Watkins Shepard 30-Day Training

if it fits in a box, we will take it!, nuff said about what we pull...
2ndly, as for the drillin that lynch mentiond. you should try everything u can not to drill anything in the truck at all... its not YOUR truck, its w.s truck... just imagine if u got in ur car at home and saw a bunch of drill holes all over....im not saying they wont let you drill, but ALWAYS check with one of the shops before you do any modifactions to your assigned truck,the shop will always give you the right answers when it comes to the truck. best if u can get to a shop and have them look at what u plan on doing. but i would try and avoid drillin at all costs... iv got all kinds of things in my truck and have never needed a drill...
sorry to ramble on, i just wouldnt want someone to jump in a truck and drill away as one of our previous drivers did this to a newer truck, and now not a single driver wants that truck cause of the damage done by drillin..
and ill bring this up too cuse i can see this thread going their.
as for the trucks, vovs and shakers, as old as 04 and as new as 08,
this company does not work on a seniority level here, you may be lucky enough to graduate class and get in a newer truck, or u might be lucky enough to graduate class and get in an older truck, its pretty much whats available, and where it is. they try to keep the older trucks open for the newbs, but it may not work that way sometimes... if u find ur self getting an older truck, give it a few months, 2 maybe, and start to request a newER truck.
i think thats about it for now....
lynch... im takin over

 

the turnover rate is not HIGH, not the best, but not high... they have a lot of freight out of out conover term, a lot of people are just not cut out for driving and dont realize that till after they start driving.
but no, they are not buying new trucks as of now.

 

2be, thanks for the quick answer. I guess when you hear about a company that treats their drivers like humans and grownups, you wonder what the catch is.

 

A lot of people get burnt out on the OTR lifestyle within the 1st year along with the lower pay than what you may find at some local outfits. I left due to finding a job that paid more locally. That was my only reason. If I were to lose my job I'd probably go back to W/S for a year just to see what's happening around the country these days.

There really wasn't anyone who'd ruin your company experience there enough to make you want to leave. Although I'm sure some terminals are ran as if they were a seperate outfit.

 

Obviously it's not my vehicle, so I would ask before making ANY kind of modification...thats what the shop is for anyways, I suppose.

Funny that people freak out with the LA traffic....I've driven in it all my life, so it's old hat to me. I suppose I'd freak out the first snowstorm I had to drive through....we all have our "weak spots". What's funny though is that I've spent so much time in traffic you'd think I'd have more patience...but I've been teaching myself some since I decided to take this route. I've been driving in the slow lanes a lot and trying to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and giving trucks all the leeway they need...

On another note, I saw a WS daycab today on the freeway. The tractor looked like it had definitely seen better days, the paint was all faded and oxidized, but the 53' van behind it looked clean and shiny.... I have seen OTR WS tractors around and they look MUCH better, but then again they are used much more heavily than the daycabs, I'd think.

 

backisore is right about the burn out side of it, you also have the north east, a driver quite a 2 weeks ago, he got a load to Long Island NY, and he couldt handle it, got back to sayreville handed his keys in and hit the ground running and never looked back, which i cant say i blame him, the NE is a VERY VERY intimidating area, thats where you need the most patience, one wrond turn can make a 2 hour day into 5 or 8 real quick
the day cabs are prob the oldst trucks in the entire company, and yeah they are the best looking trucks, however look at most of the day cabs around the country.... id say were lucky to have what he have... it could always be worse.
lynch, its funny what you said about the " grass is greener on the other side ", as you talk to some of these older drivers, and ask em how long they have worked here, they usually start off, " Well the first time 5 years, this time 3 years " a LOT of drivers come back cause its not exactly greener elswhere!,
not to steal lynchs thunder, but for all the questions being asked to lynch, who can only answer just a a few questions, check out the other thread for w.s...ull get more of these questions answered, http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...e-inside-scoop/27211-watkins-shepard-183.html

 

I got my appointment for my permit tests at the DMV....3 weeks from today was the earliest they had!! And I checked offices within a 40 or so mile radius from me...I freakin' hate the DMV..... But, I'm getting a little closer with each passing day and thing I've checked off on my 'to do' list

Now back to studying this stuff so I can make sure I pass the tests.

 

It's a #### shame you have to wait so long BUT if you stay on track with your studying you probably won't have to retake like so many others who have walked into the DMV only to discover they were unprepared. Just keep a cool head, your time will come!

 

I'm going to apply at Watkins Shepard. I'd love to get back to Montana.