Hello all! Advice for a newbie going OTR?

From what I've heard about Roehl I'm under the impression that they're one of the top starter companies out there.

As far as general advice and future companies, I think you should ask yourself some questions about the future of your career. Questions like what kind of driving do you want to do for the rest of your career (OTR, regional, local). How much hometime do you want? What kind of freight do you think you would like to haul? And of course, how much money do you want to make and what are you willing to do - and not do - in order to make that money?

 

Every CDL school will point you to someone loaning money for school.

Investigate WIOA. It is a grant (no repayment) for any trade schools. It is usually offered through your state unemployment office.

Half of trucking companies that hire newbies offer Tuition Reimbursement. I used my company's TR to pay for my CDL school.

 

Remember, you are there to learn their system, not them learn your system. I hear they are pretty good.

 

That's the attitude to have. That's the attitude I brought with me and it worked for me. Make sure to ask if you can call /text your company trainer and any veteran driver that seems to be a good example. There will be times you need an answer and those guys will have handled the same situation many times before. Your dispatcher is not a driver and is not the expert on driving. Many newbies confuse the person they communicate with the most with being the person that knows what to do in a situation. It's likely your dispatcher has never even seen the inside of a truck or been within a thousand miles of where you have an issue. Use the "I'm just a new guy and want to do things the right way" as often as necessary. Never commit to someone's expected appointment time until after you have calculated your CONSERVATIVE estimate and then announce that CONSERVATIVE estimate with "if everything goes perfectly I may just barely be there by X a.m." A rule of thumb is it takes you 2 hours to drive 100 miles, which is 50 mph. NEVER plan on everything going perfectly.

 

When I was there they would send you to New York early on just to see how you handled the pressure. What I learned is, while NY ain't a pleasure cruise, it's not as bad as all of the horror stories you hear. I doubt this is relevant now days, but they had a policy against floating. Everyone I knew just nodded their head and then did as they wanted once they were on their own. I'm retired but, frankly, I've never known anyone that double clutched all day. Lastly, if you go dry van, just know they're a medium haul, out of route outfit. In other words, get ready to continually run 200-500 mile loads. There was one day where I spent the entire day shuttling trailers from this paper outfit to the port in Chicago ALL DAY LONG.

All that said, you will generally stay busy. As others stated, they have some goofy quirks and policies. Just nod and play along for a year and then go find yourself a better gig.

Edit to add: Also, the Roehl's are eccentric and cheap, and they'd just as soon slap their own mother as to have to pay a toll. There are many times they will route you around toll roads. Of course, if it's necessary (interstates in Ohio and the like), that's another story.

 

I think now days they have an onboard transponder for tolls and weigh stations. You can double check with them to make sure, however.

 

Just kidding, Good Luck