7/3 7/4

I believe the home time fleets pay almost 10k less a year, the low 30's if I read my information package correct. But then again you are home a lot. You still receive full-time benefits. Plus I think home time drivers slip-seat, so you would end up sharing a truck with another driver.

 

7/4 7/3 does not slip seat.7/7 does

 

Good call. I am still a little unsure how the hometime thing works.

 

Actually, 7/4 7/3 does slip seat. It is set up for 3 guys in 2 trucks.

 

basically you have 3 drivers sharing 2 trucks. drive for 7 days in truck (A). Go home for four days. Drive in truck (B) for 7 days. go home for 3 days.

Good points:
You pretty much get full time benefits.
You get a lot of home time
You will have a pretty regular schedual

Bad Points:
You are sharing 2 trucks with 3 people. everybody has a different standard of clean
If crossing the canadian border and any type of illegal contraband from a search might become your problem. (Note sure of the leagality issues).
Each trip you have to remove your equipment (cb's tvs clothes and such).

I am sure there is more that can be added to both list so please do

 

I have only been driving for Roehl for 1 month and if I evaluated them on how well they did things the first time I would have to say they are not such a good company. However, if I evaluate a company on how well they treat their people and fix their mistakes as well as their equipment, then I have to say Roehl is a pretty good company. Here’s my story.

My recruiter told me two different things about their 7/4, 7/3 program. First I was told that I would be gone seven days then I would be gone eight actual days. The truth is that you have a very predictable schedule. One week you leave on Wednesday morning and are scheduled to return sometime the next Tuesday. Your next scheduled run is Saturday morning until Friday. This pattern is how it is supposed to work, but it depends on the driver before you and how well you handle your trip planning. So this turned out better than what I was told. My recruiter also needed a course in geography. She rented a car for me in Springfield...MO, I live 30 miles north of Springfield, IL. We straightened the problem out but it meant I would be late arriving to Marshfield. They understood and nothing was said, they returned the car the next day for me.

After orientation they said I was taking a truck back to E. St. Louis with a load. It turned out that the other driver was actually the one assigned to the truck and load, but it was on the way so I rode with the other driver and he dropped me off at home. It killed any chance of pay, but they went ahead and paid the first $200 of my sign on/stay on bonus and another $300 with the first paycheck. At least the family wouldn’t starve.

My first week was a comedy of errors but it wasn’t very funny at the time. First the truck didn’t get back until a day late. I finally got into the truck over a day late and was greeted with a "pc" instead of a qualcomm. (Did I mention I haven’t driven a ten speed in over four months?) I have had no training on using a pc and it took better than an hour to figure just the basics. Eventually I got it figured out and finally got moved in and began to roll. My first load was a pickup ASAP because another driver broke down and I was the next best option. I was late delivering and had to lay up until the evening when the consignee would take deliveries again. The next day I was scheduled to pickup for a just in time delivery.
The only problem was that dispatch had the pickup time wrong and I was left sitting for several hours. The pc has a nasty defect of not indicating you have new messages as a result I missed the message that they changed my load and continued to wait. I didn’t catch the error until the next morning. In spite of this my DSR said the messages weren’t sent properly and the mistake wasn’t mine, even though I tried to take the blame. They not only straightened the problem out, but got me a load home on time. My second week went much better. I would like more miles but other than that I have no complaints.

If you are a new driver and have made it to the end of this story, anyone will tell you this is trucking. Forget nine to five and your first trip or two with any company is filled with frustration. Work through it. If you find a company that treats you right and really wants you to drive safely stay with them.