Good or bad: Roehl
 

I am new to trucking looking for a company who will offer miles, a good training program and a good reputation for treating folks with respect (pay is important too and I know I'm asking a lot). I have applied to Roehl and have been talking to a recruiter. Has anyone had any experiences with Roehl? I'm looking for a regional run and they say they can offer me one right out of training (seems to good to be true).

Craig

Roehl
 

Do a search here and at other boards for Roehl, my observation they seem to be a pretty good starter company. There used to be a site called roehldriver.com, don't know if it's still up, check there too. BOL

The site is still up. They start at .30 per mile for rookies and I believe you wind up with .36 per mile after 1 year. I'm considering them as well.

check out Crete Carriers/Shaffer, I think you'll find the pay scale is higher, and the turnover is less

Unless you go to a PTDI certified school, Crete companies don't take new drivers.

Hey I worked for these guys. I thought they were pretty descent for a first company.

I could not work for them long term due to I see mileage issues periodically.

Talk to them thought if your looking for good first company. Roehldriver.com is a funky website you should check that out also

I am finishing up my 2nd year with Roehl. It hasn't been without some grief but overall I am still over all happy with them. I did not go through their school but through their orientation/training. Presently I have an outstanding DSR that really keeps an eye out for my milage. The one thing that I really like is the emphasis on safety. Also very rarely do I feel really rushed on loads. Equipment is good and well maintained. They are a good started company.

Soladad

Hey Soladad, where are you based out of ? Do you carry loads to the western PA ( primarily Pittsburgh ) region ? How busy is this freight lane for Roehl ?

I was out of Marshfield for basically 1.5 years. In June, I moved to Texas and now run out of the Garland yard (Dallas). When I lived up north I ran quite a bit of PA and east coast. Now I don't get that far since I don't go more than 7-9 days (at my request) and it is a bit hard to leave TX and be back in TX in a week. I find that at about 7 or 8 days I am ready to come home and decompress a bit. I tried 7/7 fleet but could not support self on it. I like having my own truck and so 7/4-7/3 with it's slip seating is not of interest to me so I run my own 7-9 with 2 days home. Most of Roehl's freight lanes seem to be east coast and a lot in PA, NJ, NY, etc. However, a few weeks ago I saw Connecticut. This week was from Texas to Ohio, then to Michigan to Illinois, and from Illinois to Virginia then back to Texas. Just 40 miles or so shy of 4000 miles for the 9 days which was nice comfortable running. :D

Soladad

I've heard good things about Roehl, finding the right company depends on your personal choices. Home time versus a bigger paycheck from staying out longer. New drivers always want the home time, until they find out that it aint no fun being home and being broke. Every weekend the other half reminds you of what aint paid, so you get more peace and quiet being gone instead of being home.

I am on Roehl's 7/3-4. After a couple months I have had 2-checks in the $700 range and the rest between $300 and $500.

I am bored to tears with them. Like all mid to large carriers they have more trucks and drivers than freight. I literally beg for loads. I am on time, have plenty of hours, don't whine, but let them know that miles are falling way short. It doesn't matter - you are just another driver. Perhaps, if you are out of Marshfield things will be better.

The bigger paycheck is a bit of an illusion. Sure you can stay out for a months at a time. You will make a few more sheckles. But how much do you want to give of your time for a decent paycheck? We all have a finite amount of time. It sux to watch it slip away waiting for a red light on a QualComm.

It's pretty easy to see why drivers are cranky and dispatchers would rather QualComm than speak on the phone.

Good luck.

Amen.

Roehl
 

Cpk16-sent you a PM.

Soladad

Rockyroad-sorry to hear that you are not getting miles on 7/4-3. Always had the impression that 7/4-3, 7/7 and trainers had the best miles and the rest of us got the the left overs.
I have found that my DSR is on the ball and is keeping an eye on my miles. I'm not just another driver on his board but I think he is a rare one as DSRs go. He really does care about his drivers.
Currently all carriers are feeling less loads than trucks. It is straight across the board for every carrier. There are good weeks and short weeks, some short weeks run together but it balances out. Thought about 7/4-3 but I run my own schedule on nationwide and seem to be doing well. I just roll with the loads, miles and weeks. The positives still out weigh the negatives

Soladad

yeah they had some senior drivers that would go tell on other roehl drivers they suck up to management they were called the marshfeild mafia. an oil change every 50k miles woo woo run west with them 65 in a 70- 75 mph zone. Bring home a 250 dollar check. and wow the fleet managers polite as can be they don't treat you like the scum on the bottom of their shoe. oh and whats that they don't pay for a truck wash i dunno about you but you wanna be proud of what you are driving even if crooks own the truck.

So when and how long did you drive for Roehl?
How many miles did you average a week?
Any touch freight?
How was your hometime?

WOW I live a few mile from R headquarters. I see them training persons everyday on my road. If your new to driving I would suggest R or DeBore transportation also in Central WI, as they to offer a good program. I don't know what you all think but driving is a hard ocupation, and not everyone is cut out to do what it takes.

Does DeBoer offer a training program or do they just take student drivers? I always thought they just took students.

Students at no charge, and limited employment obligation.

What I hear, the pecking order for loads is: (1) lease/owner operators; (2) Trainers; (3) 7/3-4 / 7/7.

Everyone seems to concur freight is slow. The first month with Roehl I had preplans well before I got to my consignees. This stopped during Labor Day weekend. Things seemed to have picked this week. I was only out 5-days and got about 2400 miles.

DSR's (at least on the Hometime Plus Fleet) are teams. One half of my team is great. The other half is what sounds like a young girl. I get the feeling she may be a bit overwhelmed.

All and all it isn't a bad gig. Roehl should be a bit more upfront about the seemingly endless stream of "catches" to their bonuses and benefits. A driver needs to make a multi-year committment to Roehl to realize any of the bonuses/benefits. Going in I understood the CPM were on the low side. But, the "catches" to bonuses, holiday pay, etc. aren't really explained until orientation.

In conclusion, here's a toast to some hard running up to the Holidays ;-)

I almost went with DeBoer but things changed fast when I started asking real pointed questions about Policy and contracts I would have to sign..

I have to admit I was all jazzed up about going to school Oct 22 back in Appleton WI but today I was trying to get all the unanswered questions answered. Jamie turned me over to another guy Gerald who is suppose to be the guy who does Orentation and I called him 1-800-333-1016 because I could not get my questions answered nor could I get them to send me copies of the contracts I would have to sign when I got back there.


This was the DeBoer part that was important to me.
More than the pay they were advertising.

This from Layover.com

Slip Seating: No
24x7 Dispatch: Yes
Rider Program: After 30 days
Pet Policy: 1 dog under 50 lbs
Paid Orientation: Yes
Orientation # of Days: 3
Free Training: Yes
Lease Purchase Available: Yes
Home Time: 10-14 days out for OTR positions
Unloading Required: Yes
If yes, specify:: 95% not touch freight
Take Truck Home: Yes

All The Above Sounds Good.

I wanna take my wife some times and my dog all the time.
And I told them that over a month ago when we started this process.
Today they told me I had to work with them for one year before I can do that.

Also it was to be a free training as Jamie said.

Gordon,

It is a 4 week class. We pay for the tuition, transportation to and lodging. You would only be responsible for your meals. We ask that you drive for us for 12 months as a condition of this. You would switch to a WI license and could transfer it to AZ if you would like. Following the school you would enter our training program which would consist of 4-5 weeks out with a trainer. You would receive $250/week for weeks 1 and 2, then $300/week for each additional week. Following that you could expect to gross around $800/week in your own truck to start and around $1000-$1100/week by the end of your first year.

Thanks!
Jamie


That all sounds good and I don't mind working for a good company a year, and more if they are really good. But I learned that today after I drive 1900 miles back to Appleton WI I would be signing some papers for paying back 3000 to 4000 or more and I was also told I had to have my CDL Permit before I came and that I would be requested to take another DOT test when I got there. Well I have to take a DOT here to get my CDL Permit.
Why do I have to do it twice.

Gerald was not easy to talk too. It was like being pressured into something and he didn't even have the training schedule that he could send me, He just touched over some things that they do in the 4 week class at the college. The college has a full 10 week class for 1000.00 bucks and DeBoer says their 4 week class is over 4 Grand.

So because of the NEW Pet Policy and tha fact that I could not get copies of the contracts I would have to sign after I drove 1900 miles I bailed out.

I emailed Jamie and told her why and got a email back

Good luck to you. I'm sure you'll do well.


So

Back to Square One again.

Did you ever stop and think why that is? Just like the majority of OTR carriers, Roehl can't keep enough drivers in their seats due to the low pay and crappy working conditions.

Do you see ABF and Roadway constantly running a set of training doubles around town?

The worse part is they advertise all these wonderful benefits and bonuses. However, when you get to orientation you get the details. At that point you realize you have to be with them YEARS to collect on the wonderful bonuses and profit sharing. Realizing the mistake, you hang on for a few months - just so you don't look like a total derelict job hopper.

I just wonder where I turn in these useless locks that I put a $200 (conveniently payroll deducted) deposit on.

The BUCK a WEEK payroll deduction for EZPASS/PREPASS is further evidence of Roehl's class.

The mantra is: ROEHLIAN - RAELIAN, ROEHLIAN - RAELIAN, ROEHLIAN - RAELIAN. The pronunciation is the same. The RAELIANs were an alien worshipping cult. They committed MASS SUICIDE in San Diego during Comet Hale-Bopp. There has to be connection, because working for this company is a self induced, agonizing financial death :wink:

Just wanted to update - the roehldriver.com website is no longer up.

Yeah I shut it down because I no longer drive for them. Plus it was getting spammed with porn constantly and all the drivers who absolutely loved roehl didn't appreciate my opinion on the company. They didn't like the fact that I would regularly point out to newbies that Crete starts drivers out with 1 year experience at .41cpm which is the top of roehl's payscale. I would take 7 years to get .41cpm at roehl! :lol:

Yeah, after a newbie's first year, it seem's like Crete should be at the top of the list of companies to switch to. I've read on the boards that Crete likes to keep their drivers out longer, but it sounds like their pay is hard to beat.

I called Crete. The recruiter stated that their home time is 1 day off for every 6 days out. Also I was told that in my area they keep the driver out for 4 weeks. At Roehl I can tell my DSR when I want to come home. The pay may be a little lower than some companies but as a team our truck makes .38 cents a mile and we consistanly average 5000 miles a week. So taking the good with the bad, Roehl isn't that bad. In the end it's what a driver will be satisfied with.

Roehl's various fleet with their days home is the only one I have found in trucking. However, be aware that even if you tell your DSR you want to be home on a particular day it sometimes depends on where you live and how/where freight is running. They have cut back on just how far they will DH a truck. I have said I wanted to be in on a particular day but have missed it by a day due to freight.

I wont bs you. You'll stay out 2-3 weeks at a time but guess what? Crete doesn't count the day you get home or the day you leave the house. Roehl does, let's say you get home at 6pm... well there goes 1 of your days off. :roll:

lol you better get along real good with your dsr/fm then... aka - kiss ass. Otherwise he/she wont give a rats azz whether or not you get home like all 3 of mine did. Hell I had one dsr at roehl in Gary, IN who would never answer his phone (he looked at the caller ID) until I wisedc up and used payphones... then he answered (what an azzhole he was)

5k per week is no biggie. and .38 cpm??? How much experience do you have?

That's what I thought too. I had all these people on these messageboards telling me how great roehl was (a couple of them even were PM'ing me their truck # to get referral $ :roll: ) but there was one guy telling me that roehl sucked and I didn't listen like I should have. But oh well it's your life, just giving my opinion.

:arrow: You know the saying "opinions are like azzholes"

lol you better get along real good with your dsr/fm then... aka - kiss ass. Otherwise he/she wont give a rats azz whether or not you get home like all 3 of mine did. Hell I had one dsr at roehl in Gary, IN who would never answer his phone (he looked at the caller ID) until I wisedc up and used payphones... then he answered (what an azzhole he was)



We have a good working relationship with our DSR. She may be a rarity but she doesn't blow smoke up anyone's butt. I haven't had any issues about home time. As far as Gary goes....I don't ever want to have a DSR from there. And their maintenance dept sucks big time. So far we haven't had reason to leave. I've added up the miles this last quarter and we ran a little less than 60,000 miles.

What a company rep tells you the average miles are and the actually miles you get once you sign on are usually two very different figures. I haven't heard anything from Crete recruiter that makes me want to change now.

Who's trying to recruit you? Just stating my opinion.... roehl sucks, it's right down there with cr england and werner.

:idea: Say what you want about Crete, doesn't bother me in the slightest.

I didn't mean you. I meant the Crete recruiter who I talked to when I called them. Sorry for the misunderstanding. You don't like Roehl for reasons of your own. I like them. To each their own.