower it counts. roehl used to let your truck accumulate miles on a monthly basis. this way after getting 2500 to 3500 miles you could afford to idle to sleep and be comfortable. This policy was changed to save fuel and improve roehls profit margin. today there is no way to idle and be comfortable and stay with in the idle percent, pray when you get your truck it has a apu. remember go over the idle percent = no raise, unable to meet minimum mileage requirements ( due to lack of freight) = no raise, miss a safety meeting due to the fact your fleet mgr forgot to route you the terminal = no raise and all this means the bonus program is totally out of reach ! WELCOME TO TRUCKING FOLKS ENJOY !

 

Welcome to an entry-level company, you mean. When I didn't have an APU, I went to Cabela's and bought one of those expensive sleeping bags and ran the bunk heater as low as it could go. That's the only way to make it last long enough to avoid running out of battery, which is a big issue if you don't have the APU to recharge them for you. I was still at about 10% idle anyways.

 

Just curious.

You ever wonder if the big wigs and dispatchers did the same?

 

I have no APU. My bunk heater is broken and has been for six weeks. When I brought the truck in for service at Gary, the techs explained the flame sensor was bad and replacements were available only as they had time to rebiild them. I could have the bunk heater fixed on a hit-or-miss basis when I came into the terminal.

I spent most of the next month in snow and ice in Michigan, Canada, and New England, where I idled the truck three to five hours each night to stay warm.

I have a cheap sleeping bag and good blankets. When my bunk heater works, my idle time is near zero, and my monthly fuel mileage is generally above 7.0. When the bunk heater doesn't work, I don't even look to see what they are.

In the summer I use window screens and a 12volt fan, and my idle time is as low as it can get.

When it's hot, parking in the shade helps as well, or just picking a north-facing slot where the sun doesn't beat in the windows, if you can.

 

There was a whole big episode back when I started here where it took two months to get my bunk heater fixed and that only happened when my dispatcher's supervisor noticed I was at 50% idle time. I would've left if I'd had enough experience to find something else.

Then Opti-Stop doesn't realize you're idling and you have to call every day or two to tell them you can't make your fuel stop because they won't fix your bunk heater.