The Roehl delusional, illusion.

Hey, first I want to say I've learned a lot this past year. God bless you truckers who put up with the crap this job provides you non stop. I salute you.
If you like being dumped several hundred miles from home, work for Roehl. Several times during training/ orientation and in the past year I was told we won't do that to anybody..... Lies.
I was abandoned in Peoria after a emergency appendectomy. I had to overnight in a Sams club after making a delivery with horrible cramps and pain.
After suffering through the night I researched my symptoms and then called a cab and headed to the emergency room. The first symptom was kinda
funny, gas. Longest, loudest farts I have ever made or even heard. Things I've heard at a farm and zoo don't compare. For about 4-5 hours.
Then gut wrenching curled up in a fetal position stomach cramps for 5-6 hours. Then muscle pain so sharp and hard you can barley move.
I digress.... Arrived at hospital room 20:00 on a Friday. Surgery 11:00 Saturday. Dr. wanted to release me Sunday afternoon but waited till Monday am.
Great hospital in Peoria, Proctor. Great staff.Almost didn't want to leave.
Now the real fun part. Called my fm, Kristen. "we are going to send a driver in a rental, he will drive your rig back where you park it on home time.
You can follow him in the rental and he'll go on from there." Cool. 20 minutes later I get a call back. "We are giving your rig to a new driver."
When asked how I now get home she just himed and hawed and said, I'm not sure what to say."
So I called the airport and had them send me out a car. 20 minutes later I called back Kristen to update her... "Could you spend the night in the truck and hand off the keys in the morning? We don't want you to overwork yourself getting in and out while unloading your stuff, the new driver will help you."
I did not. I took my time and unloaded my clothes, food, cooler, microwave, crock pot, tool bag, tv and all that stuff you need for 2 weeks in a closet.
Filled up the trunk, backseat and front passenger of a vw jetta.
Wired the keys to the oil dipstick like asked and drove home. I know they only wanted me to hand the keys to the next driver, not hide them under the hood.
I paid for rental to get home. Roehl paid nothing, exact opposite of what I'd been told several times.
Hey, my problem to get home? Sure, all I'm saying is don't ever forget to carry that charge card no matter what they tell you. They will lie and desert you.
Just relieved I was only a couple hundred miles from home.

Shortly after returning to work I transferred to a dedicated route. Nice, home weekends. Wrong. Home for 34 hours and back out. Get home Saturday late, go to bed. Go to bed early Sunday for early Monday launch. Not much of a weekend in my book.
Then, get knocked down from the awesome 32 cents back to 30. When questioned why I was told that's just the way they structure the pay scale.
I call it penalizing you for spending a few hours at home on Sunday. So after 6 months you are eligible for a dedicated fleet AND a whack in pay.
Within a month after my surgery I was terminated. I broke a door off a trailer. My bad. Break away hinges are sooooo expensive. Door was not even scratched. Terminated for damaging company property. I believe, my attitude adjustment after them abandoning me just mayyyybe had something to do with it.....
The good news is I'm 55!!!!! I am old enough and am now taking my carpenter pension and it's a just a little less per month than the best month I had at Roehl. I needed to fill a year and Roehl worked for 9 months at least.
Still have to pay for my health ins.( blue cross blue shield) but get a much better shake. Roehl does not allow any 3 month prescriptions what so ever. 31 days, that's it.
Before Roehl ins., (I had the Roehl platinum plan or whatever it was, the better one) I was paying $140 a quarter for meds. With Roehl ins? $170 a month.
My share of the hospital and Dr. bills are over $5000. Cheap, CHEAP ins policy's.....
So as I relax at home for the summer I'm wondering if I want to drive tractor trailer anymore at all.
Wayyyyyy to much dead serious responsibility and a rotten way to spend weeks at a time for wayyyyyyy too little money.
Maybe local.... you can drive a lot of other things with a cdl. Won't be for some penny pinchin company like Roehl tho... That guy Rick can squeeze a nickle so hard the buffalo humps up and takes a dump.
I'm thankful I don't live some godforsaken place with no work besides this..... Thankful I have a choice in what and who I drive for if I drive again.
Wish YALLLLLLL happy safe drivin and I'm gonna miss being out there with ya, yep, like a festering boil on my butt.

 

I know they did not want the keys hid on the truck, changing plans from getting my rig home for my 7 day recuperation to taking it from me and leaving me stranded with a drain tube hanging out of my naval was the crux of it.
This was my third tractor in 8 months. Every one I was issued was a filthy beast. Had mechanical issues. I spent days with each one sitting in the terminal waiting on maint. to fix this and that. Several times the truck would go right back in because of incompetent non certified child technicians who think a left hand thread means just that. put it in left hand and turn right..... My last rig I guesstimate 5 days down time for repairs needed when issued. So many times also, when hooking a trailer you would find issues with it on the pretrip. Call maint. Take it here or there for a fix. I sat for a day waiting on hub seals on a loaded trailer that was suppose to get me home. Short home time that was.
This happened a lot and I eventually started doing what all the other drivers do. Leave it for the next guy whenever possible. Not nice I know.... Finding trailer rims and tire coated with gear oil you know didn't happen sittin there. Nice post trip. Good professional considerate driver. Screw you, hurray for me.
Brakes so far out of adjustment you need to camp out under there. In the rain. In a gravel lot.
I don't like myself when I'm in a foul mood and it became near impossible to not be in one with Roehl.
I realize "most" outfits are the same way. One more reason I don't think I want to "enjoy" driving an 18 wheeler.

 

Well I know they didn't mind the truck in the lot where I used to park it for home time. FM admitted they didn't want to hide a key.
Understandable. Thing is I was not going to help them with that by spending the second night after surgery in the truck. Certainly not after telling me they were going to get me and my rig home then giving it to someone else and leaving me stranded.

I ran Green Bay through Milwaukee, Chicago often also. Only one time they let me take 294 to avoid Chicago. Trailer I picked up in G.B. has issues and was sent to Appleton WI for repairs. This waste of time would have made me late for a Dollar General apt. Any other time it was take the no toll route and add three or fours hours of stop and go through Chi town. I was once told, "we put a instructor in a truck and filmed him going through Chicago. It isn't that bad. For some reason the planners most always had my load hit Il about 15:00. Fantastic time to head into Chicago.... No reimbursement for most tolls with Roehl, eazy pass was nice. Saved them money but cost the driver $1 a week for the privilege. Not sure if the toll is less for trucks with that instead of cash like cars. Either way, 2000 trucks on the road with eazy pass, $2000 a week payroll deduction, $108,000 a year eazy dollars for Rick. Off the drivers back for moving their freight a little quicker with less paperwork and fuel. Nice win win for Roehl..... a dollar at a time. They have a lot of trucks that run 90 through Rockford heading to Gary In also. To bad one could not detour 3 miles to pick me up when I returned to work 1 week later. Had to rent a car myself then also.

 

Don't have ant idea what you mean, leased loaner or spare truck. They had newbies ( I was one of them) almost every yard I was ever in waiting on a truck. I asked once at the Gary terminal and got laughed out the door.
Maybe, just thinkin, they read your posts, figured out who you are and give you special treatment.
Maint. will never change. That would cost Rick money.