Question:
:D Any Roehl drivers willing to give me any info it will be greatly appreciated. Considering flats fror Roehl if they will hire be out of dallas texas. I want to know if any flabedders for roehl are still around if so what is your average monthly miles plus pay. I know they have thier pay scale on web but I want some actual numbers to see if they are close to recruiter numbers. If still employed by them do you still recommend them to a newbie. Can you have an inverter and fridge, microwave with them what is thier policies. If I wanted to take 2-3 weeks off 1 -2 times per year for unpaid vacation would that be possible or out of the question. Is thier a limit on on how many days off you can take consecutive unpaid or not. I know about thier school where do you stay during the school is it a hotel and if so can you tell me name and location. I am looking for long time employment a career is it possible to stay with this company 10 15 years or is it only a newbie company you normally leave after one year. I currently live in valdosta georgia but want to move back to my home state of texas where do you park your rig can you park at a drop lot such as garland texas drop lot? Can you wear comfortable clothes while driving such as sweats or shorts or is thier uniform rules like pants all the time or boots all the time etc... How much time each day is actually spent driving and how much do you actually work each day in hours curious how much time is wasted flatbedding on scales loading unloading waiting at shippers and recievers and checking load securement during transfers. How lone do you wait for a load after dropoffs is thier much drop and hook? Thanks for any info.

Answer:
First off I don't drive for Roel, but I can tell ya about flatbedding..
I am currently pull a step deck as a O/O leased to Mercer. I have pulled flat too. I prefer steps myself.. less tarping..
As for wasting time loading and unloading.. you can usualy average 1-2 hrs max on both ends... There will be times when you go to steel mills mostly that you will wait longer, but that is the exception not the rule.
You can wear just about anything you want while driving, but at the customers you should be presenting yourself in a professional image.. not bermuda shorts and flip flops.... Ya see what I mean.. At a steel mill lots of times they want long sleeves, work boots, hard hats and safety glasses...
Flatbeds are not everyones cup of tea, everyone has to find their likes and dislikes. Some drivers swear they will never ever tarp a load.... some swear they will never unload a meat or produce load.. Others all they want to do is drop and hook... all driving, no manual labor at all...
I rather like "skateboards". Very rarely will you have a delivery appointment, just a receiving window to get there. When you get there, you are unloaded and the receivers are usually happy to unload you and are genuinely happy to see ya. NO LUMPERS to deal with..
Less stress, more responcibility with flatbeds.. more equipment to maintain and carry around, not much drop and hook so the trailer you have is usually the one you'll be pulling on a regular basis. There can be challenges on irregular loads, and you might have to meet a crane or a helicopter.. in that case you had better not be late. You will have an appointment then.
All in all I like it only you can decide if it's right for you..
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I'm also looking into flat bedding for Roehl. I start my CDL program next month. I enjoy some physical labor & I don't mind being out side, even in crappy weather.
I'm in Pittsburgh & it looks like they have a drop yard in Akron, OH. That's only about an hour & a half from here.Pittsburgh, PA

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Look for some posts from UnkaD, he will be able to help you!
He may even pop in here!

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My husband still drives for Roehl, so I can help you a bit.

In the last 4 weeks, he's ran 10,555 miles and gross pay was $4291.90. Keep in mind, gross pay is before taxes and deductions. He's also running with 2 years experience. This year, he has run over 10,000 miles each month.

Yes he still recommends them. Roehl was his 2nd choice when he was starting out, and he's glad he went with them and not his 1st choice.

You can have an inverter, but the bigger ones have to be installed by one of the mechanics, and they do charge you for the install. Chris doesn't have an inverter, so I'm not positive on the what size you can do yourself and what size you have to have the company install.

I can't help you here.

Can't really help you here either.....During orientation in Marshfield, they stay at the Super 8 ( I think) and breakfast was provided by the hotel, lunch at the terminal, and then they got a meal voucher for supper that they could use at Perkins ( I think...could have been Eat N Park....it's a chain resturant of the kind).

That depends on you and the relationship you develop with the company....mainly with your FM. Chris has ben treated well by them...he's had no major problems, and the minor ones he's encounterd have been resolved by talking with his FM or going higher up if he's had too.

Chris parks at a grocery store a few blocks from home. They prefer that you park your truck at a drop yard, but if it's not feasible ( we live about 150 miles from the closest drop yard) you can take your truck home. It has to be parked in a secure area, with the property owners permission (if you park it away from home).

They don't have a set uniform policy, but as Gonzo stated alot of places that you go into will require you to wear pants and steel toe work boots, hard hat and safety glasses.

How much time you spend driving depends on your load. The majority of the time, Chris spends between 1-2 hours getting loaded or unloaded...again depends on the load, and how long it takes you to secure and tarp or unsecure and untarp. The longest Chris spent waiting to get loaded was a load of talc in Canada....they ran out of product so he was there overnight....the fastest he was loaded was 1/2 hour fromt he time we went through the gate to the time we were going back out...loaded, straped and scaled. You should check your load each time you stop...make sure nothing has worked loose, tarp isn't flapping, straps/chains are tight..things like that. It only takes a few minutes to walk up one side of the trailer and down the other.

Usually the next load comes across within 20 minutes of being unloaded. There are exceptions, and where you are depends on how fast you get a new load assignment. They seem to be trying to preplan the drivers more which is nice....you know where your next load is before you unload the the one you are on. They do have quite a bit of drop and hook...but again that depends on where you will be running. Chris runs the NE and WI....there are at least 4 I can think of off the top of my head that are drop and hook in WI.
Hope this helps...I'm sure a few others will chime in about their experiences there. Good luck!

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Is your husband a employee ( co driver ) or owner op leased? Just looking at thier website. Thanks in advance.
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He's a company driver.

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Thank you . I am assuming as a company driver , he pays his meals , showers etc but not fuel , raod taxes , ifta or insurance?
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road .. even !
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I knew what you meant.
He doesn't pay for fuel, road taxes, or ifta. The only insurance that he pays for is health and disability.
He does pay for his meals, but normally he only eats out once a week or so. I cook and freeze meals for him to take with him...he has a 12v cooler to keep them in and a Burton stove to reheat them. As far as showers go, he hardly ever pays for them. He has a truckstop card, and when he fuels he earns a shower. The tries to plan out his trip so that he can grab a shower at whichever truckstop he has a shower credit at.

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Thank you. I was looking at his miles vs my miles and what his pay was. Esp with fuel running at/between .50 - .53 cpm.Looking at my 3 month average. Based on 24608 mi , 46,359.19 revenue , fixed costs ( including tools / maintence ) at .85 per mile not including pay . Thought it might be more profitable to lease my truck & trailer ( flatbed ) , but ... I dont see it , based on the information avail regarding owner op on thier website. Will reserve the info for when/if we retire the truck ( to take camping and 4 wheeling ) and sell the trailer. Thanks for your information. God bless and truck safe.
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Thanks Cheryl some good info. Freight must be pretty heavy right now becuase I was expecting alot of Roehl driver responses but they must be too busy. I have noticed since katrina hit these BB boards are not as nearly busy as they were before most guys must be making some serious miles. Hopefully I will get some more responses later when things slow. Thanks again. I lke what I hear about Roehl so far.

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Thanks a lot Cheryl!!!
I'm right down the road in Pittsburgh!Pittsburgh, PA

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There aren't many current Roehl drivers that post here.....the only 2 that come to mind are UnkaD & Preston Pig, but I haven't seen them post in awhile. There are quite a few ex Roehl drivers that still post here, now and again. If you haven't done a search here for Roehl, I suggest you do so. There is quite a bit of info about them here.
http://roundtable.truck.net/search.php?mode=results
TenderFoot - Your welcome
Joe - Your welcome also Are you going to Transport Tech for school?

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I'm going to PIA. It's closer to home & I felt real comfortable there when i interviewed.
Pittsburgh, PA