Rehires - Why Drivers Are Returning to Roehl
Over 2 million people work as truck drivers in the United States, and while not all of them have a Class A license, those that do can choose from plenty of trucking companies. With over 500,000 trucking companies, it’s natural for a driver to wonder if the grass is greener at a different trucking company. There’s also a belief that if you leave your current driving job, you’ll get all the positives from your old job and all sorts of new ones at the next job.
Driving teammates leave Roehl for many different reasons. Some think they will earn more pay, get more miles or get home more at a different company. And many think that the values that Roehl is built upon - Safety, Innovation, Doing the Right Thing - and our commitment to Driver Success - will be at their new company too.
All too often, this is simply not the case because, frankly, Roehl Transport is one of North America’s safest and most successful trucking companies. Roehl was started by a driver, and CEO Rick Roehl grew up in the business, still maintains his CDL and still hauls loads to stay close to what our driving teammates do for our customers.
In this article, we’ll look at why truck drivers return to Roehl.
Support
Roehl offers me the support I need, when I need it.
This is the most common thing drivers who return to Roehl say - they didn’t have the support they needed at the new company. Finding on-the-road support in many trucking companies can be difficult, leaving drivers feeling isolated in their role. On-the-road support helps drivers perform their best and feel their best about their work. At Roehl, fleet managers take their supporting role seriously, and it shows. Over 90% of Roehl drivers have reported satisfaction with their fleet manager, who tends to the driver's needs while they're doing their job. Additionally, Roehl provides 24-hour, 7-days-a-week phone and breakdown support, so Roehl drivers are never far from the resources they need, when they need them. That’s all part of Roehl’s commitment to Driver Success - meeting our driving teammates practical and personal needs.
Roehl makes my job easier.
Innovation is one of Roehl’s values, and that’s what drivers get through the My Roehl App ( Google/Apple), which is a customized smartphone app that provides load dispatch, two-way messaging, route information, updates, digital trip sheets for paperwork, compensation information and so much more. Roehl also has very new equipment, with the latest in driver comforts and safety technology. As any experienced driver knows, expertly maintained equipment means less downtime and more time moving and earning.
Roehl cares about my opinion.
Roehl regularly reminds all teammates to communicate what is working and what isn’t working, and that’s especially true for driving teammates. If there’s an issue, we want our driving teammates to share that with their leaders so we can create a plan for the driver’s success.
Additionally, Roehl regularly surveys driving and non-driving teammates, and the company has a Driver Advisory Group to help Roehl’s leadership understand the challenges that drivers face on the road. That feedback directly impacts programs and business decisions - again meant to help our driving teammates achieve Driver Success. For example, Roehl offers both a Pet Program and a Passenger Program that allow drivers to bring family members or pets along with them on the road.
Safety
I was asked to do something unsafe at my new company.
For drivers who started their careers at Roehl, going somewhere else can produce a safety culture shock. At Roehl, drivers have the final say on whether it is safe to drive, and they have the entire company supporting their decisions. That culture and adherence to safety as our cornerstone value along with the behaviors of our driving teammates is what makes Roehl one of the safest trucking companies.
Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for drivers with other companies to report being instructed to perform hazardous tasks while on the road. Some reported that they were asked to drive more than the allowed hours, while others were pushed to drive even when tired or sick. Some said they were asked to operate unsafe equipment, operate in unsafe work conditions and carry overweight loads.
The Roehl Way of Protective Driving is the trucking industry’s most advanced safe driving program, and Roehl’s results are unparalleled. Roehl’s been in the American Trucking Associations’ top 3 for safety results every year since 2003, and Roehl’s won the ATA President's Trophy an unprecedented four times. This award is given to the trucking company deemed the most outstanding on the basis of safety. Roehl was the first truckload carrier to win this award, and to date is the only truckload carrier to win this award more than one time.
Roehl operationalizes safety and rewards drivers for that safe driving as they drive. In 2021, Roehl paid more than $3.5 million in safety incentives to driving teammates, with more than 90% of Roehl drivers who were eligible for accident-free pay earning it. Safety and professionalism are one and the same at Roehl - something drivers who return to the company appreciate.
Pay
They told me I would make more, and it sounded good.
Many drivers leave Roehl for what appears to be more money. Whether it’s a guaranteed pay amount, a penny or two more per mile, or the promise of more miles, most drivers know that trucking companies talk a good game. Sadly, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. For example, getting promised guaranteed pay may not make any sense if the requirements to earn the pay are impossible to meet. And a couple of cents more per mile doesn’t equal more pay if you’re getting fewer miles (or your miles are calculated on HHG miles). Ultimately, it comes down to values. CEO Rick Roehl has said he wants to pay our driving teammates more, and he’s backed that up with Address-to-Address Practical Route miles (Roehl may be the only major trucking company doing this, and we were one of the first to go to practical route miles almost 20 years ago), our sliding mileage pay scales that better reward drivers for their time (much better than a flat CPM that most trucking companies offer) and those features are part of our commitment to Driver Success and how our leader has done just about every job at Roehl. (Learn more about the many ways truck drivers can get paid, and the pros and cons to some of those pay plans.)
Home Time
(The other company) made promises about getting me home, and then they broke those promises. That’s not how it is at Roehl.
Some drivers leave Roehl for local trucking jobs in areas where Roehl doesn’t offer them because those drivers want more time with their families and they typically give up quite a bit of pay to do so. While Roehl has long had some of the best home time options in the trucking industry, we’ve actually increased the number of home daily, home weekly and dedicated opportunities available. In fact, more than half of Roehl drivers are home at least weekly, and Roehl offers home weekly driving jobs in many, many areas. It’s also important to note that as Roehl has grown, and especially over the last three years, we’ve added new lanes and customers, which led to the addition of hundreds of home daily driving jobs to meet our teammates’ needs (again, our commitment to Driver Success in action!). And, rather than take a pay cut to be home more, Roehl’s pay plans are structured so those drivers earn regional pay. Drivers who’ve returned to Roehl recognize that we’re a large enough company that we can offer a range of home time options to our drivers, and that means flexible home time in our over-the-road fleets, to home weekly regional & dedicated to home daily in some areas to part time driving jobs with 26 weeks a year in our HOMEtime PLUS 7/7 Fleets.
Roehl Continues to Expand Driver Benefits
Roehl cares about our driving teammates’ health and well-being, and that is why we continue to expand our benefits. From traditional health, dental, vision, 401k and life insurances, to new more specialized programs including our Health & Wellness Coordinator, our ever-expanding list of benefits means as a Roehl driver, you’ll enjoy access to a robust lineup of employee benefit options. Whatever stage of life you’re in – it’s likely we have something that supports your and your family’s particular needs. And because Roehl covers the vast majority of the costs, Roehl benefits are also affordable.
Are You Thinking of Returning to Roehl?
Not everyone who leaves Roehl can return to the company. Probably the best thing you can do if you left Roehl is to continue to Drive the Roehl Way to Protect Others. By doing that, you’ll hold safety as a value in your new driving job, and that opens the door to returning. Coming back to Roehl means you’ll get many of the benefits you gave up - from Address-to-Address Practical Route Mileage, to sliding mileage pay plans, to excellent equipment to training and advancement opportunities, to the support you need, to the values you also hold dear, Roehl Transport is investing in our driving teammates successes.
Roehl Transport recently celebrated 60 years of Safety and Service, and we're living our values as one of North America's safest and most successful trucking companies. If you found the grass isn't greener at a different trucking company, come back to Roehl and be a leader on our great team!