Watkins & Shepard - Yesterday and Today

oh im sorry nawlins, i guess i read u other post wrong when you said you only delt with disp only 2 times to ga then back, now its 5 months...
so which was it? 2 times, or 5 months?
its great you got a local job now, working all night, sleeping all day, makes for a real social life i guess. your kinda coming off as " im better then you are " with the local job and where u wanna be right now, you wouldnt have gotten this new local job if they didnt cut ur pay, ud still be working for watkins, but your such a man now, local, bashing your former company, which u would not have been doing a month ago. your somebody for all other otr drivers to look up too..., and i wonder if i should ever get me a local gig, im scared i might turn into the man that your not....oh wait! thats right, i turned down a local job offered to me a while back, which pays 55% more then w.s, and is hourly, and would work during the day, and off every weekend/holdidays, and 100% bennys

lynchmob, im glad to hear that, im not the only one who will post on this,
but uf go to watkins shepards post, under " mother carrier questions, the insiide scoope," and then down to watkins shepard. youll read some great great posts, and more people will read it.
sorry you have to read stuff like the nonsense from nawlins who has had very minimum otr exp, either 2 times, or 5 months... whatever his case maybe.,
and youll also need about 25 more post on that, 50 total to pm. but u can get messages just cant respond to them.

 

oo also, youll hear drivers often say " if you dont learn something new everyday, its time to get outta the truck "
so yeah, even after 25 years they are still learning somethings.

 

sb I always complained about my runs doing shortline, even u did hell everyone did so to say it stsrted after the pay cuts are false.
I am not a man sir I'm happy I sat something bad about the company the drivers jump on me. yet, u agree you can do better as a vet.
still we back at sqaure 1.
Even u know swift still gets newbs, some people will never learn.

 

yup, u did say somethign bad, and im not good with math, but if u have me, minus...,dan880,wingrider,java joe, who are all otr drivers saying otherwise, then you my friend must not be feeding the right information to these guys here, thats all im saying, and the only run i ever complained about was going VT. with a 53 foot trl.
even u said it urself nawlins, u tell ur exp, and ill tell mine, thats all the guys/girls here want,
so, as i said before, ill to my exp with running otr, and you tell your exp for people who are thinking about the shortline work.

 

I did a OTR position with WS before picking up a shortline gig and that was it for me...I haven't slept in a truck since then. After some time doing shortline, getting familiar and comfortable with pulling a 53' through congested areas and down backalleys, I decided that I would never go back to OTR and make LESS money than I made in a position that lets me be home every night. Some rare drivers fall in love with the allure of OTR and will stay in that capacity long after better circumstances have come and gone. But most drivers get burnt out on the "adventure of the open road" after about 6 months, its a big part of why we have such a high turnover as an industry. You can tell yourself all of the usual lies such as 1. I just love to drive 2. I want to be a paid tourist 3. I don't mind bad miles/dispatch/trucks/etc everyone on these forums has heard them before. But the reality is that OTR trucking is freaking hard and no amount of research or advice can really prepare a new driver to how hard a job it is. I love driving my rig but I also love the fact that it's a daycab. Monday thru Friday, start at the same time every morning so I can have a normal life with my wife and be able to do normal things for fun while still making a comfortable living as a truck driver.

I guess my point is that there is nothing wrong with being a local driver and if it turns your crank there's nothing wrong with being an OTR driver. A CDL has more than one job it can be used for.

 

^^ Well said! That's what I hope to do also. Maybe after a year or two look into local routes. Still pays well, but will allow me to go to college and be home every night. But alas, I need the year experience (at least) of OTR. I'm excited for the challenge

 

Come on s2b.. don't be a wimp, lol. Be adventurous and go for it (flatbed)
Seriously, the tarping kinda sucks, but it's a good workout at least. Got a load going to Canada.. actually picking up in Ontario and delivering in Bozeman, should be fun won't be able to check back here until prolly Thursday though since I won't have internet up there.. unless I can find a wi-fi hotspot or something.

Lynch, I like your attitude.. I was the same way at first, just wanted to knock out my 1 yr+ exp and move on.. but I found that I love being out here on the open road, if you know how to deal with people in a "professional" manner you will not see too many problems with dispatch.

Allischalmers, you are exactly right.. Driving OTR is much harder than a lot of people realize and it is not for everyone. Some people love it, some people hate it.. to each his own. And to be honest there are some times I hate it, lol.. but isn't it a job?? We always have those moments and it's usually because I screwed something up, haha.

 

Thanks Java. I think it's in my best interest to almost psyche myself out and tell myself whats the worst that can happen on this job, and I STILL want to do it

How long does it take a company to let it's new drivers do flatbed. I think that would be something I'm interested in

 

i guess the worse that can happen is that you kill someonels, not urself, i fear killing someone els more then killing myself out there.
ud have to work here for 90 days with a van, then as soon as ur 90 days are up u can start the flatbed class when you want.
java, im gonna keep the hands clean for a while. and plus, its easier to just close the doors

 

Lol...he wants to dead head 500 miles and expects to be paid...last time I check hauling air that's not pressured in cans don't pay to well...but i'm sure pullin up somewhere wit open air on pallets gets you unloaded very fast...sometimes you just have to think as a business owner to understand things...and when you are in a area that W/S doesn't really deal with...you don't need to "Grab a Snickers"...be ready to "Grab ya cell phone" and call a broker...so they can get you to a area when W/S does business...wouldn't it only make sense to make some profit dealing with a broker to get a driver to your area then to make nothing at all and have him haul or tarp air dead heading?...I ran every state in the 48 except Florida...and I never dead headed more then around 150 miles to pick up...that was from Elko,NV to Reno,NV...don't know how many miles off the top of my head...but I know it wasn't more then 150 i'm sure...but that was the furthest...but Lynch...when your a "True" OTR driver...after about 3 months...you'll start to get a pretty good idea on where your going to be going next...so normally out of the Denver area...you'll get a Fort Collins beer run...normally north to Montana...and when your in Sayreville,NJ at the terminal that's normally a couple drops going down to Conover,NC...but like S2B said...the company office workers is nice...I call in singing and just playing around...love that country accent too...(From the ladies of course)...but it's fun...and honestly...I been driving since January and never had a lot lizard knock on my door...or atleast I didn't hear them because I run my APU every night...but if It was a hot sexy young girl...why would I complain?......but basicly if you wanna be OTR...listen to the OTR guys...if you wanna bump docks every other block with trucks wit rusty white rims...listen to Naw'lins...and mile wise...it's better to run the west anyway because you don't hit major cities every 200 miles that cause traffic...it's less roads...normally the parking at warehouses is more open because it's more space...it's always parking at truck stops...and you normally don't have to do furniture drops in the west...only thing I hate about the west is that during the winter...the roads are more messed up because of the fact that's it's not major cities so close that keep the roads clear...and snow has a good amount of time to build up...but it's a nice view always on the west...and don't gotta worry about hearing 20 CB bloods and crips talking if you got a question or just wanna talk about real topics...





...Drivers That Hate On Watkins...