Roehl Transport makes it into the BAD company forum

Someone in the training department in Marshfield offered this information to another driver while they were talking. I'm sorry, but I don't know either of them. I recognized the one offering the information from last year when I went through RDTC. I also read the quarterly newsletter and look at the anniversary dates. As I have been there for 14 months, I have received four newletters. The number of "newbies" like me far, far outnumber the more tenured drivers. Just the information I have been given and read. I would imagine that a tenured driver such as yourself would acknowledge that there are many, many new drivers and fewer and fewer more tenured drivers.

 

I will be signing off from this forum now. I have read positives and negatives and gotten caught up in finding fault in every little thing. I want to make this point before I go. In 14 months of starting a new career I have learned a great deal about this industry. Most of it came from hands on experience. This industry is NOT what it says it is in the brochures. You CAN make some money in the first year, but you must stay for at least one year at wherever you land to gain the necessary experience. Roehl is a good, good starting place. You will make some money and be working under the best facilities that the industry has to offer for training. You will learn how to be a skilled driver. I am somewhat disappointed in how one may be treated from time to time, but now I understand that this is part of the job. After one year, find the niche that best fits you and go with it. That said, I will remember Roehl and thank them for what I know now that I did not know last year, and wish all of them well. But if you are new and just getting started, go in with your eyes open. You won't make 50,000 your first year and you probably wont qualify for any bonuses your first year either, for any number of reasons. Stick with it and learn and after 1 year decide if this company is right for you. They are better than most big companies out there.
Thanks and good luck to all of you. And thanks for the forum. I have enjoyed it for the last 18 months.

 

No reason to leave the forum.

Alan

 

Seems like everyone I talk to at terminals and on the road are running their butt off. Don't understand why some people are and others aren't. Must be that attitude you talk about.

 

I have worked at Roehl for over five years. My first year was really bad. I almost quit a bunch of times. I am glad I stuck with it though. I get a lot better runs now.

 

Yeah, its always the drivers fault. I have had 4 dispatchers quit in the last 6 months, and they take time to get up to speed. (Wonder why they are quitting, must be a bad attitude). Perhaps you will share your secrets for getting timely dispatches and good runs so the rest of us can have a piece of the pie. I am not here to bash anyone, I just want to make a living. Any information on how to do that would be greatly apprecicated.

As far as terminals and people running their butts off, I have only heard of how slow things are. The Ellenwood terminal is full of "idle" drivers. All I hear is that freight is slow. I suppose that is what they tell drivers with zero late pickups and deliveries who report to work on time and try to be accomodating in most instances. That would be me. If "slow" means they want me to go, let them tell me. I don't like playing games. And I won't get in a pissing match with you, Redwolf. Congratulations on your success. I am trying to achieve some success myself, that is all.

 

I acknowledge that there are more new drivers than old ones. Heck, I train a new student almost every week. It is that way at any OTR company, especially one that trains new drivers. There are many reasons for turnover. Some people have no idea what they are getting into, some find a local job after getting trained, some job jump just to get time off, and plenty just get fired. I talked to a guy in Gary last month. He said he worked for 6 companies in the last year. They all lied to him. I wished him luck. There is a large number of guys who have been around a long time. There are drivers at Roehl that have been there over 20 years, a few have over 3 million miles. Unless they are a glutton for punishment they hung around for a reason. You just have to get over that hump. My first year sucked too. I was making 23 cpm and not getting home much. I was ready to pack it in. Roehl came out with the 7/7 so I did that. I was single and had no kids so I could afford it for a while. I also did the local job in Oak Creek, WI. $13 an hour really didn't cut it in the Milwaukee area. So I decided to be a trainer and do 7/7. I think the 7/7 trainer deal is the best deal in the OTR industry. I am on pace to make over $50k again. Not bad for working half a year. Within that week there are usually 2 long runs that take up four days. I don't even consider that working, just a paid tourist. So really I only work about 6-7 days a month and make over $4000.

 

I'm from Milwaukee originall. I just moved to TX. I wanted to get on that 7 on 7 off bu tthey tell me I'm too far from the yard

 

One of my philosophies is I dont worry what the other drivers are doing. Everyone will tell you how excellent or how awful their situation is, reagardless of what the actual truth is. If we choose to believe them we are poisoning our minds. Keep your head down, keep the wheels turning, and dont gossip with the other drivers. Maybe it will help you in the long run? I dont know.

 

I'm not in a pissing match, all I am saying (and not to you personally) is that I have heard more drivers that are running than ones that aren't.
If I had the magic answer, I would certainly share it. All I know is what I do. I take everything, no matter how short or long, and deliver it on time. Often I call in and see if I can drop it early. Other than that, they don't hear from me. Works for me, your mileage may vary.

Actually, thinking about it, maybe I can share something. I guess I try to make the dispatchers job as easy as possible. They don't actually plan the loads, so they have it coming from both ends. The drivers on one side and the planners on the other. The easier I can make their job by not being a fly in the ointment, the better runs I seem to get.

In my opinion, Roehl can make things a heck of a lot better by combining the dispatch and planning jobs. There is no reason a dispatcher should have to ask about runs available. There is software out there that can display loads on their screen. It can be sorted by any number of categories and then sent out to the driver with little or no fuss.