Roehl vs SNI vs Millis vs W/S vs Prime

Hey y'all, I guess I am down to these co's looking to train n drive. I have been snooping on this forum and others for almost 2 yrs and waiting for events in my life and the economy to make it an easier decision.

I had pretty much narrowed it down to Roehl and Schneider,
then SNI quit training,
Then I looked at Watkins & Shepard, but they are way out in Montana, that is a heckofa long way from here!
then the more I read about Millis, the more they looked like the front runner to me.

Then I started thinking about the longer training period that Prime offers and what an advantage that would be for someone who needed to learn, well, everything!

So as time goes by, my choice has changed and gone back n forth. I still consider Millis my first choice, but who knows, .......... I will keep on reading and asking stupid questions and talking to people and when the time is right, hopefully I can make the move and finally do what I have wanted to do for a long time. not because i have to, because i want to.

Thanks to all the posters and experienced drivers who share their knowledge with us newbs and wannabees. Y'all rock!

 

Hi Lynryd!! Well I can tell you that Bouth Prime,Roehl or Millis good places to start. You may also want to look at Stevens as well. There are some guys were i live that drive for Roehl and he likes it. I was an O\O at Prime for about 4.5 yr's and I love it there. But only you can make that decision.

Good luck!!

 

I trained at Roehl. It was great. Nice town. Small classes. Good people.

 

Roehl. As mentioned above, smaller classes, which means better one on one instruction. I also looked up Schneider vs Roehl for their safety ratings: http://www.safersys.org/CompanySnapshot.aspx It would seem Roehl has a better safety rating than Schneider.

 

I dont advise Prime's lease to anyone . I worked 6 years for them , the 1st 3 were great , the last 3 my income went down every year. i had found out that my dispatcher of six years had been lying and when we would asks for loads that we had done before that paid well and he told us they didnt do them anymore. One day at a dock I was talking to another Prime driver (3 weeks driving for them) his dispatcher sent all his load to his email and he printed them out and kept them in a notebook. he showed us the book and there were several of the loads that my dispatcher said prime didnt have anymore . I decided I was leaving at that point. But I still wasnt totally turned against prime till at another company's orientation I realized how much MORE $$$$ prime was charging me for the lease of their trucks apx 200.00 more than the this company, they didnt pay : tolls , scales , reefer fuel , plates , and driving team I also had to pay a over mileage charge every month, which were all things this other company paids for with there lease. So if you are looking at prime , I would advise considering only as a company driver , and never least from them .

 

I have yet to see a millis truck sitting for over 10 hrs. in a truck stop. thats what you should be looking at( in my opinion).

Prime and SNI you will be able to get your experience in one year and find something else. Probably alot of sitting with these bigger co's.

Roehl goes by mileage. 120,000 miles and your loan is paid in full. and during short freight periods that can equal 1.5- 2 years.

I think millis is 2 year employent and schooling is paid for( unless they have changed that).

I work for roehl. I started aug 08 and still have about 45,000 miles till my loan is paid off. which will be around march 2010. something to think about.

Don't get me wrong though. roehl is a decent co. i could have done alot worse.

Millis runs predominately beer loads, and as long as there are fat bas#$%s like me around, there will always be beer loads.lol

 

I heard Millis has some 2 yr commitment or $5500 bill....... but I dont know if thats true.

Roehl is alot cheaper than that and also offers flats.

Prime offers the longer training, which i think would be benefitial. but they stay out long, 3 or 4 wks.

SNI has/had regional Wal-Mart runs where i live.

W/S has or did have a pretty good rep. dont know much more than that...

So back to Millis, haha.

There is so much to take into account, gotta weigh the good with the bad and see what fits best for me. Its like a freekin game, ha.
I like the input, thoughts, and ideas tho....keep em comin......

 

Did you look at stevns or Wil-Trans? Millis is not bad as well.

 

yeah with millis you will run alot of heavy loads we run mainly beer and glass bottles but we also run alot of paper as well as unilever loads. usually the only time we will sit for a long time waiting for loads will be in january and february when everything slows down.

 

I am a student who recently got my ACDL, will graduate in 2 weeks with pre-hire's from Schneider, Werner, Roehl, and Dart. Can anybody advise me as to who is the best for a rookie driver.