Roehl Don't believe the Hype

Get along with your dispatcher? You must have been a charmer and used a lot of faces on your qualcomm.

 

It sucks sometimes and can be a hard thing to do but it helps

 

She (Kim) is a he, but doesn't look like he has much interest in Sheila's.

The one overweight ticket I got (it was in VA). The DOT guys laughed it off and told me not to worry becuz the ticket goes to the company. If the Company doesn't pay it, they lose their operating authority.

Theoretically, they could deduct the fine from your pay. But there are strict laws on the books about taking money from paychecks. I got hauled to court by an ex-employee for deducting cell phone charges from her pay. Didn't matter that she signed an agreement that she would pay for personal calls.

You might as well take Roehl to court.

 

i should have no problem when i start then . im self employed sub cont. use to builders whinning and you do what you have to to get the job done!!!!

 

I hear ya on doing whatever it takes. The trucking bizz is a different animal. Goverened speed and HOS rules put a crimp on getting things done. I swear sometimes an hour delay on Saturday is still biting you the following friday. In construction you can always throw more manhours to make up schedule. Not so in the truck.

Trucking is hard on Type A Personalities and persons with management/entrepreneurial backgrounds. The sitting and lack of efficicency goes against everything you believe.

Little peeves from the road:

1. Parking next to reefers. You quickly learn, if they are backed in, you go nose in - or vice versa.
2. Grocery distributions centers
3. Other 18-wheelers. There are just as many bad 18-wheel drivers as 4-wheelers.
4. Pulling in a truckstop, it's 72 degrees out and every engine in the lot is running.
5. Live load/unload.
6. Lunch meat. I have actually lost weight since I started trucking.
7. Getting a drink. Whether one prefers a glass of wine or a shot of whisky, I don't see anything wrong with a couple drinks after a long day. The medical benefits of a couple drinks are well documented. The relaxation is real. It shouldn't be a criminal offense to park your truck, have a couple drinks, and go to bed.
8. New England - they don't like trucks.
9. $10 for breakfast. What a rip. Must be why I lost weight!

There are good aspects. For me they are early a Saturday or Sunday morning on a nice stretch of highway.

 

thats why im going to start driving steady work and i still my own boss. im not saying it will be easy i know it wont be but its not like im not use to hard work or dealing with problems that arise. just trying to get useto being away from the wife and kids.

 

It shouldn't.....Everything the OP complained about is spelled out either in the handbook or in his orientation pack.

1. His 2nd trainer issue ~~ In orientation they tell you what to do if you have a problem with your trainer. He stayed with that trainer because he didn't want to make waves.
2. $10 parking ~~ Roehl does reimburse for paid parking...also in the handbook.
3. Phone calls ~~ Roehl provides a calling card to use. If he wasn't near a payphone, you use the Qualcomm. There was no reason for him to have to use his personal phone, it was his choice, but I'm still confused as to why he would think that Roehl would reimburse him for his calls.
4. The overweight ticket ~~ Yes, that was his problem. If the place he loaded didn't have a scale, and there wasn't one close by, you need to let your DSR know and they will find you one to scale at. That's all in the handbook too.
5. Quitting and the truck ~~ Also in the handbook, clearly outlined.

A little bit of reading would have saved the OP alot of heartache and a chunk of money.

 

I'd still go with Roehl for sure. Absolutely. Even with some of the so-called "problems" at Roehl, they'd still beat companies like SwiftQuit and "C.Our. England Advertisement" by a mile.

If I were getting in today, I'd go with either Roehl or Crete. If I couldn't get a job with these guys, I'd find out why. If it's something time would rectify, I'd wait it out. If it were something that would keep me out permanently, I'd forgo getting in and forget trucking. Most companies that will hire a newbie aren't even close to being worth taking a chance on.

 

After reading the OP's post. I can't help but wonder if his trainer 1 and trainer 3 were so great, why he did not know he had to find a public scale and scale the load before going into a scale house? and why he thought the company would pay for parking and cellphone bills?

As for the recovery fee, Every company I have worked at requries that you take a truck to a terminal. If they have to send someone to pu the truck they will stick it to you on your last check.

Any driver hiring on at a OTR company should read the driver handbook front to back and more then once if needed and understand the policys of the company before they seat a truck.

The OP should check his DAC report also, Roehl may of said he abandoned the truck if they charged him a recovery fee.

This OP and other posts on Roehl seem to suggest they aint much better then the rest of the meat grinders.

 

You want to know how to make money at Roehl? Shut up and drive.
I run whatever they throw at me. "200 mile trip? No problem, sir and when would you like that delivered?"
Goes a long way to alleviating problems with dispatch. The only thing I ask from my dispatcher is to get me a long load over the weekend so I don't have to deal with weekend dispatch. Last weekend it was a 1700 mile run, this weekend it will be an 1800 mile run. Goes to the Boston area which sucks, but I am not complaining. Money is money.