Life After Roehl

Hi all, I decided to start a new thread for the several of us that have left Roehl, but still come here to try to keep up with our old friends. Just to catch up, I left Roehl in January, I had worked in every division except for refrigerated, spent most of my time in flats and curtains. I pulled van for the last few months I was there after an injury becuase they didn't want me doing flatbed work anymore. I left and tried a couple of part time jobs... That did not work out so well. The one job I loved, and still do a few hours a week (autoparts) the other was not so fun.

Once I was away from Roehl for a couple of months, some of my old friends that I used to run with when I was an O/O started to figure out I was around again. They started calling me and one thing lead to another and well you guessed it, I am back in a truck again. This time just doing short regional work out of the paper mill just south of where I live. I work for a small company (8 trucks) and have known the owner, and his sons for almost 20 years. I put in my first full week this past week, and it was pretty sweet. I ran 2300 miles, made just short of $900 bucks after taxes, and slept in my own bed 3 nights.

I am driving a 2002 Freighliner Classic XL. It has been completely overhauled from front to back. It has a 475HP Cat that had 17 miles on it since it had an inframe, the 18 speed tranny was also done at the same time, both rears were also rebuilt. I runs like a dream. The interior has also been freshened up, with new seats, carpet and a professional detail job.

Now for what I don't have. I don't have a Qualcomm, or a TruckPC. I have a cell phone, and a note pad. I have the owners phone number if I have a problem after hours. I don't have e-logs, I have a paper log book. I don't have routing that I have to follow, the owner trusts me to pick the best route to get the load there on-time. I do have 2 fuel cards, and an app for my droid that lets me find the cheapest fuel in my route. I don't have a governer set to 63 miles per hour, I do drive at reasonable speeds, usually below the speed limit, to get the best fuel economy. The loads are heavy, and the country around here is hilly, and my average for the first week with 44k loads was 6.6 mpg. That is with a pre EGR moter.

Now, yes I do have enough rope to hang myself. That being said, I know the differnce between right and wrong. I will still run legal, I did all week and made money. I still have benefits like health and dental insurance, better coverage at a lower cost than what I was paying...

This post is for the benefit of all of you guys out there that think all companies are like the big fleets. There is life after working for a large trucking company, and it can be alot better. I know for some of you that live near Roehl terminals, life is really good, and that is great, they are still one of the best fleets out there. For the rest of us, don't be afraid to look around close to home and see what is out there. You might just be surprised.

For all of you other guys that have left and found new jobs close to home, I would like to hear how things are going for you. Not for my benefit, but for the other guys that are out there and feel trapped...

 

I was an O/O before Roehl. Had been driving for several years.

 

As for the weapons I have lots, even carry one on the truck when I am not in the communist state of NY... I too worked for Roehl for a year, then left for a year, and came back. And yes Meltom you are probably the best travel agent I ever had. I do miss pulling flats. The company I am with now has a couple, a few vans, a couple of chip trailers, and two tri-axel log trucks.