Roehl orientation/ training

Good to know I'm not going senile yet.

 

Well, one con would be you will have to sign a contract usually for a year to work for the company in exchange for them training you. If you sign with a company like PAM you won't get paid much and get little miles. Before you go company training I would check them out throughly. A pro is you don't have to pay for training.

 

First let me apologize for posting this instead of emailing you. I apparently do not have enough posts on the forum to email individuals.

I am very seriously considering Switching from the big yellow school bus to the big rigs. Money is one reason, benefits are another. This is the time of the year to jump if I am going to.

I really appreciate some of your postings I have read, and I'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind.

I am not really sure which company is best for newbies.
I am also not to sure where to look for information regarding them.

I have been considering Schnieder & Heartland Express, but I have also read some good things about Reohl.

I live in the South Eastern corner of PA, and Carlisle seems to be the hub for all things trucking around here.

Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time.
Ken (aka Big Red)

 

Shaffer is a company that's based near you. I think they're out of New Kingston. This is an outfit that's in CCC's family of trucking companies. Shaffer is reefer, though, so I personally would not go with them. However, another CCC company that's worth working for is Crete. These guys pull dry box and have terminals all over the place, save for the extreme corners of the lower 48. Look into them. I worked for Crete once and they're great compared to some outfits.

But if you don't mind reefers, Shaffer'd probably be good to go with. I think you'd start there in the upper .30s per mile. Not bad at all, considering the last time I ran reefer I think I made 18 cents every 5280 feet. At the end of each week there, I felt like I'd walked 5280 feet barefoot.

I think Shaffer has a website also. I'm sure they do, actually. Any company involved with CCC will have top-notch everything.

Good luck.

 

Tip
Thank you very much for the Info. I will be checking into both now.
I have many things up & down regarding Crete.
Thanks again
Red

 

Roehl has a drop yard in North East Philly. I was there the other day. I have only been with Roehl a short time, but have been impressed with them so far. I know they are big on safety and seem to be big on taking care of the drivers. They have come through with everything they told me so far.

 

Bucks, I've also heard Roehl is good overall. I'd work for those guys, sure.
So....Crete, Roehl, and Shaffer are your choices? Those are pretty good. I don't think you'll regret going with any of these three.

I was just looking at Shaffer's website, and I like what I see. I might actually hire on with them if I were looking for a job. They're reefer, but they sound pretty good.

I'll have to search the site for Shaffer vibes and then make a final conclusion. However, I suspect Shaffer is a dark horse no one talks about, meaning it's probably a good company that's hiding in the shadows.

But let me look first. Always look thoroughly at a company before diving in.

 

Pedy6Pak that is very interesting thanks for the Info. That would make it more convienient

Tip I am heading over to Shaffer's website right now

Thanks to both of you
Red

 

Sounds like you're aiming in the right direction. Just go with one of these three companies. Don't be led astray by some other oufit's smoke and lights. You won't do any better than Crete or Roehl. I know that for #### sure. I'll bet Shaffer is just fine, too. I looked this site over for feedback on Shaffer, and it all seems to be positive, what little there is. This is a good sign, of course. No complaints means a company's probably worth taking a chance on.

 

I agree with TIP. No news is good news. You seem to find plenty of bad talk on the forums about companies. In the last month while driving, I have seen more truck with names on them that I had never heard of than trucks that I knew. From what I have seen in the truck stops, trucking is just like the Navy was. A bi%$#%^& sailor is a happy sailor. From my talking to truckers in the truck stops, this seems to hold true with this also. I was in the Ellenwood terminal and there were two drivers talking. One was a company driver and one was an Owner Op. they were complaining about a consignee. They both noticed me listening to them and one guys said, "you are new, do not listen to us. When you hear two guys complaining, just ask them how long they have been with the company. I have been here 8 years and he has 12. Can't be that bad or we would leave. Drivers just like to complain". He said this with a smile. So if there was something bad about a company, you would see it here on the forum.

By the way, if you want to drive a reefer, Roehl just bought out Blume. They left a voice mail to all drivers asking if anyone wanted to swap over to the Blume Division. It is a separate company, but run and owned by Roehl. From the gossip in the driver's lounges, they say that many of the Blume drivers that came with the company did not pass Roehls driver qualifications or didn't pass the Pee Pee test and they were letting them go. Now they have plenty of trucks to fill up. The Blume trucks I have seen were nice. Some new Freightliners and Ken Worths. I know absolutely nothing about reefers, so I will not comment on that, but the options are there.

One of the things I have liked about Roehl is they stress safety and so far have done everything they told me they would. They promised to get me home this weekend after training so I could get my discharge from the Navy and DD214 and they did. Don't get me wrong, I was worried when I was still in Gary Indiana Saturday morning and only had 11 hours on the books to work and was only getting back 9.5 on Sunday, but it all worked out and worked out legally.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I am also new to this career and can share some of the newbie info with you.