Werner - Not What I'd Heard (Thank God.)

Before I get into it, let me just say that I know there's another post about Werner in this forum. However, I feel that post got off to a rather bad start...I'd rather start clean.

I've seen many people over the years put down Werner. Many (like an infamous driver who started a Werner SCREWS website that was recently shut down) have everything bad in the world to say about the company, but we never hear about why they hate the company. (In the case of the Werner SCREWS man, he was fired for rolling a truck and hasn't been able to get a job at another trucking company since. But, naturally, that's Werner's fault.)

Honestly, though, I just hit my third year straight with Werner. During that time, I've only had a few disputes over my mileage (which was solved with preparation and recording your trip odometer - you hear stories) in the very beginning. Three seems to be the magic number, because I've had three different dispatchers, three different load planners and have been on three different accounts. But what I haven't had very often are three-digit paychecks.

When I started, I went to Hastings Community College for Werner's CDL program. I'll say that THAT place was the worst part of my ongoing stint with Werner. The dorm the truck drivers were 'kept' in was on the opposite side of the campus from the driving range and, for some reason, my room had absolutely no heat. I don't know if you guys have ever been to Nebraska in the winter time....?

Anyway...I survived that. I'd heard some terrible stories about trainers with women and everyone kept telling me to ask for a female trainer, but me? I don't get along very well with women. I told my Student Driver Manager to set me up with a guy who's been with the company as a trainer for more than just a few months with a good record. Having done that, I left it up to them to do the rest.

My trainer showed up about 5 days after orientation, which some people may view as waay too much time to go without being paid. It was the best way to go, though.

Orientation is three days to me what three days of lectures on the mating habits of flies would be to someone else. It's mostly spent re-repeating instructions to people who can't understand that your name goes "below the line." After 3 days of that, I needed a good rest. My brain was fried.

I met my trainer, who was an ex-Marine and had been training with Werner for a number of years. He's been running flatbed for the better part of thirty years. He was casually well-dressed, presented himself as both polite and clean. His truck reflected my initial impression of him.

During my training period, we never had any sort of conflict. Which is a bit of a first for me - I usually have someone trying something at some point. He even understood my extreme nervousness when it comes to testing. (I get so nervous for tests that I am physically ill. The day of my CDL road test, I was throwing up for hours. I always do well on tests, but the anticipation kills me.) I was tested while I wasn't aware of it. Passed with flying colours, thanks to his expertise.

After I got off of his truck, I waited in the Lithia Springs terminal for about 4 days to get my own truck...But when I did, it was a brand-spankin' new '06 Classic XL...Black, without even a sticker on it yet. They set me up with my paperwork and I was off.

They started me out at 32¢ a mile since I was going to be on a dedicated run. Normally, at the time, I would have started out between 27-29¢ a mile if I were running 48 state. However, I believe the pay for 48 state drivers has dropped to 24-26¢/mile thanks to the current economic crisis. But the dedicated starting pay is about the same.

Three years later, I have a zero accident/no late loads record and my father (ex-NYPD, Magistrate, Air Force) even joined the company after me. What's great is that he recently got chosen for Werner's annual excursion to go hunting and shooting at CL Werner's hunting lodge in Omaha this past October. He and four other drivers got to have a weekend at Werner's expense and got paid $500 for the two days they weren't working. But that's just a small example of how well this company has treated my family, let alone just me.

Many drivers have a problem with the QualComm and say that since you can't colour your logbooks any way you want to, there's no way to make money. Remember what I wrote about rarely having a triple digit paycheck? I average about $1100, take-home.

Many people say that Werner tries to screw you out of the extra expenses that you accumulate: tolls because your EZ Pass/I-Pass/Sun Pass expired, lumper fees, scale tickets, etc. I've noticed that if you fill out your Trip Pak LEGIBLY, this is never an issue. It hasn't been for me, anyway.

More common complaints:

The QualComm automatically switches you to a different line while you're en-route.
This is true. It happens. When the QualComm gets out of range and you disappear off their screen for a bit, they will throw you on line 4. This isn't necessarily a bad thing and is easily repaired with a simple message next time you stop. If you let it go and don't take care of it, then you may have conflicting hours - which means you'd have to waste time on the phone. Five P's apply here, people!

You could die waiting on the phone for Logs/Load Planner/Dispatcher.
This can be true. If you have to make a call to logs, be prepared to set the phone down for a few minutes and wait. There are hundreds or drivers with hundreds of issues to take care of every day. If you have a large account or your dispatcher is bogged down with an account-related issue, you might be waiting a bit for your dispatcher to call you back. These things happen with just about every big company I can think of. Heck, this happens when I call my brother-in-law's house. I get put on hold less with Werner, though.

Werner doesn't get you home when/where you want to be.
Here's my way of preventing a grievous error in my hometime: I put in for hometime the VERY SECOND I get back on the truck. That way, before they even send me my firstload, they know where I want to be and when. They've always gotten me home within a day or two on either side of my request. I've never been late to a funeral, wedding or holiday dinner.
Now you've got to make allowances - if you're on a southeastern-based account and want to spend Christmas in California, you may have a problem. You'd want to let them know a month in advance, at least, and constantly remind them and keep in contact with your load planner to be on the safe side. It's out of your 'realm' and you can't expect them to be making last minute adjustments of 3,000 miles.

They're not flexible about hometime.
This depends on your dispatcher, really. I had an emergency with a family member in Ireland. I told my dispatcher about it, said it was fairly time-sensitive and gave him a list of dates that would coincide with a flight out there. He got me to an airport in less than 3 days and took me off the board for the following 5 days. When I came back home, got off the plane, my truck was waiting with a load (I had called ahead to let him know I'd be back.)
If you get a rotten dispatcher that is just out for his cut, then this might not apply. But all it takes is one call to corporate to have them on their knees. (I haven't had to do that, but I know one driver who did.)

Their directions will get you lost.
Only if you misread them. The bad thing about Werner's directions is that they save money by removing punctuation. So you'll often see this:
MAKE R # LGHT TURN L
Now it could mean, "Make a right, THEN at the light, turn left."
Or it could mean, "Make a right at the light, THEN turn left."
At that point, all you can do is guess until you get to the location OR you can cross-reference their directions with a computer program or GPS. Again, this is not so much a Werner issue as it is a Driver-willing-to-do-extra-work issue.

Werner will fire you if you make an unauthorized U-turn.
True. Why the hell would you be making a U-turn without some sort of police officer or traffic official to guide you and the traffic around you ANYWAY?


Aside from all that...Like I said. Three years. Never had a problem. Most of the issues I've had can be traced easily back to me. I'm the only one responsible for my actions (or lack thereof.) They take care of my truck, me, my finances and even my family. I'm very happy with them and I don't intend on switching companies at any point in the near future.

Especially since I promised them my first-born and the blood of a virgin.



(Just kidding.)