1 year with Roehl

I had asked for some info on Roehl in May of last year and got no replies...So I thought I would share my first year experience with Roehl..I run the 14/7 fleet out of Jacksonville..For the previous few years I ran 7/7 for another carrier in florida, but came over to Roehl for the health insurance.Roehl is the only company in the country (that I know of) that offers health insurance to all drivers, regardless of the number of hours they worked. My recruiter was a woman who wasn't too knowledgeable about trucking, because she couldn't answer a lot of my questions, and the ones she did answer sounded like she was reading from a script. But that didn't bother me...I was coming to Roehl because that offered something I desperately wanted..extended home time with health insurance..There was an issue regarding transportation to orientation. She wanted me to come up in a rental car, I wanted to drive my vehicle up there, and we went bwck and forth about it..she said that I may be issued a truck out of Ellenwood, and my car would be at the terminal, and how would I get it to the Jax yard..Told her not to worry about it..I didn't tell her that I didnt want to be stuck up there with all my gear and no car, in the event I didn't like what I saw..this has happened to me 3 times in my 20 year career...after getting to orientation, not liking what I was seeing, and finding a way to lug all my gear back home..in those 3 cases I stayed for 6 months so I couldnt be responsible for paying them back for motels, physicals etc...Anyhow, I really wasn't too impress3d with their orientation. ? We wasted a lot of time, sitting around in the classroom. In the instructors defense, he was out of the classroom alot because he had to do all the paperwork, he really needed a secretary...however, they bypass alot of material, of which I thought was important. ? After being thru my fair share of orientations, I know that different companies do the same thing .....differently..so I had a lot of questions, which annoyed them..and at one point was pulled into an office and spoken to about all these questions..so, there came a point where i was deciding whether I was going to continue or not, and I had decided that I would make the decision when it came time for me to sign something...the next morning a woman walked into the classroom asking for me identifying herself as my FM...sh3 went over a few things, and when I asked her if she would answer some questions, she spent 30 mins answering all the questions I couldn't get aswered from the instructors, and answering all my classmates questions as well..she left and I decided to stay, and all my classmates were impressed with h3r as well...I was with her for 5 months and got great miles...then I was switched to a two man team, who aren't "on the ball" as much as she was, but they have been adequate, altho my miles did drop a bit ......The most surprising thing has been the equipment. All of the trucks I have been assigned have had l3ss than 250,000 miles, so I have had little mechanical problems, with the exception of losing the bunk air a few times..but I just idled.....one thing I do have tommention..DON'T GET YOUR TRUCK SERVICED IN GARY!!!!!got routed there to get my truck fixed..after waiting 10 hours, I asked yhe shop how long it would be would be and was told a day and a half!!!.imkeft rolIing and 2 days later got my truck fixed in Appleton..waited 2 hrs for my truck to get in the shop...Atlanta and Marshfield haven't been bad either....am currently having a bad week..starting my 10th day, and I am at 3253 paid miles..probably wont get my goal of 5500 for 14 days, but I'm not discouraged..you'll see my avg at the end...been sitting 16 hrs a day for the last 4 days, but thats just how the loads fall sometimes..........
Lots of drops and hooks, and large delivery windows.. I must say that the last year of driving have been the easiest for me since the introduction of e logs...if I wanna back up my eta a few hrs, for whatever the reason, I just tell my FM and he changes it without question....I may do this if I've been on nights and I wanna start running days...but I rarely drive thru the night, and have been successful in working a somewhat regular routine..I like 5 am to 7 pm...getting home as not been a problem, sometimes maybe a day late...once it was 3 days, but I had a breakdown in Appleton that week and my truck had to got to the dealer....the only real downside id the pay..I'm at 39.5 cpm, which is the lowest I've had in 10 years, and I'm not sure if I'm ever gonna get a raise, still dont understand how that pay program works...altho I did get an out of service ticket for a leaky seal..well, it really wasn't. ? The officer gave me a break....some rolls of paper shifted, and I crossed a scale 10000 lbs over on the drives. I hsd picked up this load at a yard, the driver had written th3 weights on the bol...and the rear axle suspension guage confirmed it...I have hauled GP rolled paper loads many times over the years, and was confident NOT scaling it....the officer said that he didnt want to give me an overweight ticket, so he was gonna inspect my truck (and find something wrong with it)..the mechanics told him the seal was loose and they tightened it (wink wink)...so that is the reason I havent had a raise, I guess....but thats ok, because as I said, I came here for the home time and the health insurance, mynhome and toys are all paid for, I dont need to run like and madman and make a lot of money.....Roehl is a big company, and you may feelmlike a number sometimes, but when I call my FMs, they know who I am, and they are the only people I know in the whole company....
Now come the numbers...I have actually only worked 51 weeks, payroll is coming out tomorrow, but I'm sitting here now and I needed som3thing to do...these numbers came from my payroll...I was on teamroehl.com yesterday and did all the calculations. ?..
Miles....90490..based on 34 weeks out equals 2661 miles per week...times 39.5 cpm equals $36000 (approx)..not too bad having 18 weeks off.....of course, it would be better with 44 cpm like I'm used to...oh well
So i can say that i pretty happy here, and would recommend Roehl to any driver who is in a similar situation like me..But remember, I'm on the 14/7 fleet out of Jaxsonville, and cannot speak for any other fleet....I have read about complaints in other threads...any questions, just ask..

 

Van only in Jax

 

I would recommend Roehl...just because of where u live..we have a yard there, and plenty of freight going there to get u home..I don't know if the other 2 have yards nearby...I can say that a few years ago when Schneider offered extended home time, they wouldn't hire because of where I live.. (ocala)...I would do the same thing that I did when I got started. ...I started out with COST in 1994.. They paid for my schooling, I only had to stay with them for a year...I don't think many companies do it that way anymore...my suggestion is to get u r schooling thru a carrier, as opposed to going to school on your own..but ask around, because maybe I'm wrong...I can tell u that I spoke to a Roehl newbie last week who paid his own way thru school, and Roehl gives him $100 a month towards reimbursement, and I believe he paid $5000 tuition. ..u do the math...2 main things to consider..1. How much does the carrier value their training at, and how long will it take u to pay it off, and 2. How much freight they have going into Florida...I spent my first 10 years driving living in the northeast. .I drove for CRST, JR Hunt and crete, and I ran into Florida only once..altho crete has a terminal in del and now....and years ago I distinctly remember a talking to a CR England driver who lived in Orlando, and he was 8 weeks past his home due date!!!!..hope this helps

 

Sorry..typing on my phone...started with CRST......Crete has a terminal in Deland