Hi!

I am currently 21 years old and am intrested in truck driving as a career. I live near Minneapolis, MN and would attend a private CDL school near were I live.

So far, of all the companies that hire at the age of 21 that I came across and applied for, I am thinking of either going to Roehl or H.O. Wolding. I got a prehire for both of them. (Also got a prehire for Werner, but after reading a few posts accross the web and here, not a good place to go!)

Both companies have pretty much the same benifits package, but Roehl has a higher pay scale. (Both pay practicle miles :P ) And with all the positive comments Roehl seems to get and a slightly shorter training period, I am leaning toward going to Roehl.

I would like to know all the information I can about these companies that is not already on paper. Like what it is like to drive for them, the kind of miles you get (from the drivers prospective and NOT a recruiters :shock: ), and any other info that "all truckers would know." I am new, so any additonal infomation about the industry would also be helpful. (Like things that you take for granted or mudane everyday tasks that experienced drivers usually dont talk about. Remember, all this is new for somebody entering into the industry! )

Thanks!

 

Hometime is not a problem for me. I wouldn't have a problem being out for weeks on end. I could use all the miles I can get.....

 

I drove national for Roehl for 6-months back in '04. They are a decent company to start out with (don't know much about HO Wolding). Determine what you want to drive (van, flatbed, curtainside) and what type of route you want (national, regional). Some guys find they actually get more miles by going regional than national. If you want to see the country, choose national.

If you choose national routing with Roehl, be prepared to go through Canada to get to the Eastern U.S. Some guys don't mind passing through Canada while others do. The money exchange rate doesn't favor U.S. drivers in Canada--things will be a bit more expensive there (food, etc.) and you will need to exchange your US money for Canadian (not all places except US currency) Although Roehl doesn't force drivers through Canada, they encourage newer drivers to do so.

Your dispatcher (Fleet Manager) will make your life tolerable or intolerable. After you are solo, you will have a training dispatcher for a few weeks. I had a great experience with my training dispatcher--he or she will hold your hand and guide you / make suggestions so that you won't freak out along the way.

Eventually you will be assigned a permanent fleet manager. Get to know that individual as best as you can (stop and say "hi" everytime you are at your home terminal). That will help build a trust relationship between you both. If you simply cannot get along with your fleet manager, you may request a transfer to a different manager. HOWEVER, you better have 1 or 2 (or 3) good reasons for requesting the change. Simply saying "I don't like him (or her)" will not cut it. My suggestion is that no matter who you wind up driving for is document any discrepancies between you and your dispatch. That way if discrepancies start piling up, you will not have to rely on your memory to remember what happened, what went wrong, who said what, etc....

Continue to do a search on this board for Roehl and H.O. Wolding in order to read up as much as you can.

Wishing you the best as you research and begin a career in OTR!

 

Roehl sucks!!! I drove there for 1 agonizing year. Almost lost my house, my marriage, my vehicles. Terrible company. I broke 3000 miles in a week once in a year.

They will make you live in the NE. You'll be lucky to get a load over 500 miles. They outright lied to me about hometime. The customers you deliver to sometimes aren't even setup for a 53' trailer. You never get to choose where you want to go. Their trucks are slower then JB Cunts, oh and don't let your truck roll downhill past 68mph, your quallcomm will squeal at you and forget about getting your bonus :roll: I hope you like having a mid-roof too. Because unless you're a trainer or team you aint getting a condo.

They had a guy running orientation in Marshfield named Troy, he was making fun of an overweight guy in class and hitting on the women who were married! I had a dispatcher based in Gary, IN that never answered his phone (he knew it was me calling).

These are the nazi-type scumbag people that run this piece o' sht company. You can do better.

 

Wow! This is the first time I actually heard a negative comment about Roehl. It seems that on forums everywhere else on the net Roehl is a good trucking company...

Prodigy, when did you work at Roehl?

All and any information is greatly appreciated...

 

Aug. 05 - Aug. 06

Things started out ok but went downhill real fast. If you want access to www.roehldriver.com PM me and I'll set u up.

 

Wish I could PM, but dont have enough posts. I did register, it is the same user name as this board (Sir_Thomas).

 

i drive for roehl and dont have a problem with them. i dont have to live in the n.e. either. they dont lie about hometime. i run midwest regional and get home every weekend unless i ask to stay out longer. the trucks are governed at 65 mph and the quallcom will go off at 67 mph telling you that you are excessive speeding. dont worry though you get 2% per month for excessive speeding. ive never came close to that the most ive ever had might have been 0.60%. ive only had 2 dispatchers in in 15 months one for 9months and one now. not counting your evo 3 dispatcher. miles are no problem for me either like i said i run midwest regional so i get between 2500 to 2800 miles per week. a buddy of mine runs national and gets between 3000 to 3300 miles per week. so it sounds like prodigy had a problem with his/her dispatcher. if you cant get along with your dispatcher(fleet manager) they will make it hard for you. get along and no problems. any more questions you can pm.

 

While I have driven for neither and only spoken to a few Roehl drivers, I do have to say that the general state of repair on the Roehl trucks beat H.O. Wolding hands down. Something you need to think about. ( Safety )


Just my $.02,



Ridge

 

You're activated on roehldriver.com

And yes xroofer roehl lies about hometime. They told me again and again that as a national driver I'd be out 11 days and home 3. That never happened not once in a year. The closest I got was 17 days out and 2 off :roll: and I always asked to be home after being out 6 days to give them 5 to work me towards home.

Crete is a far superior company. They pay better, they don't have a BS bonus structure that is difficult to get, the freight is better and the management is better. The only reason to work for Roehl is their 7/7 program.