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Watkins & Shepard Trucking reviews

3.3
(6)
$769 - $1,038/week

Summary

Overall

Home Time

Equipment and Maintenance

Dispatchers and Managers

Salary Surveys

$769 $875 $1,038
weekly average

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Ratings and Reviews

Current Employee - Mar 20, 2019

Communication from dbl sucks then when there's a problem due to lack of communication from their end it's turned back to driver dispatch scheduled so can't be made on time / location of drop not accurate

Pros

When they have it together you run steady

Cons

They don't always know which end is up since the buy out you can't get assistance after hrs on wknds

Home Time
Equipment and Maintenance
Dispatchers and Managers

Current Employee - May 18, 2018

Since schneider national bought the company it has gone over the cliff MGMT can't or won't be concerned with anything but covering their own that goes for everyone from dispatch up and down the ladder

Pros

None they have taken all the pros away

Cons

Forced dispatch harrassment to make runs even when unsafe no need to say more

Home Time
Equipment and Maintenance
Dispatchers and Managers

Current Employee - Sep 19, 2017

I am a current WKSP OTR driver. Schnder., sucks bad. Why? Because they have shaved every conceivable area of WKSP. From overtime for short line and local drivers, down to actually taking away the portapot at our Modesto terminal for after hours drivers (no kidding!) - Schder's reason= the 30.00 per month cleanout fee is too much and they said well there are stores around here, rt (meaning drivers needed to find an open store at, say, 3am if they needed to go to the bathroom). Our facilities no longer have any landscapers so most westcoast terminals look almost like some dried up and overgrown field. Our DBL's fight now for company policy and dispatch instead of the driver unlike prior to Schnieder's buyout. Midwest runs are mostly brokered loads that are some of the worst loads ive ever seen. Terminal to terminal runs are now strictly for teams, no solo's are even allowed to do them unless there is no coverage. You may get a furniture load w 3-5 stops once a month if your lucky. Im being told stop pay is next to go replaced by a "Schnder approved" (get this) 11.00 per hr rate. So if you have a two piece stop on a delivery, your gonna make about 1.25 instead of the normal 20.00 per stop rate. AND to get that 11.00 per hr u have to stay on duty, which chews up yr clock. STAY AWAY FROM WATKINS AND SCHNDER Please understand, Im not disgruntled in anyway, but in a few more months, Ill be looking for another company to drive for. Watkins Shepard is pretty much history in the trucking industry It was a good ride, but its over

Pros

Not too many, im afraid. Not anymore

Cons

Please read my review. The worst possible thing that could of happened to this once great company has. Schnieder purchased them. SCHDER pays 30% of load for OTR.... Screw that!

Home Time
Equipment and Maintenance
Dispatchers and Managers

Current Employee - Sep 17, 2017

Equipment is good, drivers out of MS drive Penske trucks so we have access to all Penske shops n the U.S. Schneider has taken over so a lot of changes are occurring!!! Pay is good, here they know u by name, trucks are slow only 65 mph and they have ancient trailers but the company is good to work for!! U will be backing into tight spots delivering furniture so make sure ur backing is GOOD!!!

Pros

Good pay, good home time for MS drivers

Cons

Slow trucks, ancient trailers, Schneider taking over

Home Time
Equipment and Maintenance
Dispatchers and Managers

Current Employee - May 3, 2016

I can sum it all up with the simple statement "I'm not currently thinking of leaving right at this time."

Pros

Treat you decent, no pressure to break rules

Cons

It's a truck job

Home Time
Equipment and Maintenance
Dispatchers and Managers

Salary Surveys

Company Driver - 5+ Years CDL Experience

Surveyed in Msla Mt on Mar 20, 2019

$808 per week

Current Employee

Yes

Company Driver - 3 Years CDL Experience

Surveyed in on May 18, 2018

$769 per week

Current Employee

Yes

Company Driver - 2 Years CDL Experience

Surveyed in Missoula, MT on Sep 19, 2017

$865 per week

Current Employee

Yes

Company Driver - 2 Years CDL Experience

Surveyed in on May 3, 2016

$1,038 per week

Current Employee

Yes

Company Driver - 6-11 Months CDL Experience

Surveyed in Missoula, Mt. on Apr 8, 2016

$769 per week

Current Employee

Yes

Discussions

Are there companies where I don't have to live with a trainer?

Driver91

Jul 5, 2016

Are there companies where I don't have to live with a trainer?

Watkins Shepard is 2 weeks. And you are in a hotel every night. The same room at the same hotel. They have orientation in conover nc and Missoula, MT

Want to play recruiter?

WKSH Recruiter

Jan 29, 2014

Want to play recruiter?

Current driver here, very happy. The equipment is good and getting better. Pay is good. They just opened a new terminal in Fontana, CA to accommodate the expanding business. If they would just reinstate the 401(k) match (and add lower expense-ratio options) then everything would be perfect 

Well the pay jumps up after three and six months, according to this post. So just multiply the mileage pay by 3000 miles or so and you've got a good idea. Bonuses are usually (for me anyway) between $100-500 a month.

Watkins-Shepard Acquired by Schneider

redoctober83

Aug 4, 2016

Watkins-Shepard Acquired by Schneider

I'm happy at Watkins, not looking to go anywhere for now. I make really good money, run pretty much the same area every week, and have the hometime I want. I don't have to run a lot of miles to make good money here. I make my money on stops. I'm happy. If something changes I'll be sure and ask on here first for the best place to go. But if it does, I'm prob going to be looking at LTL home everynight jobs.

Watkins-Shepard Acquired by Schneider

Brandonpdx

Jun 27, 2016

Watkins-Shepard Acquired by Schneider

Plain and Simple, Your lives are about to change in a big way. Schneider is a low to mid paying company. Trucks governed at 60 mph. Anything above 60 with you foot on the pedal is over speed. Anything over 70mph Excessive over speed. No self installed power inverters . You can have one that plugs in the cigarette lighter plug as long as it is 400 watts or less. No 8/2 splits. You must take full 10hr breaks.No pets. All riders must be over 10 yrs old. insurance cost less than $10.00 per month. All drivers are auto enrolled in Per Diem package at a cost of .02 cpm . You must opt out if you don't want it. If you drive unsafe and someone calls in on you,it could be your last trip. Three critical events and it could be your last trip. Every year you have to go ride around at an terminal to re-certify that you drive safe. Any accidents and you are pulled in to a terminal and go through training. Top pay at 45 cpm north east region. every where else around .40cpm . Raises are hard to get. You must over 100% in certain categories. Here they are mpg,eta,fuel compliance,days worked. Anything less than 100% for the year all you get is between between 0-1.5 cpm .Miles are zip code to zip code . After 6 months you can order 2 free shirts for no cost. after a year you can order a free jacket. All trucks will have Qualcomm mcp 200 based units installed.I hope this merger goes well for all drivers. We are the ones who suffer at the cost of the big pockets books. Hope we all come out on the other side of the tunnel.

Watkins-Shepard Acquired by Schneider

Driver91

Jun 26, 2016

Watkins-Shepard Acquired by Schneider

So this thread is less than a month old and it would seem there are already some changes being made. The pet rider for those who don't already have them and Schneider teams pulling sticks out of Conover. That was always one my favorite runs. Did quite a lot of them to Spokane and then pulled tire loads to SFS.

All I can say is a I really loved running and working with WS and I sure hope things don't change too much for the current drivers. Best wishes everyone!