Roehl Or Wil Trans

Does wil trans have driver facing cameras?

ChillR...

Don't Let Yourself Get Focused On All The Wrong Things

Brett, Maybe I did get lucky, maybe not. For me, I talked to almost 2 dozen recruiters during my last search. Some of them only once, others for weeks (Roehl & Wil-trans). I get your point about every company having good and bad employees, but it ignores the fact that some companies are very successful at staffing their offices with the right people, fostering the right environment, and holding people accountable to for their jobs.

If a recruiter fails to get back with me on questions I have, that impacts my opinion of the company. If another recruiter goes further than normal to get me answers to uncommon questions that also impacts my opinion of the company.

Wil-trans met my basic requirements for a company, as did several others. So from there I had to narrow it down to one. Roehl offered something better in column A, Wil-trans in column B. But at the end of the day, the recruiter at Wil-trans was the only one who was willing to get me every ounce of info I wanted and that made the company overall more attractive.

He was the only recruiter willing to put everything we talked about in an email back to me. Others would cherry pick what they could and could not email to me. That also impacted my opinions, that told me what recruiters were providing information they were confident in and were willing to stand behind. That also sheds light on the company. Why would a company not allow recruiters to put things you had talked about in writing?

Don't get me wrong ok not saying I went with Wil-trans because of my recruiters personality. But you can certainly guage a fair amount about a company based on the interaction with the recruiter.

Wil-Trans:

Darrel Wilson bought his first tractor in 1980 at age 20, but, being too young to meet OTR age requirements, he leased the truck out and hired a driver.

Through growth and acquisition, Wil-Trans now employs over 200 drivers, and has a long-standing partnership with Prime, Inc. to haul their refrigerated freight. The family of businesses also includes Jim Palmer Trucking and O & S Trucking.

Ok, believe what you like. It all sounds great in theory, but it holds no water whatsoever.

First of all, you're extrapolating the values, standards, and culture across an entire gigantic corporation based on how well one person answered your emails. I mean, be serious.

Would you judge an entire forest by the first tree you randomly came across? If one tree is doing great does that mean the land is fertile, the climate is perfect, there's no bug infestation, and the water levels are right across the entire forest?

Would you judge an entire crowd by the first person you randomly came across? If one fan is friendly does that mean the city promotes a culture of friendly fans, the tailgating parties are receptive, and the stadium is safe for little children?

What you're doing is grasping at straws. You're hoping to find that one great diamond in the rough company, which doesn't exist and never has, and you don't have nearly enough information to go on so you're taking the only tiny piece of information you can find and deciding it must be representative of the whole. It makes you feel comfortable that you're making the right decision, even though somewhere deep inside you know you're grasping at straws. At least I hope you do.

If you really understood how the trucking industry works and how drivers reach Top Tier Status you wouldn't care about the recruiter at all. If you really understood the importance of your dispatcher you would realize a recruiter means nothing. If you understood him important it is to know a few people in management that can pull some strings for you when you really need it, you wouldn't care about the recruiter. If you could convince the load planners to give you a few extra miles here and there, or if you knew how much more money you could make by convincing the dock workers to load or unload you early, or DOT officers to let you off with a warning, or mechanics to get you out of the shop a day sooner you wouldn't care about the recruiters.

This is what makes great salespeople great. They understand how easily people are fooled and how hard people will try to convince themselves that they understand a situation and they're making the right decision.

Smart car salespeople give you "cash back" so you think you're getting a deal. Of course you're not really getting any cash back, but you feel better. Politicians shake hands and kiss babies so you think they care about you. Of course they don't actually know you, but you feel better. And good recruiters go out of their way to give extra attention to the recruits they think they have the best chance at landing so you think they consider their fellow employees valuable, but of course they don't actually know you and have no idea if you'll even last a week, but it makes you feel better.

That's what great salespeople do. They make you feel better about your decisions. You decided an attentive recruiter must care about you and therefore they must work in a great corporation with high standards and a great culture. Of course you have no way of actually knowing that, but it makes you feel better.

That's just the reality of it.

In 15 years of driving I don't remember a single conversation I've ever had with a recruiter, except for the very first company. We were at a pizza party at the school and a recruiter from down the road came by and said, "You guys were the top 3 in your class. If you want a job, you've got it. Follow me down the road to the terminal and we'll get the physical and paperwork out of the way today and you'll be on the road with a trainer in no time."

So we said, "Ok, sounds good. We'll follow you." and we went to work for the company. I only remember it because it was my first job and it was graduation day. But I certainly didn't think the recruiter was representative of anything. I did however think the long row of shiny brand new trucks and a huge fleet scattered from coast to coast represented a successful company that I knew I could do well with once I had proven myself. Honestly their culture or policies or any of that never crossed my mind. I knew the company was successful and I knew what I was capable of and that's all I needed to know I guess.

Thanks to Old School for the podcast he posted. It put it all together for me.

Glad to find this thread! Oddly enough, I to have decided that my decision is between roehl and jim palmer/Wil trans. Thanks again!