Watkins shepard

Got a couple questions for all you W/S drivers
Anybody know where WS sends ya if your home term is Indy?
It would be nice to run from midwest to west! is that possible with WS?

Does WS have pretty good equipment all in all?
and do they ever clean a tractor up or does the new driver always have to?
What are their trailers like, good / bad ???
Thanks in advance! (This is one of the better threads)!

 

Wow, I've been off the boards for just a few days and it jumps like 4 or 5 pages!!
I echo what Des1 said...I've been running my butt off the last 4 weeks, the only down time has been when the truck is in the shop....this one is 1832, it's 5 years old and has over 600k on it, so things WILL happen. I've been from CA all thru TX, doing LTL furniture (hate it!!) and got a load from Ft. Worth to Glenwood Springs, CO. Just dropped it today, have about 10 left on my 70, and it hasn't been 8 days yet!! I let the dispatcher know I'll need a reset, but not sure how much freight is moving out of this little town on the weekend. It's been a long freaking week and I'm tired. I've been running my 11's almost every day, so when I park, I get something to eat and go right to sleep.....
I'm in this funny little "truckstop" that's basically a gas station with 2 diesel pumps and room for 5, count 'em 5 trucks! I got the first spot and within the hour it was full. I met 3 really nice guys though. I helped one of them get his oversized load parked and we talked for an hour. The nature of trucking...we're all out here to look out for each other!

Well, just wanted to check in before I hit the sack....you all take it easy!

 

Im feeling ya on tired, I had 15 hours left on my clock this morning, I got sent out to PA from Ohio to drop a carpet load, get there they make me wait forever, finally get unloaded its pouring rain and I hit the road for state college, pa, it took me around 5 hours to go 150 miles. that was the worst drive ever. I would rather drive in sleet and ice than that POS road again. every 2 miles was construction and was limited down to 1 lane in both directions and 35mph speed limits. needless to say it took every ounce of what I had to get here. I am beat tired and have 5 hours left on my clock now to get to NJ... I doubt thats going to happen....

 

perhaps you and i can do lunch, im in sayreville now... parked up the street from the terminal... on this " free " wifi...
ill check back and see if you here or not...

 

hey lyn...
the equipment is ok... its liveable.. the company wont pay for the truck to be cleand..however.. whatever cleaning supplies you buy to clean the truck**when your first assigned the truck** they will pay back what you spent... orrrr... if the truck is that nasty inside then they will have it detailed... you may pay for a detail and they will pay you back... but i havent heard of any driver having to pay for it out of pocket..
the trailers...well... i would say that is our biggst issue at the moment... we have a lot of " new " trailers.. and they are really nice... ok! ok! ok!. those brown Henrodon trls are enough to make be cover my face while im pulling it.. but only because its a turd brown trl with a red tractor..

watkins is a 48state carrier... which means it does not matter what terminal you run out of.. youll do ALL 48..yup..that includes NY CT MASS. VT.NH ME.RI.NJ.PA..... truck driver...which means you go where the product is going... yeah.. you can run mid-west to west if you want... but your still going to have to hit the north east as well...
as for your truck... volvos and shakers... no telling what ur gonna end up with till your handed the keys... some are newer.. some are older... some are nice..some are ugly.(ugly, again, referring to the turd brown trks )
any other questions... ask... and ask roxy and sandy... they dont lie..

 

Ain't that the truth, or sugar coat..I believe W/S is one of the best starting companies out there, when I was brand spankin new I was to close to another trailer at Gallo in L.A. and knoked one of the doors off and they didn't even get asll that mad, and they didn't mess with my DAC at all, as far as I know I've had some offers from other companies so I don't think so anyhow.

 

I pulled one of those from SLC to LA, and yes, they are an ugly brown, they are nicer than most of the WS trailers I've pulled....and I happen to like the roll up door!

I heartily agree with this. They tell it like it is...and are very friendly to boot!

I also believe this is one of the best starter companies out here. They treat us right!

And on a completely different note....looks like I'll be hanging out at this little tiny "truckstop" at least thru the weekend. Got a QC from Christy this morning and she said there are no loads....surprise, surprise, surprise. I just hope I don't have to go back to Denver and over the Rockies again. My truck doesn't seem to like the high altitudes. I burned over 1/4 tank of fuel in about 120 miles....now only have 35gal left, and will have to fuel out of route to be able to get someplace. I hate when you tell the shop your truck has a problem and they don't fix it....

 

Well I am parked in Harrisburg, pa for my reset. Question for all of you how do you get around town in situations like this. Under a load and on a reset. I wanted to check out Harrisburg but kinda hard to do from a truckstop and no taxis want to come out here...

 

....
out of rout miles..
say you go food shopping... or to do laundry....
"wink wink" "hint hint"

 

I'm sorry you're stuck anywhere in PA, des....I've been there once and if I never go again it will be too freakin' soon!

As for OOR miles, I think I was told you can do a few here and there and they won't hassle you. I've done 140 OOR, but granted that was for the I40 closure..LOL
I considered it myself, but since I'm in this tiny little place, I don't want to move the tractor and lose my spot. There is a mall within walking distance that has a movie theater, so I'm gonna go see Kick a s s tomorrow during matinee hours.....I decided to make the best of a not too good situation and relax, get my full 70 back, and enjoy the scenery. There are a lot of pretty girls running around, so that part is easy
Well, off to find something for dinner...