!!!!red alert!!!! The truth about western express

Let me start by saying I have 30 years experience as a professional driver, 20 in flatbedding. I was gainfully employed, work was slowing down and my company was about to fold. So, I contacted Western after seeing an ad boasting a $7500.00 sign on bonus for flatbedders. My recruiter was Todd W. Real upbeat youngster who had the company sales pitch down to an art. After visiting their website and talking "man to man" to Todd, I was VERY CLEAR, on NO ######## and being a straight shooter, I agreed to sign on.
Todd said he would arrange a bus ticket from Providence to Nashville, to which I said I would rather fly. He said that's fine we will only reimburse you for the price of a bus ticket. I agreed. REMEMBER THIS POINT...
The deception with this company begins with their website. They claim that their terminals are driver friendly with showers, laundry facilities, and free wifi. I have been to their terminals in Nashville, Emporia, Nazereth, and Fontana. There are none of these amenities anywhere. Lucky to find a TV in Nazereth.
I reported to the dump Magnuson hotel which is the breeding ground for all Western drivers and wannabees. The employees there hate you. There have been numerous alcohol related incidents there And frankly, a lot of drivers are rude and filthy looking with bad attitudes
Day one of orientation all the figureheads come in and rush through their spiels on efficiency, efficiency, and cost effectiveness, so they can hurry up and get back to screwing the drivers already on payroll. After class I went to meet with Todd W, face to face. At this point I was informed that the sign on bonus was $1000.00 paid in 2 90-day increments and that I must have been reading an old ad. CLASSIC BAIT AND SWITCH technique. Now I am stuck and I am pissed. And he knows it. He said, "don't worry you will make that money back 10 fold after you get in a truck. You will be making $1100 or more take home a week and get home every other weekend." I gave him my airfare receipt and asked how much he was gonna reimburse me? He quickly got on the computer and said $260.00.
Now the point I said to remember... After listening to blowhards preach cost effectiveness for 8 hours I surmised this place is a joke. Because I paid $88.00 for a one way ticket to hell that they are now going to reimburse me $260.00 for and they did. Therefore netting a profit of $172.00 before I even turned a key... Cost effective???? Think not
There is a CLEAR division between the van department and the flatbed department among ALL the instructors you will encounter. Van drivers are perceived as lazy under achievers. Van drivers have 2 days of class orientation then get their assignments. Flatbedders have 3 more days of load securement training. If you are assigned to a trainer you will be doing the same work as the trainer for $120.00 a week for 1 month or when the trainer clears you. Mandatory month though. The trainer will get paid for the miles YOU drive.
Quick fact on "lunch" . You will get a cold pulled pork sandwich, cold hot dog in a shriveled bun or cold pizza and a kid sized bag of chips. You will have to buy your own drink or drink water out of a Gott cooler in a cone paper cup. Make sure you are 1st in line cuz people will be putting sandwiches in their pockets for later. Other tricks are to steal hardboiled eggs from the hotel breakfast which is pretty decent.
The 2nd to last day you will be assigned your "driver manager". After asking questions to pay rolled drivers I saw milling around, I learned a good DM is hard to come by. With that in mind I went for another face to face with my recruiter who assured me I would get the best in the business.
I was assigned to a 26 year old kid who's only transportation skill was looking at MAPQUEST/GOOGLEMAPS. He seemed like a nice guy looking for a shot in the biz so why not give him
a shot.
Well, I have been here 3 months and have not got over 2100 miles a week. Most weeks 1200-1800 at .34 cents a mile. Cleared $700.00 take home once. FAR CRY from Todd's claim of at least $1100.0
They will pay you $15.00 to tarp a load which includes untarping. Unless you pick up
a dropped trailer at some sheetrock joint where the shipper simply drapes the tarp and throws 4 bungees on it. Then you will only get $7.50 cuz these clowns say the shipper already tarped it. I say if you can make it down the road with no straps and 4 bungees then go for it. I addressed this with my DM and did get properly compensated. If you call $15.00 proper. Going rate is $50.00.
The best part of my experience with Western was dealing with the customers. 99% good people who to a
person, have NOTHING GOOD TO SAY ABOUT WESTERN. Western will constantly send you to make pick ups knowing you don't have the proper gear to do so. They will say, "I will put money on your card so you can buy some." Then you have to drive around Philly in an 80 foot vehicle looking for ATM. Then drive around looking for a HomeDepot or something like that to buy what you need. All the while burning your driving hours and your 14 hour clock. WHICH THEY DON'T PAY YOU FOR.
How do you end up with no equipment you ask??? Well, you might have to swap loads with another driver somewhere. If so you need to swap item for item. Straps,tarps,bungees,dunnage, chains, binders, etc. etc... Well no one wants to part with their gear so they will lie to you. I only have 2 straps, I only have 10 bungees, blah, blah, blah, lies and more lies.
Example: I was dispatched to swap loads. The other driver had an untarped load and only one tarp. He says,"well that is the way it was when I picked it up." Probably so. I deliver the load in NYC. My next dispatch is a load of garbage. I mean nasty, dripping, juicy bales of garbage riddled with medical waste, dirty diapers, used condoms, and feminine hygiene products, going from Willamantic,CT to a landfill in OH. Load needs to be tarped. Not only did I have to climb all over this hazard, I only had one tarp. My DM instructs me to buy a disposable blue tarp. We've all seen them. So I did. By the time I got to the PA line this thing was shredded. I had to stop 3 times to buy extra straps to hold the thing on. I had more straps on the tarp than I did on the load itself. To continue on about this load, I get to the landfill, do my Qualcomm entries and insecure. I radio to the top of garbage mountain letting the workers know I am first in line. There is another Western driver right behind me. In the meantime I get dispatched on a pre assigned load. I get out of my truck to inventory my gear for the next load. When I do the other Western driver pulls around me and starts heading up the hill... Rather than tell me they are ready for me, he just cuts me off... Needless to say the radio war was on. I was standing I his way when he was coming down. The coward drove into some nasty swamp water. To get around me and had to be pulled out by one of the loaders on site. In the meantime 2 city trucks pulled up. They take precedence over outsiders, costing me another 2 hours of waiting time and knocking off the preplanned load I was assigned to. All because one of my FELLOW employees was an #######. This is the norm not the exception with this company. I had a guy watch me struggle with wind and cold to tarp a load then come ask me for help with his load....YEAH RIGHT I'll be right over!!!!
Finally, after 90 days of long layovers, low mileage, and dealing ######## and incompetent office staff, I got my first $500.00 for the bonus, and I am sitting in the same ######## hotel waiting for my flight back home, pondering these words I heard from a Western Express elite trainer. After explaining to him how I wasn't getting miles and all the other negatives he said, " they train the management staff like this, they give the high mileage runs to the trainers who have students. The trainers get .30 cents a mile plus the students miles. Saving Western .04 cents a mile compared the experienced drivers pay. When the trainers clear the students they make .28 cents a mile and then they get the high mile runs. They leave the mid range for the experienced drivers knowing they will get the job done quick so they can keep rolling." Keep in mind if you do 3 mid range runs a week most of the time you will have extended waiting times on both ends of the run and a more technical securing technique involved.
If you are a beginner Western is probably a decent place to learn how to deal with the woes of the transportation industry. For me this was the WORST job experience I have EVER had. So glad it's over.
Think about this, they boast over 2500 trucks. Every Monday there is at least 60 people starting orientation. I have been here 12 weeks that is 720 potential drivers that have come through since I started. In less than a year all those trucks should have a driver. HOW COME NEXT MONDAY THERE WILL BE ANOTHER 60 people there
Any questions I will gladly and honestly answer them

 

Feel free to copy and paste this post then email it to your recruiter and listen to them squirm and start lying. I did that prior to signing on. One of the posts was concerning Western hiring convicts and felons. I copied and pasted and asked him to respond. He said, "Well we definitely don't hire convicts or felons our insurance wouldn't allow it." Well wouldn't ya know the second guy I met in orientation was a good guy who made some bad decisions and was honest about it to me. He had been out of prison for 45 days after serving 15 years for a third strike mandatory drug conviction. Good guy, seemed rehabilitated. FACT IS... HE IS A CONVICTED FELON... AND THE RECRUITER BOLD FACED LIED WITH REASONS WHY THEY WOULDN'T DO THAT..... Nothing worse than a liar or a thief.

 

Seems I dope slapped myself man.... HARD!!! And it hurt.