Werner Overview

if you can make it thru training and get a good truck get on a dedicated or regional account. that way u can get to know you FM and they can get to know you. OTR u might never meet ur FM or dispatcher, they will just know you as an number.... i do the family dollar account and when i call the office i just say my name and they know who i am and what i can and cant do....

 

The same was on the dedicated Dollar General account. It really makes you feel at home in a trucking company

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Right on. I remember my first year year that I didn't meet my dispatcher face to face for the first six month.

When I got on a dedicated account, I got to meet my dispatcher almost daily, although I tried not to take up too much of their time. I could call them up and just tell them my first name, instead of truck number. Even at nights, since they only had 1 person in the office at night so you always got the same 1 of 2 people depending which was working that night.

When dispatch gets to know you this way, and you are dependable, then it gets much easier.

This goes probably for any company.

 

I just finished my training a week ago. (140 hrs because I had prior experience) Everything went great. I live in SE Iowa. I was assigned to be on a midwest regional account. When I got off the truck from being with the trainer they sent me to the Ohio terminal where they did the road test. I failed the 10 min road test. That 10 min road test trumped the real life experience I had gained from being on the road for 6 weeks away from my wife and kids. The woman who did my road test (who didn't have a CDL or drive ever for a living) told me the reason she failed me is because my shifting was too sloppy. Well, I'm not making excuses for myself cause I fully agreed, but I trained in a KW 660 with an easy ten speed and tested out in a junky International pro star with a 13. Honestly I don't know how the "test out" truck would have passed DOT. At that point they spoke with the folks at the Omaha Terminal and agreed that I needed to either go out with another trainer for 2 more weeks (40 hrs) or take some time to go home and see my family and then come back to Omaha to test out. I chose to go home. I was approved for my home time. The only down side is I could not take a bus. I had too much luggage with me, because when I got the job I was under the impression that I would be getting my own truck from the beginning because I had prior experience before coming to Werner. So therefore I spoke with my SDM and got approved to take a rental car home, in which i paid for out of pocket and would get reimbursed the amount of a bus ticket when I returned a receipt. I called the rental car company and could not get one for 2 more days. There just wasn't one available. So I called Omaha terminal and they said that they approved my hotel stay for two more day, but when I got home I had 7 days then had to be back to work. Fine. Sounds good to me. Next thing I know the police are at my hotel room door. The Ohio terminal called the law because they thought that I was hanging out at a hotel on their dime having a grand ol' time. Keep in mind my kids are 2 and 3 and my wife and I are still newly weds. The last place I wanted to be was in that dingy old hotel. I have my own home to go to. If I could have left that day I would have. At that point I call the Ohio terminal where I am chewed out because I should have already been on my way home. They approved me for one more day and then said that they were going to kick me out. I called the rental car company and begged for them to find me a car. I got a car the next morning around 10 AM. I came back to the hotel with the rental car and loaded up my things. At approximately 11:10 am the police were back at my hotel room door. I asked what the problem was this time and between Werner and the Hotel (which is contracted to Werner but other people stay there too) decided that they have had enough of me and that I needed to go. Fine. I didn't want to be there anyway. 12 hours later I was in my driveway nearly sobbing, I was so glad to be home and felt nothing but grief from a company that had taken such good care of me from the start. Thus far I still have a job with Werner. I have not complained. I'm more then willing to go back to work. But I don't know how much more of that I can handle. Hopefully I test out just fine in Omaha and they send me out in my own truck but its hard to say. Supposedly, when I get my own truck I will be Midwest Regional Chicago, KC, Indy. We will see. They may just tell me to stay home. Seems to me that they people who are above you but not quite on time are the people that run drivers off, which is why Werner has been known as a driver mill.

 

Wow that rough. The kenworths and prostars have completely different setups. I just switch fom a cascadia to a t660 and the driving shifting and handling is completely different. They should had taken thst into account of what truck u had trianed in compared to the trucm your testing out in

 

srmiller 0789 My advice to you is to enjoy your hometime relax and take a deep breath go to Omaha and retest out. Most of the people in the smaller terminals are ##########. Besides you don't want to get a truck in Springfield they only give out junk to new guys. As a driver who has been here a while and has been a trainer I'm surprised they fail anyone. You would have been better to have been a new student they rarely get tested by safety just the trainers road test and trainers are told to give the student multiple attempts at the test if they need it. As far as calling driver relations I don't think I would do that at this point it will only sound like sour grapes, instead I would write down everything including name and times and give the letter to safety after you get tested out and assigned a truck. Now for my nickles worth of advice to any driver at Werner STAY AS FAR AWAY FROM TERMINALS AS POSSIBLE if you need service have your fleet manager get your work approved on the road. When you send in a mac24 be prepared to wait 2-3 hrs for breakdown so if possible do all repairs on your break or before starting your 14 hr clock

 

I spoke to Driver Relations, Safety, and my SDM. They didn't seem to care. At this point it seemed like Werner was trying to protect their office people and boot me, the driver. So far I haven't heard back from them I'm supposed to leave and go back to Omaha tomorrow. I'm going to call before 5pm CST and let them know that my home time is complete and I'm ready to return and ask them where they want me and when. If they tell me to return to Omaha to retest out then I will but I don't think I can go back out on the road with another trainer for 2 more weeks. Maybe you would say I'm being a brat about it but I have a young family, we were "promised" support from a company that was "good" to their drivers, and I believe they are, so long as you, the driver never has any issues. If you have issues they will take care of you so long as it doesn't involve their office personnel. If you have more then one issue you are considered replaceable.

 

I agree completely. And I'm not saying this company is bad. I just think they need to keep in mind who truly makes them their money. But who am I to say. I'm just a driver. I've heard several times that Springfield is the worst terminal to go to if you want a good truck. As a matter of fact I've never been treated as poorly anywhere, as I was for the 7 days I was stuck there. Also when I first got the job I was under the impression that I didn't have to test out but I needed to go with a trainer to gain a little more experience, then when I returned from the road I would take some CBT's and get a truck and go to work.

 

Just got off the phone with Driver Relations, my SDM, and safety. They basically told me that it doesn't matter what happened in Springfield, OH, that I was to return tomorrow, get with a trainer and go back out for an extension of two weeks minimum. So now I have to go back and continue to be treated like a student. If I hadn't had prior experience to working for Werner I would fully understand.