Western Star Transportation - Carson, CA - Watch Your ###

Worst company to ever be granted DOT numbers. Drivers ride the best equipment on the road but have to wonder I they will get paid. Check out their safety rating.

 

The OPs deal with not getting a ride home after being flown out is the reason I advocate NEVER go to an orientation unless you can pay the return trip and to never ride anything except your own vehicle. This way you have a way home.

I also pretty much say if it's more than 4-6 hours away from the house why drive for them? Seeing home time is iffy at the most. The driving between the yard for a pathetic 34 hour restart can suck big time if these oh so wonderful companies expect you to be rolling at 34.25 hours! Nice home time while these BFIs are home every night and more than 34 on a weekend! They can KMA at the phone interview.

Another thing I can't understand is why he needed 3 bags of crap in a truck? Especially a man! Just one large suitcase and a carry on which is within every airline and bus allowance is all you need on any truck unless you are on a fashion statement trip and need to impress everyone at a truck stop with your good taste in clothing and just have to wear layers of clothing that you'll pay stupid money to get home! I guess times have really changed to the insane!

But when it comes to getting a job the rules are changing.
Do a good and thorough phone interview. The first words out of YOUR mouth is I'm going to ask YOU some questions first so I can be sure I want to work for you just to save us both time and money if you do not fall into my needs as an employer.

Those words will tell the unemployed used car salesperson turned recruiter for a trucking company one thing. You aren't going to fall for any poo poo!

There is a fantastic thread about the questions to ask a recruiter in TTR that you can print off and as you interview the company you can check off or write the answers on so you have it in black and white!

I would be sure to verify at least twice about getting you home if the orientation says that you will not work out! Make absolutely sure that when you have any criminal record they say it's ok. this also applies to all the tickets you have and then ask if your credit rating will effect the employment process!

Once all is OK and they ask how you wish to come to orientation ask them how they will get you there and when they say bus, air or gas, drive yourself to the orientation! Ask if they will pay you the bus fare to cover the gas if they say they only pay for a bus ticket. Hopefully you will have the cash or credit card that will get you there and back if they decide not to pay the cost of the bus ticket to you to cover the gas.

Having your own transportation at the yard is to your advantage incase the worst happens. At least if thing are going downhill with this company and you give your 2 week notice. Yes, just because it a trucking job does not mean the two week notice isn't used. It covers your arse when done correctly as the next employer you hire on with will know that even if you two are not a good match up you at least have the decency to give him a warning that the truck is going to be empty in 2 weeks. When you get back to the yard you can unload into your car or P/U and head either home or to the next job instead of sitting there throwing money at a taxi and a bus ticket with however many boxes of junk you have!

If you still rode the bus to orientation then get home for a "weekend" and unload the truck keeping just enough clothing for 5- 7 days and the basics needed to live on or what will fill the one big bag and then give the 2 week notice.

Don't become a victim when it comes to BFI and orientation! Follow the rules we have put together for you here in TTR! Screw those big trucking companies that WILL screw you if they want to!

 

Happy New Year Kelly, LEE, Warren, Jackie, and the rest of the crew!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

WTH, They did not tell me they where looking for a replacement.

Thanks for reminding me of the trainee from Lubbock TX who hopped on my truck with the clothes on his back and a suitcase big enough to store the other outfit he had. He would wear one outfit and wash the other when we stopped for a shower. At least that was his plan.

The old schoolers know what happened next.

 

3 days and no shower. I have 2 at the most shower policy...
Take the time guys and ladies. Wash your body...

 

I actually passed a guy yesterday who looked exactly like Homer Simpson but about twice as big from the waste down. It actually looked like the fat was doing the wave as he walked. He had a impervious forcefield of stench that even a super hero would not be able to defeat. The bad part is that there was nowhere to retreat to since I had product in hand waiting to pay and I had to endure a odor that was as painful as a toothache to take.

 

Yeah I guess I fall into "old school" driver category with a few more than you but I have to say all that crap to go to a new job that you had to get back home with where if you had left the bedding and IDK how many tools you think you need on a company truck cost more in added baggage charges that the cost of sheets, pillows and blankets! The tools that I used as a company driver did not weigh more than 5 pounds and fit with room to spare in a 6 pack cooler bag.

If the recruiter had told me to pack for a month yeah that ain't happening and I'll have to tell her/him that I do stop form time to time for a shower, food, and to wash clothes which usually takes on average 1.25 hours! If they think I'll go with a "trainer" then they better tell him that we WILL be stopping for personal maintenance which is showers and laundry. If that's to hard for them to figure out them they really don't want me working for them!


Here is MY list I put up a year or so ago http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...ivers/16652-packing-list-for-students-17.html
Go to page 17 post #168 and that's all I needed as bare minimum. The tool bag will fit but because I didn't feel at the time to add the tools in it I just didn't add it to this list. Also because this list is for rookies I didn't add my sheets or Afghan that was made for me just to fit on a bunk which both actually will fit in my 1 bag but rookies 95% of the time sleep on those top bunks with those split mattresses, that foam crap things or whatever they can come up with so I didn't add them to the list either.

If I needed to go to another job I would take the Afghan, sheets (fitted and made for trucks and I guess 15 years old) but I can buy a pillow that first day on the road and a piece of 60" wide 90" long flannel cost for both at Wallyland less than $10. Not a be cost but a heck of a lot cheaper than what the big dog charges or that silver bird!

My coffee maker and microwave can wait till I get home and anything else I need which if I can't get home before quitting, I can afford to throw away and buy new later. Now the coffee maker WILL be boxed and UPSed home if for some reason I get fired and put out on the road but because Black and Decker stopped making the best under counter mount coffee makers that one will get home any way it can!

I guess I work in a different world but to me having only the barest minumn amout of clothes needed in the truck does mean that I'm not taking a shower every day. Every other is just fine the same as wearing the same pair of clothes for 2 days with an in truck wipe down unless I had to get swearty then a shower will be done. The tidy whities and socks do get changed each day. I'm not that bad!

I guess I'll post later my tool bag contents but it's not a big tool box! A quick break down is this:
1-5/8" combo wrench
2- 9/16 combo wrenches
1-7/16 combo wrench
1-3/8" combo wrench
1-1/4" combo wrench
1 3/8" ratchet
1-clip of sizes from 1/4 to 5/8" sockets anything bigger you need a shop!
1 flat head screwdriver maybe 8"
1-phillips head screwdriver maybe 8"
1 combination screwdriver the one you can buy at the counter of any hardware store that has the 4 different tips on two pieces.
1 pair of pliers
1-pair of needle nose pliers
1-pair of wire cutters
1 set of foldable hex drivers kit
1- toque (crud the star drivers)
2- adjustable wrenches 1- 6", 1- 12"
1- test light
1-roll of electrical tape
1- roll of duct tape
1- pack of 6"-12" tie wraps
2 -9/16"x 1" or 1 1/2" bolts with 4 nuts (to use as locks on trailer)
1 -lock. The bolts work better than any pad lock!
1- mirror mount for the CB antenna
1-small box of assorted fuses
1- Leatherman tool
2-pair of work gloves, 1 for work the other for fueling only
1-18' CB coax rolled up tightly
1- box knife for unloading
1- #410 or 412 Buck knife and holster
2 -mag lights: 1-2 AA sized and a double or larger D size
1-crimping tool for splices
1- strap type filter wrench (there are times a company driver needs it)
a few pieces of #12 wire for CB power
1- small box of assorted wire ends and slices
That is the basic tool box for a company driver. Anything else then you really need to take that truck to the shop as it's got a few problems you will not be paid to fix!
You lease guys if you need more go home and fill up!

Believe it or not all those tools will fit into a 6 pack carry insulated cooler bag and can be stuffed into the 1 big nylon bag with everything else and that bag should still come in at or slightly below allowed free weight!


But that's all I really need to travel with, the list of clothes on that link and the tools IF I am told I would be a while getting by the house. That question IS one I ask when talking to that out of work used car salesman called a recruiter!

Oops forgot the CB antenna!
1- 1/2" x 30" (for 2 Antennas use a 1" dia. pipe) piece of PVC tubing with 1 cap glued on one end and the other end duct tapped closed for keeping my temporary CB antenna in so it doesn't get broken while in transit and until I get home and put my 4' American Antenna on!

Also remember you should have that credit card with enough money to get you and what you want to keep home from the farthest point on the North American continent to your front door. That's a MUST HAVE! DO NOT use it for junk, trash or toys! This 1 card is your emergency get home pass! It can also be used for bail if you do something the local LEOs do not like!

How do I get so far off track???