Taking a BIG step... But I'm unsure. Help!

Also if you go flats for Roehl, get TWIC if you don't already have it. Get better pay. You can make more if you got passport and and go to Canada too.

 

I'm right at my five-month anniversary of driving solo with Roehl in national flatbed division, so treat what I'm about to say as just one datapoint. Hopefully some others will chime in.

Like Bayle already said, what you're issued is what you get. From what I've seen, Roehl has a lot of ProStars in its flatbed division, with the remainder mostly Freightliners. If you don't mind my asking, what do you have against International? I have a ProStar and am fairly happy with it.

It's my understanding that coming in with 6 months verified experience you'd be around $0.39 per cpm. That's for experienced flatbedders though, so I don't know if your six months dry van experience would directly translate to that.

Miles, Roehl states their goal is to get you in the neighborhood of 2500 per week. There are times it might be more, also less, depends on freight volume and other things I haven't totally figured out yet.

Where you go most often depends somewhat on where you live, even if you're on national fleet. (Although, this may be partly due to my limited tenure with the company at this point.) I live in Minnesota and generally have been routed around in the Minnesota/Wisconsin/Michigan/Indiana/Iowa/Kentucky/Tennesee/Georgia corridor. I've gone into Canada once so far, picking up a load a little ways east of Windsor, Ontario. I know a couple drivers who live in the northeast and they make runs to the northeast and east coast more. Myself, the only time I've been to the northeast was when I was out with my trainer. We went to Boston and central Vermont.

There are at least some load planners who work weekends, at least on Saturday, because my FM has had to talk with his flatbed load planner on Saturday mornings to do load scheduling. Whether it's the same number as during the week, I do not know.

I haven't had to call night dispatch very often but the couple times I have, I got the help I needed and was not just told to call my FM back in the morning. Also, in my case I have two FMs who each work a 7-on, 7-off rotation from 0630-1830 each day (including weekends), so I can't say if weekend dispatch during the day is good or not.

Hope this helps.

 

Almost all of Roehl's tractors have Eaton/Fuller 10-speed transmissions. I started out with a Freightliner and later switched to a ProStar and saw very little if any difference with the shifting. Only thing I'd say is much different is that the ProStar can produce usable torque at even lower RPMs than the Freightliner could (meaning you can shift at lower RPM) but that could be just because the ProStar is five years newer than the Freightliner was and has newer engine technology.

 

1. Chances are you will get an international. Flatbed fleet is probably 85% International, 14% Freightshaker, and 1% Other (Kenworth and maybe one or two Volvo's in the Flats)
2. I think the .37 is the initial starting based on your 6 months (don't quote me on that only a recruiter can tell you for sure), but you can advance pretty quickly, like every quarter, with the new pay scale. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your POV, this is based on how you perform and more importantly how your FM performs on getting you good loads.
3. 2000-2200 is more realistic when you start out, but remember Tarp pay that makes up for miles. I have found out that the longer I stay out the better runs I get. If I stay out 2 weeks I get 2200 miles per week and if I stay out 3 weeks it usually ends up being closer to 24-2500 miles per week. (Just my experience and not a guarantee.) Also, Roehl likes to keep you close to home when you get within a week of being scheduled for Hometime.
4. Depends on where you live. I lived in MN, have seen the New England states only once in two years. Haven't been east of Ohio, except for Georgia and the Carolina's, in 9+ months. I now live in AZ and have been running the west for the last month, nothing east.
5. Load Planners work 6 days a week. Sunday is the only day there isn't a planner.
6. Some nice people work the nights and weekends, but then again they usually can't fully help you. They can give you a band-aid until morning.

The one thing I would say based on what you said, Roehl is safety conscience. Taking your time to chain, strap, etc. a load is not a bad thing and is what Roehl wants, but from experience it will cut into your pay. Why? The more time spent securing a load and tarping if needed, takes away driving time. Driving time is where you make your money. Now, the more you do something, the faster you will get. The loads we do are pretty consistent and you will learn to be faster. Throwing chains when securing a vehicle seems like it may be harder. IMO it's actually easier. Doing a lumber load with multiple levels is way more nerve racking getting the straps right than knowing if you can use 5/16 chains or 3/8 chains on a vehicle. In most situations you are still using 4 chains and binders. Nothing wrong with being a perfectionist, with experience you will get to be a "faster" perfectionist.

I am not on as much as I used to be. If you have any questions let me know and I will try to answer.

 

1. Probably ZERO. Which to me and maybe you is scary! Because you have experience driving they may give you the basic classes all experienced drivers get along with some securement training. Then they set you loose! The recruiter will be able to give you more info.
2. If you pass the orientation, your sign-on bonus is your pay and usually its split between your first two "employed weeks." Sign-on bonus info can only be determined by your recruiter. Wish I could help there, but just don't know.

 

My guess is you will spend most of your time East of the Mississippi. That includes from Minnesota South to Alabama. You might get some Texas, but the Texas fleet gets pretty much everything in Texas. Just a guess though.