Werner, learner... almost all bad.

I am new to trucking and this type of life style. So maybe some of my dissatisfaction or unhappiness is industry wide. I will tell you I am a fairly quick lerner. I was an unemployed finance manager,(bank/auto dealerships, 10 years) for almost a year. I needed a job and was told $50k a year was easy to earn.
I took the job with Werner because of what the recruiters told me. Mostly lies and non-truths. I was told 2500 miles a week and .32 to .38 cents a mile. My first assignment was .265 a mile. But I had to stay out at least 4 straight weeks. What amazes me is how rude EVERY ONE from Werner is. The only place you will find some professionalism is at the Omaha terminal. (ok my SDM was amazing)
You are talked to like a DOG by every one. Even a common hello is returned by,'what do you want'. Every one is aggravated. I had 3 trainers. The first one had 3 straight trainees quit during his traing. THREE!! and they sent me to him. I lasted two weeks and was ready to quit myself. He was rude and arrogant. My second trainer was a real physco. He HATED every one... He threw things around and stomped and yelled like a child. he left with a health issue, heart or BP..go figure. I had 7 hours left. I was made to go with a third trainer. he was hispanic and stood over top of me as I drove or used the Qualcom. He would yell at me and tell me to be quiet. ON two of the trucks we had minor break downs that were turned into 5 and 6 day waiting to be repaied. ALL for 0 money...numerous times we were heavy and informed dispatch and they would try to get us to make the run. All this may not sound as bad as I feel it is. Training was hell. Miserable hell. OK so I finish training and move on and now expect some better treatment and make some money. My dispatch said u can expect to make $25,000 to $30,000 for the first couple of years??? What the heck? my lic. cost me $6200!! Any money u spend out of pocket,(scales etc. ) comes back in ur pay check. maybe. twice my pay checks have been short on miles. I am ave., 1700 miles a week and i am ready 7 days a week. I am clean healthy fit normal sane non smoker and Werner has shown me that they can not wait till I quit. I will just make room for another trainee that can be cheated and abused till they wise up...and do Werner a favor and quit. I understand u have to pay ur dues... but this company teaches abuse from the top down. It makes no sense.

 

odd reply?? u sound a bit bitter that I am not happy?? and obviously YOU checked everything out and looked before u leaped into trucking and made a perfect landing? As far as rewriting a complaint that has been written or revealed in this forum over and over why do you still read and reply?? maybe u are one of those recruiters?? The problem with this business seems to be most truckers are anti social and negative.That could be a direct result of the lies and treatment recieved from companies like Werner. Could be many reasons, but a guy like you and what u wrote just proves my point.

 

hey thanks for the positive reply. I feel bad i made some negative statments here. I am not like that. Most of my troubles are my fault, some are just life's tests. But I do think that the trucker seems to get treated poorly in general. I am sick that I am going to lose my kids and then all my possessions. The last 3 weeks my net earnings have been less then $500 a week with 2 weeks under $300. No person should be working these kinds of hours and respoinsibilities for that kind of money. I hear from many Werner drivers that Werner tries to push you out after you finish training. That they receive a big bonus with each new driver, but then rather see you quit. Either way the pay and miles are terrible. Thank you to all drivers who have been helpful and supportive. We should all try to make each others day better.

 

I think Werner is not a terrible company for what it wants to accomplish. Its just not a company that "wants" a stable work force. They NEED to have turn over so they can keep their training program fueled with new recruits. And as long as the economy is poor and jobs are scarce people will flow this way. I believe Werner makes a good buck off it's training program. IF IT WAS A LIABILTY they would treat you better. because you would be expensive to replace. BUT I am beginning to believe the opposite. They make money everytime some one quits. I see it in every area of what they do. Last week my take home was $260...this week will be not much better....thats got to be less then welfare?? Its not me either. I have not been late once, or lost or anything negative. I have a great attitude and what seems like a good repore with my dispatcher...They dont have the work cause they have so many drivers. But they continue to hire HUNDREDS od drivers each week... every terminal is loaded with trainees...this company has its own business as a training company...I dont blame them. But its wrong to do to people. I have a family and I will lose everything if I stay here...
sadly..JJ