Watkins Shepard 30-Day Training

I think you will do just fine, Roxy called me today to see if I woudl be intersested in moving my 10 day from Jan 13th to the 3rd which I would have done but my sife is still in the hsopital, and to re leaving in a couple weeks would not have really worked out, I guess they had a person drop out or for some reason they had an opening, I am sure she kept calling around and it filled up now.

 

Ya i know I want speaking literally -lol- it was just funny to me at the time because the lot I was walking around had very little activity and it was kinda just me , so i thought it was kinda funny...thanks for the heads up on the lizard knockin on my door though.

 

i read somthing like that last week, I do know they have the 10 day classes going still at about every 10 days I think and there are 9 students in each class and they are all hired when done so HOPEFULLY they are moving freight because thats alot of drivers to be bringing on every month, I was told that after the class I will get a truck assigned and depending on where the truck is located I will be transported to it by either another driver taking me, or plane or bus I guess?? and then they will get me back to my home terminal (santeFe Springs) to load up my personal stuff, I was told that my assigned truck might be a Penske rental truck because they are running out of regular company trucks. I would think that with that many drivers being brought on every month that would would need to have ALOT of truck or alot of guys leaving? One would think that maybe they have some new trucks on order? dont know if that means some of the veteran drivers at w/s will be getting new ones or if w/s is just going to rent trucks, cant imagine they would buy used ones but anyway I guess I will find out when the time comes,

 

Yeesh...I sure would like a nice red WS truck instead of that yellow Penske......but I suppose I'd be happy with any truck just to get me out there..

 

haha, not all of penske trucks are yellow, for the most part, with big trucks, they are white, and dont either of u get ur hopes up on a " new " truck, 9 out of 10 times, they put the newbs in the older trucks, rightfuly soo too, but no need to worry, if you get an older truck, just do what u gotta do for a few weeks, its not uncommon for a newb to get a call that they want the newb outta that truck and in a newer truck.

about the contract they picked up, yes, they did, out of our conover Nc term. a huge furniture account, when you run out of that term and you have multi stops, you get paid $20 bucks for each stop. you could go anywhere, as far north as maine, as far south as miami fla. as far west as cali.. i think $20 is a decent pay for the work, get 30 stops in one week, theres $600 bucks just in stops, not including ur miles pay... however, as a newb, going into the NE is scary and intimidating, and nerb wracking and so on... you can refuse going into the new england states being a newb... recently theyv only been sending the newer driver as far as Sayreville, nj, to our term up their... droping the load off, and having someone els finish it off...

Warp. i got ur message the other day, but for some odd reason i cant get ur email address off of it... youll have email me again with your email...

 

Hi SBD,
Man I am somewhat concerned about my choice. I am 53 and this has been a life long dream to drive truck. My delema is that I have a pretty good head on my shoulders and can think on my feet better than average (IMHO), but at my age with a wife and a daughter I want to make sure that I don't make a hasty decision. Do I go with WS to get out on the road sooner with only a 10 day training under my belt or do I go with some other company that sends me out with a trainer and then a finishing trainer for a total of 7or 8 weeks at a meesly 350 a week till I am on my own in my own truck????????
I have heard that if you have any incidents be they minor in your first year out your driving carrer is over...... What say you?

 

snake, you have to go with what you think is best for you and your family. if you feel as tho your 10 days would not be long enough, then you go with a trainer. i will tell you, as a driver with w.s i was pleased with the 10 day class, and if you do the 10 day class in missoula, then you are going to be even more pleased then i was. the guys that train you doring the 10 days are excellent trainers, and they will help in every way they can, keep in mind that if they dont feel as tho you are cut out for this, they will send you home. harsh? yes! realistic? even more so. take time and read throuh the posts on here about their 10day and their 30 day training, and youll read it for yourself.
as for the accidents, it truthfuly depends on what happend that caused the accident, if its serious, yes, it can hurt your driving career, if its minor and YOU STOP, CALL 911, REPORT IT, then you have a better chance of keeping your job. dont ever leave the scene of ANY accident untill the police are notifed, and the company...

 

I don't know if your driving career would be over but companies can be strict. Backing accidents are common and I saw a guy get fired after two. Didn't hit other rigs either, minor IMO. Keep safe following distance, ramps go about half the posted speed to prevent rollovers, and get out and look when you are backing. Mirrors give your sight no depth and don't turn down an offer for a spotter and even ask no matter what your experiance level is. Most important never get in a hurry for nothing.

 

agreed!, however, on the spotter note, never take what they say to grave!, remeber, what the spotter sees and what you see are completely defferent.... never give 100% of your trust to a spotter, some people just like to see trucks back into things... its an off turn on i imagine... and no matter what a spotter is telling you to do, if you hit something, the spotter has nothing to lose, you do..

 

10-4, if not sure at any time get out and still look and have a briefing at any time the driver or spotter wants. If the spotter gets out of sight, stop. Thanks S2B there are some wierd people out there, but they can make mistakes as well. Good luck Snakeskin.