Werner - Not What I'd Heard (Thank God.)

Steele I tried to PM you but your box is full so I will ask you here. LOL
I am starting at Werner on March 15, I am very excited about being back on the road again. I was wondering if you could ask your husband if he knows a good non smokeing trainer (I have Asthma thats why I need non smokeing) that picks up students at the Atlanta area that I could request? Thank you for your time and all your helpful post.
Kindest Regards,
Amanda

 

When I was there (left a few months ago), the idle policy wasn't, as far as I knew, clear-but. Basically it was "don't do it if you can possibly avoid it." I got reprimanded for having ~50% idle in January of '09, despite that I spent that entire month in the upper midwest (which is especially funny, because the company actually requires that you leave the truck on in the temperatures I was in). Other than that, the company pretty much stayed off my back, and I averaged probably between 25-30% idle.

Keep in mind, though, that 25-30% idle might be less than you think. I don't know what your experience is with big-company idle policies, but you may be tempted to think that the idle figure refers to a proportion of your total time in the truck. Instead, it refers to the total time the truck is on.

In other words, you can only improve your idle percentage by driving. No amount of keeping the truck off will actually improve your percentage; it only fails to make the percentage worse. You will probably rack up 5-10% idle just from sitting at stop lights, or in heavy traffic.

All of the above might be common knowledge; it isn't my intention to lecture or patronize you. I'm just clarifying in my typically over-verbose way.

This is a difficult question to answer. When I worked there, they were in the process of outfitting most of their major terminals such that any new truck going through those terminals got an APU. Omaha and Springfield (OH) are the two that spring immediately to my mind, but I know there were others. (I only ever went to I think five terminals in all my time there.)

That said, I was hired out of one of the smaller terminals, and I never saw an APU truck there. In two years of working for Werner, I was never assigned an APU truck, either. I was assigned three different trucks, all of them long-nose models with loads of mileage. All the while, I saw and heard about hundreds of shiny new trucks sitting at various terminals. So I kinda got the impression that Werner was trying to drive its older trucks into the ground before handing out too many of the newer ones.

The short answer (thank god, right?) is that I wouldn't count on having an APU. You'll probably hear a lot of smoke in orientation about it; you will, in fact, be given a short training exercise about how to operate an APU. Take it with a grain of salt.

Yes.

By policy, you're not allowed to use inverters that attach directly to the batteries. You can use a 400w lighter-plug inverter, but I wouldn't depend on being able to draw 400w consistently. Maybe it was just the trucks I was in, but I know my laptop could, by itself, burn out a fuse or send my inverter to screaming (because it wasn't getting enough power).

I guess it's pot luck there, but I wouldn't be too concerned, generally. I have a pretty big laptop.

If you can remove the laptop mount without harming their property, then I don't see why they would object. Between you and me, I went so far as to replace an in-dash radio without permission and never heard a peep about it. The only caveat is that you might be asked to switch trucks very quickly and with very little warning. For instance, I was given about half an hour to switch from my first truck to the second.

Personally, I used a Garmin Nuvi (not designed for trucks), and got along fine. It's just a matter of taking its recommendations with a grain of salt. Once you get used to reading them, the company-provided directions are usually pretty good, so I always tried to err on the side of those. And then there's your road atlas, which is irreplaceable.

Hard to say. Given the current economy, they may tell you you've been away too long and treat you as a newbie. Most likely, though, they'll treat you as a Co-Driver for training purposes, which just means that you have to go through the same hoops as the newbies, but for less time.

The time requirements aren't really very revealing, though. You might be told at the end of your training that you have to stay on due to lack of trucks or whatever. I was.

Detention? What's that?

(LOL -- no.)

It used to be about $20 per day, IIRC. I don't know what it is now, as they were in the process of cutting down on various so-called perks of the job towards the end of my time there.

Oh, and if the first 24 hours falls on a Sunday, it doesn't count.

Same as layover, as I recall.

They were requiring roommates for all drivers, last I knew. That's a fairly new policy, and it may have been reverted since I left. (Edit: To clarify, the new part is that non-trainees have to share; trainees always did, as far as I know.)

The other kinda cute thing is that they started refusing to pay for smoking hotel rooms -- which don't cost any more than non-smoking rooms. If you read between the lines, then, they were simply hoping that most smoking truckers would opt to pay for their own, smoking room.

1. You will have to share a room.

2. Depending on the hotel, you might be able to piggy-back on the company's account to get a single on the cheap. As of the last time I stayed at the Allentown hotel, for instance, they allowed you to pay $20 per night to get a single. I always opted for that.

3. The Orientation is paid, as of the first whole day. I don't know exactly how much they're paying for that these days; when I was there it was something like $300 per week to start, so about $50 per day.

4. Orientation is itself two days. Basically all you do is sign papers and watch videos. After Orientation, it may take up to two weeks to get you on a trainer's truck, though. (EDIT: And then you can expect to stay out with a trainer for anywhere between 1-3 months, depending on whether you're considered a co-driver, what your trainer's account is, whether you take the optional week off in the middle, etc, etc.)

Anytime. Hope it wasn't too much of a chore to read.

Good luck to you.

 

Trucked Up -

Thanks for the very informative post.


............. Jim

 

This may be a totally nieve question - but do drivers get any type of reimbursement if the can't drive because a part of their truck broke down?
My bf's APU stopped working the weekend of Valentine's day. He FINALLY took it to the Werner terminal in Allentown, PA on Friday. It took them all the way till Monday afternoon to fix it. It was a long time to sit out not working but when he came back for it last night (because they said it was fixed) IT STILL DOESN"T WORK!!!
No way he's even going to try and get it fixed now and sit out even more days! Plus the days are getting warmer recently so he's just gonna to deal with extra blankets till summer comes I guess.
But the point is he was not working for 3 days for nothing because they never fixed the problem. Does he get anything at all for all the time wasted?
PS I came with him and I'm not even going to sit and list out all the slow, inefficient tweedle dums and tweedle dees that work there.
That's why I said in one of my earlier posts, working for Werner not so bad EXCEPT AT THE TERMINAL. Just the nastiest, unhappiest buncha of #&#%^&%# you'd ever meet.

 

I have been with Werner for few months and I average 750.00 a week and about 2500-2800 miles a week on a dedicated account. I alway's get a preassignment before I get to my shp or con. Oh, the 750.00 is after child support, medical, dental and vision insurance and taxes. If you run hard, be on time and keep your FM informed, you will get the miles. I'm not too sure about the 1100.00 a week you're getting. Please tell me what you know that I don't and I was given a 2005 Peterbuilt 387 with over 300,000 miles when I started as an experienced driver. Are you company or owner op?

 

That's because he took it to Allentown, the absolutely worst terminal in the whole company. Tell him to run it through Springfield or Dallas. He'd have a much better chance on an actual repair there.

 

I agree with you there - the Allentown terminal is Horrible. But he doesn't run the 48. He has a dedicated route with Sears on the NE so how would he ever be allowed to go to Dallas or anywhere off his route?

And Springfield in what state?

 

Springfield Ohio

 

I personally think Dallas is the worst terminal. It took me 2 days to replace a blind spot mirror on my truck and forget trying to find a empty trailer there, apparently they dont put the red tags on the trailers that are red tagged and the staff there is just generally nasty

Allentown is a close second. after I wrote in detail about what was happening with the APU's heater 2x (blows hot for 10 minutes, stops, then starts blowing cold). they claim that they "fixed" it and everything works fine. Nothing was fixed and I just gave up.

The terminal employees are only nice to other terminal employees. You feel as if there is a party going on and your in it but you never was invited and no one wants you there. Once in a while, you get someone who is helpful/nice but its rare. Don't get me wrong, I actually like the job but going to the terminal is a MAJOR let down that pisses you off to make you quit.

 

I agree with your post. I have been running now for 1 month. I have been very positive in my communications with my FM and on time every time. I run whatever they need, the good, the bad, and the ugly and I have been rewarded with a dedicated route 20 minutes from my house.

I didn't ask for it, they offered it to me. I credit this to my positive attitude and good work ethics. Sorry but I don't go in for the negative bad mouthing I hear all the time from other drivers.(does't work for me)

The first week I ran 2800 miles so I'm happy. Some drivers have trashed me on my blog(Working for Werners) but for the most part it has been drivers that encourage not discourage. I have been home two weeks in a row (the wife is very happy). Everything looks great.

Keep up the good work and stay positive no matter what. Best Regards to you, Bob