Roehl Transport Great Lake Regional And National Flatbed Getting "Scraps"?

I see them both up in that area. There's a lot of steel loads in that part of the country.

Exactly. BTW, do you drive flatbed for Roehl?

I haul scrap all the time!!! Nearly ever other load is a scrap paper load. Recycling centers are always such a joy to navigate around.

Do you want to know what the difference I get paid whether I am hauling finished paper products, roll paper, sugar, Menards freight, or scrap is?

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!

I get my 39 cpm on ALL dispatched miles. Plus I get my 1 CPM (Safety) and 4.5 CPM (High Mileage) Quarterly Bonuses. So that is 44.5 CPM no matter what is in the box.

BTW, do you drive flatbed for Roehl?

No, I drive for Knight. I'm a dedicated flatbed driver for our customer, "SAPA." I strictly haul aluminum extrusions. This is a typical load for me...

When I was at Roehl, the flatbedders hauled everything. Same materials you'll see on the road with any other company. They also do some specialized, too: overlength and heavy haul, special dimensions.

Roehl Transport was founded as an all flatbed operation and got into reefer and van as they later expanded. I worked on there great lakes fleet for nearly a year and hauled any and everything you can imagine. As far as scraps what does it matter anyway you are paid by the mile not by the load. I enjoyed working there they have a very solid operation especially for someone new to the industry. If I were to ever be in the position to return to over the road I would go back there. My only complaint while I was there was my fleet manager was brand new to this industry like I was so anytime I had a problem it was always a headache because she only knew what the computer told her to say but by the time I left there she was much better.

It just occurred to me that maybe when the driver that "warned" me referred to Roehl getting the "scraps", he wasn't literally meaning scraps material, but referring to Roehl drivers aren't getting the miles because other flatbed companies are getting the contracts to haul instead? I will email him and see in what context he was referring.

Glenn reverts back:

It just occurred to me that maybe when the driver that "warned" me referred to Roehl getting the "scraps", he wasn't literally meaning scraps material, but referring to Roehl drivers aren't getting the miles because other flatbed companies are getting the contracts to haul instead? I will email him and see in what context he was referring.

Check the context of his claim; does he work for Roehl and if so, does he run flatbed and for how long. Without ping a bit of fact checking it's just noise.

Focus on the truthful replies you got here. Roehl has flatbed freight, otherwise they wouldn't be in the business.

It just occurred to me that maybe when the driver that "warned" me referred to Roehl getting the "scraps", he wasn't literally meaning scraps material, but referring to Roehl drivers aren't getting the miles because other flatbed companies are getting the contracts to haul instead?

Glenn, that is exactly what he meant. Still no truth to it. You are new to this, and one of the best things you can learn is to ignore about 105% of what you hear from other drivers. All truck drivers set their own course or destiny. Unfortunately few of them understand that very real and dynamic part of their career. They all blame their shortcomings or failures on their company. That makes no sense when other drivers at the same company are doing very well.

Listen to this Podcast.

What he may have been referring to is the fact they will haul stuff others turn down. They did that in all their fleets when I was there and probably still do. That doesn’t mean they are scraps, just means they will haul stuff from or too places other carriers prefer not to go too. And you can bet they price those loads to make it worth their while to do them. I ran alot of backroads too out of the way places with them. Your paid by the mile so it doesn’t matter where your going. I will admit running backroads eats your clock more than running the big roads and you sometimes have too plan alot better because finding parking is more of a challenge. But they always did their best to balance those types of loads so at the end of the week/month my check was still decent. You will sure become a better driver going to smaller places.