Roehl Transport makes it into the BAD company forum

What a nightmare it has become to work for this company. I went with them because of all the good things I read on this forum about them. There was one negative thread about them, and I should have paid closer attention to it than I did. I didn't because there were so many good things said that overwhelmed the small negatives. Well, the negatives take it!

First, let me start off with my truck. I was assigned truck number 2335 - an '05 International 9400i with 275k miles on it. The very first time I drove it, I noticed it was weak going uphill even when empty. I had been in a couple of newer Freightliners during Evo I and II, so I figured it was just that those trucks were nicer and newer. When I was taking a 5% grade uphill empty and had to go to 8th gear to make it and the truck started overheating, I knew something wasn't right and it was not just me, so I called my DSR and she put me in touch with maintenance. I took it to Ellenwood and they said the EGR valve was bad and it needed a fuel filter.

After that was fixed, the very next load it was still struggling. I was going up a long steep grade right behind another INternational pulling an MT like me. By the time we topped the hill, he was more than a mile ahead of me, so at that point I KNEW it was not just me - something was bad wrong with this truck. To make a long story shorter, I ended up taking the truck in 3 more times and every time they said it was something different (yet every time they also replaced the EGR valve). I reminded tham that all this time I spent in maintenance was time I was losing money and I was told that after the 4th time if it was not right, they would put me in another truck. Well, they decided after the 4th time that it was time to go to Marshfield and have them look at it. They found that the camshaft was bad and that I was NOT an idiot after all. So they assigned me a loaner truck - an OLD Freightliner with 615k miles on it that wreaks of stale urine and cigarette smoke (I am on my 3rd bottle of Febreze in 2 weeks). I told my DRS that this truck drove better and rode better than my other truck and that I actually liked it better because I was not losing money from a lack of power and pulling hills in 5th or 6th gear. I just found out yesterday that since I told her that, she assumed I wanted to keep this POS and my truck has been assigned to someone else!

Now to the real problem - the money. I went back and looked at the 14 weeks that I have been solo and I am averaging 1935 miles per week running the national lanes for them. I have been late to two delivieries since I went solo, and one of those was not my fault, so I have proven that I can do this job and do well. Anyways, that means my GROSS check is less than $600 a week, then you take out insurance and taxes and you can see that I am not making any money. I told my DSR yesterday that I was going to have to get some more miles. They are trying to route me to Gary to meet my new, permanent DSR. So therefore I am not getting good runs because that is their goal.

I started my day today at 8:30 and had a delivery at 10:00. I had a preplan that was taking me 52 miles MT to pick up at 1:00 and going to Gary to drop off. Then they would "keep me close to Gary" so that I could meet my DSR Monday. Well, I get finished getting unloaded and send in my empty call. My load assignment comes in and it says pickup it at 10PM; not 1PM. So I call my DRS and she said that she would try to find another load, but I could always take a 10 hour break and run tonight. I just woke up!! That is total bunk!

There are numerous other problems that have arisen that I could go into detail about, and maybe I can add to this thread later, but right now I am disgusted and PO'd and looking at another paycheck under $500 next week, and all the bills are starting to run late. So, I am going to try to call her again (she's been at lunch) and if they have nothing, they will be routing me to Ellenwood to move out of this POS truck so I can go somewhere that will pay me.

 

Gotcha there. I've been on Evo III since May 22!!!

 

Well, boys and girls, I am DONE with Roehl. I am returning my piece of junk tractor to Ellenwood tomorrow. I just got my paycheck Thursday and after taxes and insurance ($56 for insurance - $1 for PrePass), my total check was $220. I have not had a single weekly check over $850 gross in several weeks, and this past 9 days out, I was dispatched a grand total of 2628 miles. I have been late exactly TWO times with Roehl - once was my fault and I was 1.5 hours late - and one was theirs when they had me scheduled to pick up about 150 miles away and gave me 2 hours to get there. I have always been nice and have gone out of my way to help my DSR and have never one single time turned down a load.

I already have an offer from Superior Carriers to drive a tanker (hank goodness I got my Hazmat a couple of weeks ago!) and I start orientation with them next week.

And here is the kicker - when I told my DSR that I could not continue to work for what I was making, all she said was "OK." She never once said anything to try and convince me otherwise. I even asked her if they had a problem with me since they were not really interested in trying to convince me to stay, and she told me that I had been excellent to work with and was always willing to go the extra mile. So I am a little miffed on one hand, but on the other, that is an indication to me that I truly was only the driver of truck 2335 (and ended in 3439) and nothing else. That is quite sad, but it is a fact of life in this business.

I am actually thinking of doing something else since I hear of a lot of O/O's that are struggling right now. I could go buy a truck tomorrow, but I don't think I will. Soooooooo, I have some big decisions to make in the next few days concerning my future and my career. Thanks for all of your support and I will keep you posted.

So here is the summary - Roehl is not ANY better than ANY other trucking company out there. You truly are JUST a number and a means to an end (delivery of freight) and nothing else!