truck driver

driver

local driver

recruiter

delivery truck driver - cdl

Roehl Transport

I wanted to put this out there about their get your cdl program because when I researched, I couldn't find hardly anything about it. 
Okay, when you go through the program, you will have to provide your own transportation to where they send you, they put you up in a decent hotel, they feed you a hot lunch 5 days a week, and your hotel feeds you breakfast every day. They pay you 616.00 a week while you are training. Be prepared to see less than $500 actually hit your bank account after taxes. There is a 2 week hold back on your pay.. You won't see that first paycheck till your 3rd week there.. I was prepared  to not get much pay for 3 weeks, had my bills paid in advance ect. 
What I was not prepared for was after I got my cdl, being out for a trainer for up to 45 days before I got home with that same student pay. You don't get cpm pay out with the trainer driving,, it's weekly student pay.I don't know anyone who can live on less than 500$ a week, pay their bills and be out on the road. (If you don't know, it's incredibly expensive to be out on the road and that's not buying extras. It's just food.) They will give you a 150$ advance while out on the road, but it's coming off your next checks pay. They will tell you it's approximately 19 days out with a trainer but it's not and here's why. 19 days is the minimum required time out, and if you need extra training, you are with them longer. Then you have to go to a terminal to do a 2nd test out on all the stuff you did to get your cdl in their school, plus close quarters training. Then when you accomplish all of that, then you get your truck and have to be sent to the location of where ever your truck is. (Your truck could be at a terminal half way across the U.S. from where you are.) Then, dispatch attempts to get you a load headed towards home. Then you get your home time. Be fully prepared to be out 45 days away from home with that trainer in phase 2, get tested out for your own truck, then time for dispatch to route you a load home. They won't tell you that upfront either. They will let you be fully invested in the cdl program on the 3rd week, then they'll hit you with that when you are about to graduate from the program. 
Okay, their trainers at the location I was at in Hammond,  IN were really good honestly. They all worked together to help you succeed. If one trainer's method didn't work, they tried another trainer's method to teach you. You will have to pass a pre pretrip test with them, will have to show them that you can successfully drive safely, and preform all 3 backing maneuvers (parallel, straight line, offset) before they will even schedule you for the real cdl test. Study that pretrip!!! They only give you a few chances to pass their  "pre pretrip" test. If you can't pass it, they will send you home. Ultimately you are going to get out of this what you put into it. !!!!!!!!!!!!This location does not have manual trucks, so you will have a restriction on your license!!!!!!!!!!! I got screwed when they sent me here because I even made the recruiter put in my contract that I had to be able to test in a manual truck because I didn't want the restriction on my license. They sent me to this location, didn't tell me upfront that they were all automatic trucks, then I was already legally on the hook for $7000 to them because I didn't officiallyfind out about all automatictrucks till day 1. I totally got screwed, and I was really mad. Now I have to go get the restriction taken off my license on my own because nobody wants to hire a cdl holder with that restriction.
When you arrive at the location of their program wherever it is that they send you, then you are officially 100% on the hook to them for $7000 or 120,000 miles driven for their program. Your miles driven do not start until you go solo. Those trainer miles don't mean anything. If you stay, go solo and drive 120,000 miles then the program won't cost you a penny. If you fail the program or quit for any reason before you drive the miles for them, you owe them $7000.Oh, and BTW if you do quit after you get your cdl with them, and haven't finished 120,000 miles and you still have a paycheck coming to you from them, they will absolutely take your check from you as a payment on their cdl program that you owe them, and they won't even tell you they are doing it. They'll tell you to your face that the payment plan will start the following month  after you quit to pay them back for the program, then they'll take your money right from you and not say a word. Lol You'll get a check stub that shows what they took as a repayment for their program.

I Ultimately chose to work for someone else because I couldn't live off of what they were paying me to be out with a trainer and the sheer length of time I had to be out without home time. They weren't upfront about any of that at all.
Had I known everything that I know now, I would have chosen a local school instead. Much cheaper somewhere else. But in all honesty, I had full intentions on staying with Roehl for a year, until I got in the program and was lied to about stuff.

BTW, their trucks have inside and outside cameras, APUs, collision mitigation, and they are really strict on safety. I didn't care for the inside cameras at all, and they do record audio.They say that the cameras won't record unless you have an incident then they go back 7 seconds to see what you were doing.. But an incident includes even just a hard brake.. They can tell if you run a stop sign, or change lanes without signaling. They have a fabulous safety program though, and if you can't be safe, you won't make it with them.
Also, they do route preplans when they dispatch you for a load. If you deviate from their plan at all, you have to call your fleet manager and explain why. The good ole' days of trucking and planning your own route is gone buddy..lol
Good luck to you all. I hope this helps someone.

I started driving trucks in the 1970's, when OTR meant "over the road", as distinct from "city driver".  I ran to the NE and got home every weekend.  Trucks were old, under-powered 238 HP GMC crackerbox, but they were well maintained.  No power steering, nor air ride seats, no air conditioning, and a narrow sleeper.  And most important, no on-board computer.  Climbed hills in 3d gear, went down them in 4th gear, and on some long grades stopped halfway down to let the brakes cool (no jake brakes).  But, the company gave you the load and left you alone.  You called in when you delivered, and got directions for a return load.  I later worked as a city driver (tractor trailer) for a number of big companies, including Roadway Express (now Yellow Roadway).

I went on to a non-trucking career, but after I retired, I thought I might go back to trucking.  I had to get a CDL, so I went to Roehl's driving school in Marshfield, WI.  Morning classroom training focusing on some relevant and some mostly irrelevant matters, with the rest of the day spent on their "driving range", learning to shift gears, back up, and other matters relating to passing the commercial driving test.  Little time on the street and even less on the highway.   Almost none of the time was spent on practical matters like map reading, using the on-board computer--which is the driver's way of staying in contact with dispatchers--and logging time.  And, these are important matters.  I passed the CDL, and went to work for Roehl.

The I was hired by Roehl Transport, and underwent about three weeks of OJT under two different trainers.  The quality of the trainers matters, and I was not impressed with the quality of my trainers.  One of them had a personality disorder, I am convinced.  Lots of yelling and attempts to intimidate, just generally a bully.  I tolerated it because that was the way it was.  But I learned next to nothing.

Then I was hired by Roehl.  I was assigned my own tractor, a relatively new Freighlliner.  Comes time for the first load, and I cannot get the on-board computer to work, and have to wait hours to get a technician to get it working (cutting into my allowable working hours from the get-go).  Then I find my trailer, hook up, fuel up, and head to Chicago to get a load.  Drive into Chicago, wait to be loaded. (By now, 7-8 hours have passed, all uncompensated).  Pull out of Chicago in a heavy snow storm, which within two hours had made the edges of the highway invisible, so I had to pull into a truckstop.  Took my 10 hour break, got up the next morning and headed for Iron Mountain, Mich terminal to refuel.  Fuel pump was pumping at less than 1 gal per minute, and there was nobody in the office and no maintenance facility on the premises.  Finally got fueled and headed for delivery in L'Anse, MIchigan.  Snow-covered secondary roads all the way.  Arrived at delivery point, had to unhook, re-hook to two trailers to move them away from the unloading door.  Waited 3 hours to unload.  By now, time to take the 10-hour break required by law.  Get up the next morning (by now it has been over 40 hours since I showed up to take the initial assignment of the tractor the day before yesterday. And so far, all the pay I am entitled to is mileage pay from starting point to L'Anse, representing 400-500 miles at $0.34 cents per mile.

Ran empty to Green Bay, Wisc to drop my empty trailer and pick up a loaded trailer.  Found the trailer, dropped and hooked, and set out for destination full day late, and feeling under pressure.  Passing around Milwaukee at about 7:00 PM, made a lane change (after checking my mirrors twice, and strictly according to what I was taught at Roehl Driving School) and found my tractor pushing a little Honda sideways down the road at 55 mph. Put on brakes (hard), releasing little Honda, which crossed both lanes and was hit by a car. Got stopped, ran back to car expecting to find a dead person, and instead found a guy talking on his cell phone.  Police came, blamed me for the accident, put the wrong location (a different interchange several miles away) on the police report, and gave me a ticket for "improper lane change".  I spent the rest of the night running around trying to find a center to do a blood test to rule out drugs and alcohol.  Finally got to bed at midnight.

Took truck back to origin terminal. Turned in my paperwork.  Went home, and after thinking it over, sent a letter of resignation.  A day later, I got a letter from Roehl terminating me.  I pleaded guilty to the charge of improper lane change.   My driving career was over, so it made no sense to contest the ticket.

This is not a complaint about Roehl for terminating me, and I do not feel unfairly treated on account of that.  Any well-run company is going to terminate a driver who has a major, chargeable accident. 

The purpose of this note is to illustrate the types of things that can make the job of an OTR diver difficult, dangerous, and poorly compensated.   It isn't just motoring along, "seeing the country".  It is hard work, and tiring.

Former driver, just giving my review..

Applying for jobs, I figured I'd give trucking a go. I see "top industry pay" and think, "that's pretty good. Ok!" Apply, get the call for the interview. I'm told I'll get this, and that, and the other thing during training (3 meals a day for the duration of training - a card or cash or something depending on where I train, transportation provided during training - a rental car I can use, transportation to and from the training terminal, a certain minimum of pay during training, etc). Most importantly, I ask about the training reimbursement. I'm told "Oh yeah, you just drive for us for about a year, and you'll have it earned off! Easy!" no mention of miles, no mention of the cost, nothing. I confirm, "So I drive for you guys for a year, and we're square?" "Yep!" Ok! I can do that.

I get to training, and no. None of the promises were kept. 

The hotel provided a muffin or eggs or something in the morning, and lunch WAS provided (I'll give them that), but dinner was not. That's two meals, and at this point I was really struggling for cash so...... hoarding muffins and oranges in my room for dinners. Ok, not a huge deal. 

Transportation was provided the first day, so we could know where to go, but when the trainer was told we were told we'd have it the whole time, he was very confused, because there would be other classes coming in next week and that simply wasn't an option. Luckily, some of the other guys brought their cars and offered us rides. Nothing for a personal vehicle anywhere, so I couldn't really get to a fast food place, or god-forbid a grocery store if I wanted to.

Most importantly, I get to training, they say "here's the contract the person explained to you on the phone for the training." I reconfirmed, "the one where we work for a year, and they we're square?" The trainer looked uncomfortable and said, "uh, is that what they told you? then sure." So I happily signed it.

The training was good, but the majority of it had nothing to do with Roehl. It was done through Fox Valley Technical College. We'd get ourselves there every day, drive around, then on Saturdays they'd have a classroom training with Roehl on "how to read a map" or "how to use the computer".

So I go out over the road, and within my first week I took off one of the doors of a trailer. I messed that up, that's on me, and I lost the "safety bonus" that's included in the 33 cents/mi they quoted as top-industry pay. Whatever, it brings me down to .32/mi, and it comes back after the next full, safe quarter.

So I'm trucking along, staying out 4 weeks at a time or so, so I can get some decent home time (4 days) and time with my family. Grumbling, but trying to keep my head down. I say "I need home on this day! It's for a funeral!" they say "ok" then miss it because "well, the way the freight is moving we can't get you home that day anymore, but perhaps the following day or so..." I missed 2 of my grandparents funerals because they couldn't plan ahead.

A local route opens up and I jump on it. It's ok. It's an increase in pay (.40/mi) and I'm home every night, but its a decrease in miles. The person I'm talking to in order to switch estimates i'll take home ~$850 a week, so I switched. Never once got that. I got $600 one time and it was downhill from there. We got to about the holiday season and instead of running to L'Anse or Gary, I'd run to Milkwaukee (from Appleton). I said, "uh, I'm not getting enough miles, I need more than this. Can I do this trip twice in a night?" no. "can I go somewhere else?" no. "can I collect detention?" no. "Why?" "well, this fedex account is really big for us, and I understand that it's difficult right now, but we really appreciate you working with us on this. We're working on a compensation deal, because we know that it's putting you guys in a pinch right now. It's a big deal to us, and we'll make sure you're adequately compensated." I had this conversation for about 6 weeks. All the while my paychecks went lower, and lower, and lower... I had to borrow money from my neighbors to pay for the fuel to get to work because I couldn't afford it any more. I was behind on rent, I could barely buy food for my kids, but still, "We really appreciate it. The compensation is coming! It's approved, we're just nailing down the exact amount!" I kept hanging on. 

I got a bonus of $25.

At this point my year was up, so I said, "nope, screw that I'm out." and ONLY AT THIS POINT did they say "you didn't satisfy the number of miles for your training. If you leave now, you will owe us the full amount due." I replied, "I was told I needed to work here a year, and I did. I can't afford to work here anymore." They responded, "well, that's not how it works. You owe the full amount for the training."

Stay away from this place. I got screwed big time, and years later am still in a bad way from it.

Ok so I gave Roehl transport a try.I have 2 years exp driving truck.I have a perfect lifetime driving record in both trucks and cars.After the whole song and dance of orientation I find out that the trucks are governed at 63 but the cruise is set at 61.Also they don't want inverters being used but if you want one you have to buy it from them at a cost of 350 dollars and it will have a cumulative timer on it of 2 hours.What does that mean you say? After it has ran for 2 hours(even if that's 1 min a day for months) it will shut down for 12 hours.Just wait now it gets better.They tell you all there trucks are fairly new which is true what they don't tell you is there maintenance on these trucks(75% internaitonals 25% freightliners) is nearly non existant.Oh they will check it into the shop and waste huge amounts of your time(days) but nothing is getting fixed unless it dosent run or something.On to the trailers ! Many are not dot legal and the ones that are I'd say 40% have no trailer brakes and the tandems are rotted soild.How soild you ask?I'm talking putting blocks under every trailer tire and using every trick you have learned at once and they still wont move rusted solid ! Did I mention half there loads are overweight and there 5th wheels are the non sliding type? So ya good luck with that.There routing and fuel stops are given to you and must run them exactly.The routing is the worst I've ever seen or even heard of in the trucking industry period.We are talking all day down backroads with no place to stop.How are the fuel stops then? Yup you guessed it off route most of the time ! Did I mention your pay is based off this giant mess?So ya good luck with that. Now on to cameras! They put one in my truck facing me one facing outside of the truck and a microphone inside my truck! They didn't tell me they were going to do this,ask my permission for this or anything ! So from day one I'm asking them to remove these cameras.Whats safetys response? They made up an incident that I hit something in an effort to keep me on camera which was quickly disproven.Now my fleet manager was honestly pretty awesome best I've ever seen.Took him a couple weeks after that but he got me switched into a new a truck without a camera.What is safetys response ? To call me up and first tell me I'm going back to a truck with all the cameras( and microphones!) and that I will not be even moving the truck I'm in till I agree.Of course I will not.Why would I ?So I'm told I don't care repeatedly and I'm very dangerous! So while I'm trying to ask this wonderful person were I can turn my truck in properly she busts into a very unprofessional 15min screaming session! After which I turned my loaded truck around took there loaded trailer back and turned there truck into the nearest yard ! Since then not a single person from upper management has called me to try and resovle the situation or even talk to me! This was my short exp with Roehl transport.Yours may be better or worse but I can only tell you of my exp .My advice though is stay as far away as you can!

My experience with Roehl Transport was extremely poor first which was my biggest regret is i signed that contract to anyone else DONT, next they sent me out to Gary, In for orientation which lasted about 3 days then they threw me in a flatbed training class that throws a bunch of material at you and then text you on it the next day they give you two attempts at which point should you fail both attempts they try to push you to dry van or refrigerated. After i was done with the flat bed training course they sent me home for a day or two and after that out with my trainer this is where everything starts to go down hill. my first trainer seemed alright attitude wise but he didnt know a thing about teaching i was out with him for a week until one day i made one mistake, i didnt reck the truck or hit anything i was simply having trouble making turns and he got mad at me about it and called my fleet manager and had me removed from his truck, my next trainer was a better teacher but on the other hand was arrogant and stuck up, i was out with him for about a week as well when one day i almost missed my exit so i got off onto the shoulder and into the exit lane while looking of course and he claimed i almost hit a imaginary car that i didnt see what it all came down to is nobody was willing to work with me on the problems i was having my trainers seemed to be just gunghoe to get me out of their trucks, so he called my fleet manager and i was put out of his truck at the Phoenix terminal im from chicago btw and sent to talk to some random fleet manager i’d never seen before. So i went and talked to him and he told me that they where sending me home on a decision making leave so “i could figure out whether i wanted to continue with roehl transport or not” remember that part he also said they would call me to see what I decided. They then sent me home on a bogish bus ticket with a million stops in between that they took out of my last paycheck. I finally arrived home and three days later i got a call saying i was terminated from the company for quote “not finishing their driver training program hmmm i thought was my decision didnt you? No it was their last decision which was to cut me loose and try to milk me dry for the training fee they explained in the contract. Over all i was treated very poorly at this company and its changed my views on trucking as a whole now days i just want to work and buy my own truck along with my ifta, insurance and own authority so i can work for myself and cut out the middle man but I digress. Looking past the horrible treatment and everything else understand this,  should never have to pay for a tucking company to train you to driver their trucks and eventually make them money it defeats the purpose for working for them in the first place if your paying them also you want to be able to leave when you want not be bound by a contract find another company that wont make you sign anything theres plenty out there.

Let’s see here I got my cdl threw Roehl around May of 2018 and went solo around July of 2018 and I have been here every since. I don’t really have any complaints at the moment so far so good. The money is decent I do expect a little more within my year mark been here almost 8 months now. But other than that great mangement and co workers everyone is always willing to lend a helping hand and that goes a long way with me. I mean I see a lot of reviews on here of people complaining about pay and home time well with any company it’s one or the other kinda hard to have both. But me I’m here for the money so it works out great I stay out 3-5 weeks at a time. And I love it trucks run 65 mph and have inverters in the newer models I mean I was lucky enough to get a 2019 international lt  which I was not expecting to get and I think that says a lot about the company give a guy with zero experience a $100k truck and turn them lose me personally if it were my company I wouldn’t but hey I’m very thankful to have a reliable rig. So that itself is two thumbs up for me. My FM and I get along well and she keeps me rolling which keeps the checks rolling in. Also I’m not a needy person so I rarely hear from her so time to time she will call just to see how things are going just Bc she has not heard from me. Yes they do have cameras in the trucks but I don’t mind it I could have my rear facing camera deactivated but I don’t do to the fact if something happens everyone can see what I was do which is always the right thing when I’m behind that wheel so I look at it as a cover your butt as the driver and cover the company’s butt if something goes down. Once I end my shift I pull the curtains and have my own privacy so camera is not a big deal if your doing things the Roehl Way. The only time it activates is for following distance and hard brakes and things like that but if you don’t do those things no big deal. Home time when I say I’m ready to go home they get me there never late always the date I requested or a day or two earlier so another thumbs up. Far as running goes I mean come on that’s what we are is drivers so if the wheels ain’t turning then you nor the company is making money so once agin they keep me rolling so another thumbs up. Never had any issues claiming my layover or detention pay always receive it on my checks long as you follow the steps they will make sure it paid to you make sure you are on time and start claiming after two hours if you haven’t been loaded or unloaded. Ok may sound like a fairy tell but all this is based on opinions  and experiences so to sum this all up if you do what is expected of you and bust your butt you will reap the benefits simple as that. Im proud to be a part of Team Roehl and call it my second home. But don’t base your decisions off others see for yourself just like any other company some may love some will hate you just can’t satisfy all.

My last review wasnt allowed because we live in a very censored country.

Everything seems great at first the promise of making $1200 a week sounds great with benefits etc. 

In reality you're going to make on average $580 a week (7 days/ 70 hours)roughly thats your gross now you can net more ($600/week net) than your gross everything is complicted as a distraction. 

Now many people say if you stay out longer you'll make more lets say you stay out for 1000 years straight you might make $605 a week then ultimately if you're out 11 days straight well you can see how much youll make on average within that 7 days so I really dont know why people say, "well if you stay out longer you'll make more money" your average weekly pay isnt going to change that much the idea is to work less and make more not work more make about the same.

Theres tons of stuff to do you most likely will never get detention/layover pay maybe $10 for every $500 owed so i dont even bother with it anymore.

You'll get micro managed to the point your DM will call you and ask why you were in sleeper birth for 11 hours instead of 10 hours. They'll blame you for everything for example did you pick up a damaged trailer well you're responsible for it! You have to go where they tell you to go even if you do that to a t they'll still complain especially about tolls.

Just keep in mind you make about $85 dollars a day no matter how hard you run. Be weary about the little bit of pay you get sometime they skip ENTIRE load assignments and dont pay you for it. Hometime is diffucult they try to cut it short always you get 3 days off they schedule your next load assignment at 2.5 days. 

The average load assignment youll get is anywhere from 200 to 300 miles on average its rare to get anything above 300 miles the more miles tye more rare it is. At on point in time i had maybe 7 assignments in one week as a NATIONAL driver.

The routes you're given will take you to some of the most stressful situations you can imagine like non truck routes in densely populated areas which is a nightmare. While your DM sits in a comfy chair thousands of miles away calls you to complain about you going off route. Then whatever you tell them they seem to think you should pull over first and request permission which is laughably absurd but they expect you to call and "request permisson", what a joke.

If you drive the truck two blocks away while off duty youre not allowed to do that and safety wants to know why fid you do this or that?

Theyre overly invasive AND theres a camera monitoring you 24/7

Its good if you're absolutely desperate. Hometime is hard to get and the pay is terrible forget about making $1200 a week realistically youll get $600 a week.

For a starter company to get your foot in the door of the driving business, it's hard to do better than Roehl. Their "Get Your CDL" training program is absolutely fantastic and I loved how the training really is free -- you have to put in 120,000 miles to "pay it off" but during this period you are a full fledged driver earning full mileage rate with no payroll deductions or penalties. I hit the 120,000 mark after about 14 months on the road. 

Roehl's cornerstone value is safety and we are driven to protect others. That means you will never be pressured to put yourself in an unsafe situation and if you make a decision in the interest of safety (such as staying off the road in bad weather) management will always have your back. Compare this to A Certain Megacarrier With Blue and White Trucks who sent a message to their drivers last winter pressing them to use tire chains to drive into winter storms and make their deadlines! Yikes! 

The trucks are limited to 65 mph. We use Freightliner trucks with Detroit Diesel engines and International trucks with Cummins engines, all derated to be slower than a slug going uphill. They are mostly automatic but we have a lot of 10 speed manuals still. New hires are required to train on the 10 speed manual but Roehl will consider applicants who already hold a CDL-A with an automatic restriction. 

The company culture is outstanding - there must be some part of the hiring process that filters out ****heads because pretty much everyone here is friendly and down to help out other drivers. We take care of each other on the road and very much have a team mentality.

The only major complaint I have about Roehl is the pay. It's not terrible but if you're looking to make serious money then it would be wise to put in your 120,000 miles here and then start looking for bigger opportunities. The mileage pay is on par with the industry average but for flatbedders the tarp/untarp pay is hilariously low - not worth your time at all, and in fact so cheap that customers won't hesitate to waste your time and effort tarping freight that doesn't need to stay dry. If you know, you know. If you've never worked with a 24×27' vinyl tarp 13 feet above the ground then you won't understand that it's the worst part of the job by far and the pay for it is downright disrespectful. 

Overall, my complaints about this company are minimal and if I had a chance to go back and do it all again I would do the exact same thing. The training I got from Roehl will serve me well for the rest of my career. I hope it will do the same for others. 

If you're looking for a great CDL program this is one of the best, however, I can see why so many leave after.  The Safe 7 and other training to get your CDL through them is great probably the best, but OTR training is rushed and if you get a bad trainer can make it worse. Then after OTR training it can be hit or miss.

I personally asked 3 times to be given another trainer as over the course of 2 weeks I had backed the truck/trailer a total of 3 times. It took 3 calls and 2 weeks till they could get me with a different trainer. I understand trainers are limited in number but they seem to be in such desperate need for trainers that pretty much anyone can become a trainer after only 6 months driving. Lots of those people like my first trainer really only do it for the extra money from the extra miles since there's two drivers, and the flat money Roehl pays them everyday they have a student.

After you get your own truck which could take several weeks and you're able to start earning some money you'll find it can be hard to advance in the "performance" based pay structure. It's all based on a point system and is just as much reliant on the planners as it is the driver because if they set an appointment for a load you end up having to sit on it because they can't take you any earlier and you weren't able to run out your clock because of that it will negatively impact your score and chance to increase your pay. Regardless if you are on time for pickup/delivery or not it will take points away. They also seem and this is just from listening to other Roehl drivers find ways to give service exceptions which also prevent you from raising your cpm. You essentially have to be perfect which at least new drivers will have a hard time doing.

Home time is 50/50 on if they get you home on time. You'd think the longer you stay out the more home time you'd get overall, however, as an OTR driver you actually get more time staying out the least amount of time. 

The only time you'll hear from your fleet manager or anyone else at Roehl is if they have bad news or something they need. They aren't one to tell you if you're doing a good job or give you good news. If you're someone who wants to hear how they are doing so you can improve don't expect it.

Last but not least is how they speak and treat their drivers. They will speak to you as you are an idiot and a moron.

The dispatch (they call them feet managers) and mechanics are generally very nice and cooperative.  That is the only good part though.  I drove flatbed because I wanted the exercise.  Stay away from flatbed!  Long 14 hour days.  Lots of on-duty not driving (i.e. not getting paid) time.   Their mandated truck routes follow slow and congested roads and state highways instead of interstate highways in order to avoid paying tolls. Saves the company money but less money in your pocket because you can only average 45MPH some days.  Trucks are regulated at 61MPH to save on fuel and is frustrating when the speed limit is 70.  Other trucking companies are passing all the time and getting mad at you for driving so slow.  Also driving 61MPH minimizes how much you can make per hour.  Hard to find a place to park the truck to sleep when not travelling interstate highway.  My trainer was terrible at providing information and mostly only interested in the money he made with the miles that I drove for him.  I did not realize how little I learned until going solo.  My first solo trip was in Canada and New England States which is way different then driving in the middle of the US where during my training period truck parking is plentiful and trip planning is easy.  I received no border crossing training using border manifests and no training on driving in a foreign country.  They appear to favor the local drivers with new trucks and give the OTR drivers the older broken down trucks.  My truck always breaking down every couple of weeks.  So OTR trucks break down a lot and you are far away from a terminal so they want you to do repairs for them FOR FREE!   I drove flatbed for 6 months.  Every tarp seemed to have holes in them and so difficult to keep the load dry.  And you get blamed if the load gets wet.   I say to them get new frigging tarps or repair the old ones.  And they are always getting your equipment inventory wrong.  For example saying you have more tarps than you signed out and then stating you are responsible to pay for any missing equipment.  Then you have to convince them of there error.  Keep all your equipment sign out sheets for proof!!  Just a terrible experience.. I quit after 6 months.  I would not go back.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Truck driver 198 salaries reported	$1,400 per week
Driver 1 salary reported	$58,200 per year
Local driver 1 salary reported	$26.50 per hour
Recruiter 1 salary reported	$42,000 per year
Delivery truck driver - cdl 6 salaries reported	$1,200 per week

Working at Roehl Transport: Company Overview and Reviews

Roehl Transport

Roehl Transport Ratings

Popular jobs at Roehl Transport

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected