Roehl Don't believe the Hype

Before starting my driving career I checked out many of the on line forums looking to stay away from the bad companies. I went with Roehl because of all the hype about it being a good company. All I can suggest is don't believe the hype. Here is the letter I sent to Mr. Rick Roehl the owner of the company. I am posting it because I can not get anyone at Roehl to contact me. I feel that it is a honest evaluation of my experience at Roehl.
Mr. Roehl,

I never got the opportunity to meet you in person, so I don’t know what kind of man you are. But when a family puts their name on a business, you would assume that the business should be a reflection of those owners. I don’t know if this letter will even reach you, but as a former employee I wanted to give you honest feedback about your company and why I quit.
Let me start by introducing myself, and give you a brief history. I am a forty-eight year old male that worked for a fortune 500 Company, until I was caught up in a resource action in October of 2006. After working in an office for twenty years, I thought driving a tractor trailer would be an interesting change and provide a chance to see the country. While attending Truck driving school, I researched different transportation companies on the internet. I was looking for a company that would treat me decent, and in return I would be a loyal employee. Based on my research I went with Roehl.
While I was in school, I contacted your company and told them I was interested in working for Roehl. Your recruiter was excellent. She answered all of my questions, without any pressure to sign up.
I attended orientation in Atlanta , and was excited about working for your company. I met up with my session one trainer about a week after orientation and he was great!!!! I can not say enough good things about this man. He has great teaching skills, and he works hard at making his students good drivers.
Unfortunately my second session trainer was a nightmare. As an owner operator his only concern was making miles, he wanted to do team driving and told me that he averages six thousand miles a week while he is training. He also has issues with older males. He boasted that he had his last student, an older male, removed from his truck. The man has a very negative personality, and worse than that, he is also a racist. The man has a hatred of Mexicans, and expressed this view several times while I was with him. He stated that he would not train a Mexican student, and would quit the company before he would train one.
Twice during my training with this man I almost quit the company. As a new employee, you feel you do not want to make waves, and don’t know who to approach for help. This driver has a friendly relationship with his DSR that extends outside of work, and if this man was averaging 6000 miles a week, the company has to be aware that he was doing team driving. So I stuck it out and went on to my third trainer.
I was told by both my first and last trainer that the training department would approach me after training, to rate the quality of my training experience. That never happened. What did happen is that a couple weeks later a got a phone call from a vendor company that Roehl pays, asking me to take a general survey. Unfortunately the survey does not provide the ability to provide productive feedback about your experience. When I tried to tell the caller about my experience with the second trainer he informed me that the survey does not allow him any area to record this information.
About my third trainer - this man was EXCELLENT. He explained things, and was a very positive person. While training with this individual, I received a positive phone call into Roehl about my driving from a motorist.
After training I was dropped off at the Gary terminal for my road test and truck assignment. This is where I started to see a difference in Roehl. It is hard, at least at the Gary terminal, to find any office individuals who will go out of their way to assist you. After my road test, I was assigned a tractor When I found the unit it was still dirty from the last occupant. To this day it reeks of smoke so bad that everything you put in the truck picks up the smell. I was told the person responsible for cleaning the units was out on disability, and they would try to get it cleaned by maintenance. They took my unit into the shop in late afternoon. I watched it just set there for several hours, and finally went to the maintenance people and said I would clean it myself. I was then given my first load which took me back to North Carolina for a few days off. My first eleven day out as a driver was great. The planner kept me busy, and I went from one customer to the next. It seemed like Roehl had their act together.
My second time out things were fair. I had several issues, such as the only truck stop for the area I was in charged $10 for parking. It was a gated lot, and it was safe for me, the unit, and the freight. The next day I was informed that Roehl does not pay for parking, it was my expense. I then had several other issues throughout the week. Two of the incidents, (a flat tire on a loaded trailer, and a damaged loaded trailer,) required extensive calls to Roehl with my personal cell phone. Again this was something that would be out of pocket for me. In addition the planners did not seem to have their act together. I would make a delivery then sit for several hours waiting for something to become available.
As for my last time out, it did not go well. I took a load from North Carolina to Ft Myers FL. I arrived at the truck stop across from the customer at 2:00 P.M. the day before delivery. I asked if someone could try to get me in the same day, and was told no we have an appointment. I had to wait until 8:00 A.M. the next day to make delivery. I made the delivery the next morning, and then went back to the truck stop across the street to wait for a load. I waited from 9:00 am until mid-afternoon for a load which was about two hours up the road.
Being new to this business, I am sure there are a lot of things that I don’t understand about getting loads. But as a driver, you feel that the planners should have an idea of when the delivery is being made, and should be able to have another load scheduled. A lot of times it feels like they don’t start looking until they get the empty call. This is very frustrating to the drivers.
Now for the straws that broke the camel’s back. As my eleven days out was coming towards an end, my short day rolled around. I had enough time to make my delivery, and then rolled into a truck stop at 10:00 AM ; I was out of hours for that day. My DSR, Sandy , was taking a couple of days off, and I was moved over to Kim who was covering. Sandy knew that it was coming time for me to head home and was going to let the planners know. I was in the Western part of Virginia waiting for a load that would get me home. The next morning, I finally got a load assignment that was a 2:00 PM pick up in Maryland , close to the PA border, and a 10:00 PM delivery in Western VA. This load would take all of my day 12 and not put me close to home, so I did not commit to the load because of home time. I was told this was the only load they had so I accepted. I asked if they could get the pick up time changed to earlier that day. I was told I could go to the customer and see if I could get an earlier pick up. When I got to the customer I found out the trailer had been loaded hours earlier and was sitting behind the building waiting on Roehl. I asked the shipper how heavy was the load? He stated, and wrote on the bill about 40,000 pounds. I picked up the trailer and headed for a truck stop so I could scale the load. I was on state highway 194 which has no scales. When I got on the interstate the closest scale was past the Maryland Weigh Station. I got pulled in and found I was overweight. There is no explaining to the state - just a ticket. A $694 dollar ticket! I called Roehl to let them know about the ticket, and confirm that I would have to pay the ticket. I was told that all weight tickets were the driver’s responsibility. I spoke to Kim who was not sure; we would have to look into it. She sent me back to the Shipper to have them adjust the load. When I got to the shipper the place was closed. At Kim’s direction I was to drop the trailer and pick up my empty. That trailer was already backed into the dock and loaded so I did not have an empty. I was then directed to go to Baltimore , and pick up an empty. I was then to drive 300 miles empty to western Virginia to pick up a load of paper. This would take most of Saturday, and I was expected to make delivery on Monday at 8:00 AM .
Between the ticket, and the total disregard of my home time, I became more and more upset. I felt like Roehl had no respect for me as an individual. To Roehl the ticket was my problem and not that big a deal. And home time was not their concern, just move the freight. As I was going to get the empty trailer I pulled into a parking lot and called Kim. I told her that I could not do this anymore and that I was going to quit. She wanted me to continue on, get the empty, and then go get the load, go home for a day and see how I felt on Monday, if I still wanted to quit we could work it out after the delivery. This only reinforced my feeling that Roehl does not respect the employee. So I told Kim I did not want to pick up the load. I wanted to part on good terms with Roehl, so I wanted to work out where I would leave the truck so it was safe and nothing happened to it. We agreed that I would leave it in the Roehl Richmond Drop yard, and she routed me to that location. I even asked her if she wanted me to take just the tractor or go get an empty. She said I would be doing her a big favor if I went and got an empty first. So I drove to Baltimore to get an empty. By the time I got there I was out of hours and paid to park in the truck stop across from Giant, the place I picked the empty up from. The next morning I picked up the empty and drove to the Richmond Yard. I parked the truck and removed all my personal belongings. I sent a message on the quailcom stating the truck was parked, and the keys were where I was told to leave them. All three locks and supplies were left with the truck, and I went home.
I went home to North Carolina thinking that someone would close out with me on Monday. Nobody from Roehl has contacted me. I contacted payroll to see about my last check and they informed me that I will not be getting one. I am being charged $651 dollars for a truck recovery fee, and a $180 security fee. I asked about my out of pocket expenses, such has tolls and scale receipts for other loads that I had delivered, and was told that I would not be receiving those either.
When I made the decision to quit, I called Roehl and specifically asked for directions on what I should do with the truck. I told my DSR I wanted to part on good terms and wanted to leave the truck where it would be safe and secure. At the time I just had the tractor and no trailer, and at my DSR’s request went and got an empty trailer before dropping the unit off at Roehl’s drop yard in Richmond . I was then routed to the Richmond Drop Yard. The three locks provided by Roehl, and all supplies were returned with the truck.
I think that it is shabby and unprofessional for Roehl to take my last paycheck when I tried to do the right thing with Roehl. I was a good driver for Roehl, but can not afford a job where I pick up a loaded trailer, and become responsible for a $694 mistake that the shipper makes. As for the $180 Security deposit, I have my Roehl badge and credit cards but did not receive any direction on where to send them.
Mr. Roehl, as one of the owners of this company, I am asking you to look into this matter and make a fair resolution. I know the trucking industry is a hard business, but your employee’s manual takes about professionalism, and honesty, and I as one of your employees did not receive either of these things.
As of this posting Roehl has taken approximately $1300 of my pay and left me with a $694 ticket. Not a company I would be proud of.