want to talk to drivers about roehl

I wont comment on customer base, but Roehl will NEVER ask you to run illegal. That is a 100% lie. I have been here nearly 2 years and when any load was close to being illegal I would point it out and always get more time or it would be relayed. That is complete BS to lie and say Roehl ask you to run illegal. BS BS BS

 

I have my issues with Roehl, but being expected to run illegal isn't one of them. The biggest issue is that they don't realize there is no "safe haven" provision in the 11/14 hour rule.

 

BS and you know it's BS. I've been with Roehl over 9 years and no one has ever tried to push per dieum on me. They offer it as an option, period

 

ETCH5858 is 100% telling the truth with his quote, no one will ever be asked to run illegal while driving for Roehl, EVER

 

Yes, this is correct, they will never "ask" you too. They say "will you take this" which really means, "we know you do not have enough hours legally to get it there on time, but if you take it and risk your CDL, get it there on time and dont get caught, we will reward you later with some good runs", plus we will look the other way". If you dont take it and make us look good with on time service, even though it is our planners fault the load is late, we will put you on the B list and you will wish you had taken the load. Also, Etch, you rarely mention you are paid salary, so there is no sense it bragging about how many miles you have been getting. Actually, why dont you break down how much you are making per mile relative to your salary. I bet it is less then .25.

 

I have had several loads that I couldn't deliver on time when it was given to me. Whenever I get one of these they tell me to give them an eta as soon as I've got the load and I'm ready to run. I have always been told the same thing, "You are the best option available, take this load and do what you can." That never means to run illegal. I have never had a late delivery in the year I've been with Roehl and I run legal. In talking to other drivers my runs are better than most of the drivers I've been around. There is no "B" list, but there is a pecking order. Loads are given out to teams, then o/o's, next come the hometime drivers and then everyone else. I am on 7/4-7/3 and my miles are about the same as what national drivers tell me they are getting. As for runs for us hometime drivers it's a bit more difficult since we have to get the truck back by a certain day so the next driver can get in the truck. It takes a lot more work on the part of the planner and dsr because we can't take just any load. An illustration of this problem is the load I just had. To get me home they had to have me relay a load going to Appleton Wi. to Gary. If I had taken the load all the way I would have run out of hours and had to sit for thirty four hours. Once relayed to Gary they had to have a driver drop his load out of WI at Gary, I took the load to Gateway where someone else was taking it to TN. They had to do this to get me three hundred miles down I-55 and I was still a day late getting back.

 

If they give you runs you can't legally do, and you accept them and do them, why wouldn't they continue to give you such freight? "Sure he'll take it; he takes anything." When it becomes a problem, well, guess who accepted the run now? Roehl has themselves covered.

Nate probably got fired for going over his hours, the way he rants about it so much.

 

I sure didnt get fired. I was there 19 months, never late, got my raises, bonuses, saftey award, etc etc. This debate is whether they run legal or not, and the answer is, it depends, whom your dispatcher is, how important the load or customer is, and who the driver is, etc. Im also saying Roehl is not the great place they advertise themselves to be, or, thats my opinion. But they certainly arent the only ones. And they are not the worst by any means, however, If a driver, especially a new driver, in my opinion has a choice between Roehl and Crete, I say undoubtly go with Crete. Roehl is a driver mill/training business with freight as a side project. Crete is not. And I dont drive for Crete. If a driver wants to make a company his home for a few years and he is new out the gate, Crete is a better way to go, in my opinion. All these companies that have their owns schools simply suck. Here is the freight order at Roehl : Salary Driver, New .28.5 cpm driver always avail, they have a school, remember, Lease operator, Hometime plus driver, Regional driver, National Driver. Plus, ask Roehl about there practice of running regional drivers who make less per mile out of their region, for example, running a midwest reg driver to California, because they make less than the National driver. And then they dont pay that reg driver 2 cpm more for it.

 

I would have to run over 700 miles a day for it to be paid at a rate of .25 per mile. Yesterday I ran 367 and got paid a full days pay. I average 400 miles a day that is 2800 a week. but based on my average miles and pay I am right at .39 a mile. As far as salary getting first dibs you are totally wrong. O/O's first, hometime second then national and regional. I know this for a fact. That is why I am buying my own truck outside of Roehl and bringing it to them as a O/O. When I ran national out of Ellenwood I had several weeks around 2000 miles and still got paid the salary. It was only when I switched to hometime did my miles shoot up and especially when I moved to Texas. Roehl only has 6-8 people per class where as the Swifts and Schnieders of the world use to have 50. That hardly qualifies them as a mill. Roehl has less than 100 trainers for 2000 trucks. Again that hardly qualifies as a mill. Now as far as orientation Crete has just as many everyweek as Roehl. Just because your hiring doesn't make you a mill. Remember 6 people per class would not be making Roehl very rich if they are a mill.

 

I believe the honor program salary drivers gross about $750 a week tops. Now if you run 3000 miles in a week, that means you made around .25 cpm. Then after taxes and insurance you might me looking at a little over $500, for 3000 miles a week! What a way to honor veterans.