Roehl Relaunch Program designed to get drivers who've left the industry back on the road

By Al Muskewitz

Have you been a trucker in a past life, moved into something else and got the bug to get back in the seat? Roehl Transport has a chance to get back on the road.

Roehl plans to add 300 truck driving jobs over the next six months specifically earmarked for CDL-A holders who stepped away from their commercial driving career for other non-driving employment.

The Roehl Relaunch Program is open to former truck drivers who may have left trucking for positions in construction, manufacturing, retail and other industries as well as current drivers in local trucking jobs who may not be getting the income they need.

“As the coronavirus pandemic continues, many people are out of work; the economic impact on those families can be tremendous,” said Tim Norlin, Roehl’s vice president of driver employment. “For all the former drivers seeking to relaunch their CDL careers, Roehl is prepared to help re-sharpen their driving skills while also recognizing their prior experience as a commercial vehicle driver."

Drivers who complete a customized Relaunch training program to “knock the rust off” skills that may have lain dormant a few years will be given credit for their prior experience rather than starting over at entry-level driver wages. An evaluation by a skilled instructor will determine the amount of training those returning drivers will need.

Program managers will consider anyone for these roles who has kept their CDL-A license in good standing. The company can help a driver whose credentials have lapsed get them back, but this program is not designed for that purpose. A driver who has been out of trucking for, say, 10 years and might need more extensive training would not be a good candidate. 

“The good thing for the industry is it’s getting folks that left our industry back into the industry,” Norlin said. “We’re not re-teaching, we’re re-honing the skills that they had. We’re just sharpening them back up and giving them the helping hand to get back into it.”

The program kicked off the last week in October, just in time for the start of the peak season for shipping, with about 20 percent of the orientation class returning drivers. About half of those were back on the road as Roehl drivers by the end of the week.

One was a million-mile driver who had been out of truck for eight years. Many of his other previous attempts to re-enter the game were met with instructions to go through CDL school and training classes, which he wasn’t keen on doing. The recruiter he spoke with at Roehl steered him into the Relaunch program and he was back on the road with the first graduating class.

“He was head over heels excited,” Norlin said. “He said, ‘Sign me up. I miss the road so bad, but I just wasn’t willing to go through everything all over again.’ He came in just sharp as a tack. He needed the rust knocked off and he was good to go.”

Roehl also is rewarding current drivers through a 2020 Peak Season Bonus, a program announced in early October. Company driving teammates will receive a 2020 Peak Season Bonus of two cents per mile for dispatched miles driven between Oct. 18, 2020 and Jan. 31, 2021.

The 2020 Peak Season Bonus for truck drivers also applies to new candidates seeking a truck driving job with Roehl, including those in the Roehl Relaunch Program.

“We’re in the busy season right now and we wanted to let our drivers know how much we appreciate them,” Norlin said. “We understand it’s tough being a truck driver in the current environment, but we so appreciate the work that they do and we wanted to show that.

“It’s crazy how busy trucking is right now … we’re just knocking it. No matter your experience level – from seasoned veteran to a former driver seeking to get back into trucking to someone looking to get your CDL – Roehl is a stable carrier that will support you.”

Roehl is one of North America’s safest, largest and most successful trucking companies, and more than half of its drivers are home every week.

In addition to the Roehl Relaunch Program and the Peak Season Bonus, the carrier introduced Address-to-Address Practical Mileage, which more accurately reflects the miles Roehl drivers have driven on each load. There’s also a driver referral promotion underway through November that will qualify drivers to win a Polaris 500 UTV.

Roehl offers local driving jobs, home weekly regional and dedicated trucking jobs and national, over-the-road jobs with flexible home time. It is a family-owned carrier that has shared profits with its employees – they call them “teammates” – 36 years straight.

Al Muskewitz is the Editor at Wright Media. He can be reached at musky@wrightmediacorp.com

For more information on how you can relaunch your career with Roehl, click here.