Roehl Transport, Inc. - Marshfield, Wi.

Medicine Man,here I go again postin more stuff.On the pay program,I dont know for sure what they start new drivers out at.When talking to any recruiter ask the what system they use for figuring the paid miles on a trip.Here is an example.I hired on with good old Swift the beginning of 2006,at $.40 a mile due to my experience.However they pay on the household movers guide system,which means you will actually be paid for maybe 70 to 80 percent of the miles you actually drive.Then I was dispatched out of Columbus,OH.term.or the eastern fleet which pays one rate,but the western fleet,(west of the Mississippi)pays 2 cts.a mile lower than the eastern fleet.Why?I never figured that out because the western fleet also has a lot of BS to put up with too.The far west coast is darn near as bad as running up and down the east coast.If I crossed the Mississippi with a run I had 2 cts.a mile taken away from me,not just for the miles run west of the river,but for the whole trip.I hired on at Roehl at 38 cts.a mile.However they pay on the practical mile program,which means that I get pd.a lot more of the miles that I drive.Usually 95 to 99 pertcent and sometimes I actually drive less miles than the trip pays.I also get the 38 cts a mile no matter where I am running.So as you can see I am making more money at Roehl at the 38 cts.As far as dispatching on the 7 on 7 off fleet there are 2 dispatcers (DSRs) that handle the fleet so we have 7 day coverage on this fleet.The only time I have to rely on night or weekend dispatchers is late at night.I hope you understand my point here,seems like it takes me a lot of words to explain things.

 

I didn't realize they scheduled your fuel stops. What else do they schedule? When you start again after your 10 hours off? When you eat? When you pee?

After your 34 hour break, are you required to start again immediately, even if it starts your day at 3:30 AM?

 

Hey...no company's perfect...



Like I've said before, choosing a trucking company is like a presidential election...you just hold your nose and choose the least worst option.

 

They don't schedule your fuel stops as in giving you a specific time to be there. When you are assigned a load, they also send you the routes to take and the fuel stop(s). They calculate the fuel stops based on how much fuel you have when you load, what your average fuel mileage is, the fuel taxes for what states you are going through, and the fuel price. If you don't think you have enough fuel to get to your fuel stop, you can send in a message to request a new one and if you have enough to make it to your next stop, sometimes you can blow off a stop altogether. Just make sure you don't run out of fuel...if you do the cost of the service call to get you running again is coming out of your pocket.

I'm not sure what they base the route on, but you can get that changed also if there is a problem, or a better route to take. It all depends on your situation.

When you start after your 10hr or 34hr breaks depends on what load you are under and what your delivery time is and how well you can plan your trip.

 

ya, that is the stuff I hate about big companies. I'm not starting out at 3 in the am for no man, sorry. I'm not new at this, been doing it or 12 years now. It's getting to where I'l need to buy my on truck again just so I don't have someone breathing down my neck. I got into trucking to get away from that

 

Yeah, I don't have a problem with the fueling schedule. The man is paying a lot of money to the other man; he has the right to squeeze every nickel he can and a 15 minute leg stretch ain't gonna kill me. However, starting my day at 3:30 AM just because my 34 is up... that's gonna be a deal breaker at some point.

Please tell me that very rarely happens. I'll do it if it has to be done, but if it looks like it is becoming a habit, I'll drive an automatic condo ride for DeBoer.

 

28 cents 0-3 months 30 cents 3-6 & 6-9 after that you get into .5's and such. 32 after first year.

edit: althou i am merely a student and not an experiance driver, i can certianly understand the schedualing of fuel stops. especialy living in PA. the price of fuel sucks, and if its $3.50 a gallon in PA... and $2.50 in WV well its understandable that they would want you to fuel up there and get only a few gallons here to make it there.

one of the recruiters for another company, that i will leave unnamed to prevent cross-company bashing, told us that they not only schedual your fuel stops but they tell you exactly what fuel station to go to, even if it is 90 miles out of the way. (which the example they used... was.) now if im getting paid those miles to get to that fuel stop and still make it ontime for delivery... then that works i suppose.

as for the downfalls listed above, they dont sound quite as bad as some of the other companies ive heard from or read about. and im a newbie... so as far as im concerned "its part of the job"

i aint done anything before.. so i guess im alright

 

Someone took the info.I posted and added their 2 cts. to it to make the situation look really bad.The fuel stops are included in your route plan.They are not scheduled as to what time you have to fuel.I have and always will plan my trip so I get my proper rest.I was referring to the take on 30 gal.here and go to the next state and fill up.It has nothing to do with the fuel prices,because sometimes it will be take on 30 gal.in IN and fill up in IL.Naturally IL has very high fuel prices.It has to do with the fuel tax situation,which I thought was leveled out several yrs.ago when we went to the IFTA stickers.As for the 34 hr.rule,I dont think anyone is going to force you onto the road at 3 AM.There are some mornings I am up and running by 3 AM,but that is my choice.You will find that the early morning hrs. are the best time of the day to make good time which equals good pay.Being a 7 on 7 off driver the 34 hr.rule never catches up with me.By the time I finish up a 7 day trip I am just about out of hrs.I then have 7 days to let everything catch up and I start off fresh with 70 hrs.Like I stated before all truckin cos.have faults,but I would still reccomend Roehl as a good place to be.As for Roehl being a large co.this is not true.Large cos.like JB,Swift,Schneider,Werner,etc.run anywhere from 20,000 to 25,000 trucks,where Roehl runs abot 1700 to 2000 trucks.This makes them a small co.by todays standards.

 

Just my 2 cents. I get a load with plenty of time. Just get it there safe and on time. The planning for me is great. A couple of times i could not possibly make it legal and they corrected it no problem. No micromanaging.
My understanding on fuel is they go by cost bfore road taxes which is paid through ifta. Thats why pump price may look high but bottom line its cheaper.
Good luck all.
Dave