Watkins Shepard

That's a definite trade-off. Most of the bigger companies are a bit more flexible about taking the tractor home if you don't live anywhere near a terminal. So if you don't live within a couple hours drive time of one of their terminals it's a no-go.

 

Ok. So pets are allowed? Do you really have to live near a terminal? What are their terminal locations? I live in New Orleans. Do I even have a shot at working for this company?

 

Not So negative; I believe most companies have such policy (I live 35 Miles away from Santa Fe Springs terminal I guess good news for me so far)

and I asked If i could have a hamster along and they said yes after 90 days (i believe it is)


Terminal Locations I guess can be found
http://www.wksh.com/AboutUs.aspx?cat=tl
I was told by AT that the website hasn't been updated in quiet some time thus they no longer have a company school.

 

It's negative for us. We live in northern central OK. Nothing w/in 120 miles. And we are definitely not on a W/S freight lane.

 

Most of the big companies will let you take the truck with you on home time if you live a certain distance away (or greater) from the nearest terminal. I know Werner and Schneider do this and they're two of the biggest companies around. (Werner has 7000+ trucks and W/S has around 800 I think.)

 

That said, if you're not close to W/S freight lanes, your home time would be miserable as well.

So why even consider them or complain about their policy?

 

Lets see, giving a driver a truck with 700 thousand miles on it that pulls hills at 15 mph big negitive.

 

So what do you care what the trucks in the granny lane are doing? Or how many miles they have? You just motor on and pay them no mind.

I thank the trucking gods EVERY DAY for my 15 months with Watkins Shepard. I was fortunate enough to have gone through their 30 day school and was handed the keys to a truck and told go be an adult and do what they taught me to do.

I'm not dissing the training route (like some that diss the W/S method) that puts newbie in the clutches of a maybe accomplished driver to "finish" them for the road. Some folks like the reassurance of another human to tell them they are doing well, good, correct. I used my paystubs to tell me.

To each their own. W/S is a special place, they have a curriculum that gives you the tools to operate and make money. It's not for everyone. They have their faults. When it was time for me to go, I did.

I will and always recommend them to the end.

Dick was the main man. If you could stand him, you could put up with anything in trucking.

By the by, my truck needs an overhead. When I was pulling I-17 a bit ago with 45K, before I hit the top of the hill by the Sunset rest area, I was doing 20mph. Sorry to be in your way...

 

I don't drive for WS but most of what I have heard has been pretty positive. The guys that drive for WS and post here on the forum seem to be very happy with them and also seem to be getting good miles and such.

From my point of view though these guys are hustlers and run hard. They also have a decent understanding of whats going on out there. If you are clueless about trucking and are the type that needs to be instructed or babysat or have your hand held to keep you motivated then I don't think that WS would be a good career choice for you.

 

Not even close...My truck has 690K on it and will outpull almost every truck I get next to...I have a 2005 Volvo with a Cummins engine, it also averages over 8mpg consistently...


I also travel thru Northern OK a lot...Just drove thru there yesterday as a matter of fact!