Roehl Transport

I'm in the process of getting pre-hired by Roehl. Alice is a very helpful recruiter and very well informed.From reading this thread and others regarding the company they seem to be a solid company to work for. Thats what I need. I'm feeling positive about this experience,hopefully I get pre-hired with no problem.still have a ways to go until i get my cdl (cant go to class for more than 1 hr a day due to my work hours) but time spend learning from drivers in this forum is time well spent.its actually better than class time because the drivers o this forum recommed useful reading material and youtube videos. In my cdl class, i feel the teaching method is not the most beneficial to the student .we sit and watch students who are about to take their cdl test practice on the simulator while the teacher asks questions which, while it is somewhat informative, there is never an actual lesson taught so much as me trying to learn from the student who may or may not be answering questions correctly or clearly. all the real learning is done when im home memorizing the suspension parts,steering parts,brake tests,ect from the packet I was given or from youtube videos... none the less,reading about others starting out makes me feel itchy to get out on the road already, I am loving these threads and cannot wait to start one of my own about my experience.it feels good to have a job to look foward to

 

that's awesome for you. I am currently stuck between Roehl, Maverick, and CRST I am just not sure which company would be the best for me to work for. I was going to go with knight but after calling the recruiter and leaving several messages I finally kicked them out of my options.

 

I wanted to go with Melton origionally or Maverick because they sound like they they pay well but they are flatbed and im not sure i can tarp a load so... my top choices are schneider and roehl for now because they seem to be solid choices for new drivers. maybe not the best pay but still good experience. I've heard Estes is a great company to work for but they require 1 year experience,in addition to Hazmat and doubles endorsements (i have exactly none of those things)...i highly recommend you look into Melton though, I'm still pretty disappointed that I probly cant work for them, their recruiter was very informative,took time to answer all my questions, I think they start you out at .40 cpm,they just seemed like a great company to start with.

 

Let me say this about recruiters Nightwind, DON'T BELIEVE A WORD THEY SAY... DON'T DO IT! Other than the phone number they give you to the company, don't believe anything. They get paid per how many "rope a dope's" they recruit. In a nut shell, the numbers they quote are a bit SCEWED. I don't mean to say the companies are bad, even though they all are,lol. I've read this forum for over a year, just recently joined. EVERY company is about the same when you're a newbie. But if you study each company, you'll find, maybe one that you feel won't be as bad. But that may be determined by something as small as, maybe logistics, where they are located from you. The bottom line is, we, as newbies, are bottom feeders in the eyes of the companies, just a number (according to what all I've read). The other issue We need to get the time in somewhere. I have friends that are as I write this, out with trainers, with two different companies. One with WERNER, another with KNIGHT. We're from the Chicago area. The one guy from KNIGHT has been out 6 weeks, all over the USA and he says he just LOVES them. But, I've heard (not thru my friend) that they get spiffs to help recruit drivers, hence, I think is why he almost begged me to apply. ?? And my other friend has been out a little over 6 weeks with WERNER and has had three trainers, sat in San Bernardino, CA for three of the 6 weeks, in a hotel waiting for new trainers. He finally got out with the new trainer and was heading to Co, last I spoke with him. He only has 80 hours towards his 175, I think its 175? He was REALLY wanting out of CALI. But I don't think thats the norm, but who knows? Bottom line is, go to work for who ever hires you on and get the time in.

 

Agreed.
I understand recruiters gonna recruit,its what they're there forI'm mostly browsing through driver opinions/training stories about potential employers and comparing.

I chose Roehl because they have good home time options. I will be national for the first 6 weeks then will change over to 7 days out 3 days back/7 out 4 back (rotating between 3 and 4 days back). The only problem i have so far with them is that my home terminal would be 1hr 40 min from where i live. im looking for a company with a closer terminal,but honestly 1 hr 40 min drive twice a week is still less wear and tear on my car than my drive now.
we live near chicago theres bound to be companies hiring drivers locally,i'm still looking and have time to decide which comanies to apply at and which to avoid.

 

When it comes to recruiters, I can see what you mean. I've been in the military, and their recruiters are notorious for telling you whatever you want to hear just to get you sworn in. With Roehl, my recruiter was a lady named Kim, and I have to say that she was a pretty straight shooter. I don't remember anything she told me that wasn't true. One thing that probably helped is that, like many of you, I did a lot of research on this site and knew what the answers were before I even asked Kim many of the questions. All in all though, she did a good job and I would recommend her, and Roehl in general, especially for new drivers. My two plus years here have been pretty good.

 

Zanglef, I agree for the most part. ROEHL is my choice of all the companies. (that I've looked into) I feel they are a bit on the elite side, or just above the rest. (my opinion) Probably due to their safety requirements. And the fact they have had the least complaints from employee's. However the recruiter that came to school, Mike, said one thing and the recruiter at ROEHL, Alice, offered another when I received my offer of employment. I had emailed Mike on it and he naturally came up with a different story. So be it, I still accepted the offer. I'm still trying to get in, but I'm still dicking around with my Sleep Apnea compliance report with my Doctor. I'm hoping it will be cleared up next Thursday, then I'll be off to Appleton for training.

 

Kim is awesome, she used to dispatch. I could throw stuff over my wall at her, not that I would do that.

 

What do you do at ROEHL?

 

I don't do anything at Roehl for the last 3 years, that's when I moved away.