wel companies

wel is a great company to start out with, a little rough at first, but once you get your truck and hit the road you can expect 500-1000 dollars a week

 

each stop is 25 bucks except last stop ive had anywhere between 2 and 10 stops on one truck, and its nice cause usually its ltl, lighter than load, maybe 20,000lbs instead of 40,000

 

Hey Kw2010, What guy are talking about? Is that from an older posting?

 

Howdy folks! I talked with Mark the recruiter yesterday and I am for sure heading up to Orientation next week Sept 24. I asked Mark what I should bring is their a list or anything. He said to just bring enough clothes for a week. He said after end of Orientation Thursday I will get a truck assigned to me and will be taking a trailer (loaded or empty) to Joliet. Where I will have the weekend off and be able to pack my truck with what I want there. I am doing regional with this I was told earlier I should be home every weekend. So with this said what is right or wrong about this? What else should I bring with? Should I buy at least a map book to take up there with me? I've been out of the OTR loop for about 7 years (only driving local). Any incite would be helpful? My wife and I are very excited about this hole thing. Should I be looking to buy things this week Fridge, Microwave, power supply, GPS etc? Also are the hotel rooms shared or can I get a my own room? So many question! Lol sorry I'll wait for a few answer to this mess! Thanks in advance!!

 

Hi JBKrash, glad to hear that you start next week. You will have your own room at the hotel, and you will need to bring your cdl class A license, your social security card, DOT physical long form, 2012 or 2013 truckers atlas, king pen puller, cb, cb antennas, money to eat dinner, and buy plenty of cigarettes before you go. They are $7.00 a pack up there...where I only pay $5.30 a pack here in Indiana.

You can have the continental breakfast at the hotel, and they serve you pizza everyday for lunch, and then you can eat dinner wherever you want. You have to be in the lobby Tuesday morning at 6:30am, and you will go for your DOT physical, drug test and agility test, and then orientation. Wednesday will be orientation, and your driving test. Thursday will be more orientation, walking around and meeting all the people that you will be dealing with, and being assigned a tractor. Friday you will go in and get your check, and you should already have your load information from the day before. You will then head out for a delivery, and then be home where you can pack your truck with the things that you need.

Now, when my husband first started driving a year and half ago these are the things that I bought him to set up the truck, because when you do over the road you will want to save as much money as possible. I bought him a 12volt Coleman refrigerator, the hose to hook up to the air breaks to filll tires with air, tire pressure gauge, Cobra 5550 pro (truckdriver GPS), the cobra CB, the 2012 Rand McNally truck route map, the 1500 watt inverter, and a microwave. I also bought him a long wind shield scraper for the truck, and you will want something to go around and thump the tires to make sure that they have plenty of air, along with a push broom to sweep out the trailers. Now you will purchase load locks and a universal lock from Wel, but they break it up in payments, and you will want to get electrical tape, duct tape, windshield wiper fluid, extra fuses, and carry extra oil just in case. I wouldn't suggest going out and buying all of this at once, because I know it cost me probably about $900 to $1000 to get all of it. I had my student loans, so I was able to buy it all at once, but I shopped online for the best prices. Also, if you do get a power inverter, Wel will set it up for you at no charge.

I just set up my husbands temporary truck until they get him a Peterbuilt, which will be a couple of weeks. So, he has plenty of food, cokes, water, coffee, milk, microwave, refrigerator, gps, clean clothes, his guitar, and clean sheets with pillows to sleep on. I set up his inverter under the bunk yesterday, so he can easily pull the microwave out and heat him up some food or instant coffee if he needs too. I hope that helps out with your questions, so let us know how things are going.

 

Thanks for the Info Mama! You said go in and pick up your check on Friday? You get a check your first week? How is your hubby liking life at Wel? He's been there 2 weeks or more now? I have a Cb, the cabs don't come with antenna? You also skipped Monday or should I push all you wrote 1 day ahead? Maybe it was me that messed that up? My bus ticket will get me in Green bay Sunday. I told them already I don't have a current physical card the one I had expired in June they said that's no problem I'll get a new one there. Also they said I will be getting a TWIC card during orientation? No Haz Mat required. I dont have one. I'll probably start a new Wel thread next week, this one is getting a little long I didn't realize until today this thread started 3 years ago. Lol I think the first week on the road I'll be eating out more then I want, but money is a little tight to be buying fridge, microwave, etc now. The GPS will be the big purchase first. Big box store would be the best place to get one? would be afraid not to get it shipped in time buying online. Again thanks for the info! Keep it coming!

 

Yeah, I forgot that he started over labor day weekend, so they had to push alot of information in for a short period. You can either have a check cut or they can put your orientation pay on the comdata card. Since you are a company driver then the $1000 bonus would go on your payroll check. You can also set it up to have your pay direct deposited if you have a bank account (bring a voided check). He uses a Netspend Prepaid Mastercard that we got online, but you can purchase them at Speedway gas stations. You will be fine on the physical because any transportation job you go to you have to have a new physical done for that company. They will get you set up for a TWIC card interview to get your TWIC card, and you are correct about not needing a HAZMAT.

As far as the GPS goes, I would look into Pilot or Flying J because they have them there ready to purchase, so you can take it with you. I know the one I bought him was $299 at truckstop, but I got it through ebay for $199. Now the reason why most drivers have their own antennas is because they have them specially tuned in for the CB (I am not a smart person on electronics, but he said something about it messing up the CB), but he bought his antennas at the truckstop for $26 a piece, and then had a person shave them down for the right specs on his CB. He only has one now, so we have to get another one.

Now my husband didn't have all of the amenities at first, but I did buy him food to put in the tractor. I buy the Hormel dinners at walmart that don't have to be refrigerated for 1.98 a piece, and those can be warmed up in the truck stops. I also buy him the mac-n-cheese bowls from Walmart or the Xpress version at Aldi's, and those can be cooked in the microwave at the truck stops too. I also put in cans of beef stew, chicken and dumplings, chilli, with a can opener, bowls, plastic utensils, and paper towels, so on the cold days he could have something warm to eat. I would also buy peanut butter crackers, slim jims, chips, bread, peanut butter and jelly for him to make sandwhiches with. I would also buy him honeybuns, donut sticks, the cinnamon danishes, cream cheese danishes, and poptarts that could be easily ate for breakfast. He would fill up his thermos at the truck stops, and then put coffee in his to go cup in the truck. This would be the easiest way to save on money and not spend it at the truck stop, but it is nice to get out of the truck and go into Denny's just to have coffee and a piece of pie. You could bring those Hormel dinners with you to the hotel because they have a microwave downstairs that you can use. There is a gas station right up the road that you can walk to, and get you a 12 pack of coke for 4.99, and after you get settled into your room you can ask the front desk for a refrigerator. They will supply that to you for free, because that is what my husband had to do since he stayed an extra week.

He's liking it so far, and he is in a temporary company truck until they can locate him a 2007 Peterbuilt to do a L/P on. His load coming home took their time loading him, so he didn't get home Saturday AM like he was supposed to. He had to take a 10 hour about an hour away from the house, so he got home Saturday night. He was dispatched out on a run to Conagra foods yesterday, but the guy at the guardshack didn't have any information on his load. They got it straightened out this morning, so he went back to get loaded at Conagra foods. He will be going to Atlanta, GA, which will put him close to the McDonnely, GA terminal. I hope this helps, especially with the food situation because it can get really expensive out there on the road, and even up there during orientation.

 

The only thing I see you left out was Water! ( you gotta stay hydrated) I usually packed at least a case of water and then kept to milk jugs (washed out) full of water from home that I used to rinse my tooth brush and for those times when your parked in BFE with no showers available throw on a pair of swim trunks shower shoes grab a gallon of water and wa la roadside shower. Also hit the dollar store grab a couple of heavy duty plastic bowel and a couple sets of real silverware again you can rinse them with the gallon jugs of water.

 

frog, baby wipes ftw when ya in bfe. Hell no I aint gona have a "roadside shower" and freeze my butt off while wasting water that ain't free out here on the road! Use walmart plastic grocery bags for trash and buy plastic forks, knife, and spoon so ya don't gota wash em. Just use and toss em into that walmart trash bag.
And MAMA pls ask your hubby to think hard about doing the L/P. Well has that walk-away program that made me wana give it a shot, but fuel at over 4bucks a gallon it's not possible to make near the kinda money to make l/p worth the hassle.
Also lookin back up further... jbkrash you start out in a nice hotel but you will have a roomie during orientation. IF you have to stay around after orientation you'll get moved to another hotel with your own room. I don't think I had my DOT long form, the card was sufficient, but first day you go to the clinic to get a full DOT inspection and a new card anyway. You don't need to bring an atlas, can get one for 5bucks at the nearest truck stop when ya get on the road. They force you to purchase a king pin pull bar, 2 load locks, a padlock, and some shirts at orientation that they take outa your paycheck in increments. Yes the cab comes with CB hookup and antennae, but I don't know how good it is since I refuse to waste money on a CB. You want get a paycheck till your 2nd week that will include 180 bucks for orientation, and, if you've completed a load, your pay for said load and the bonus if you qualified for it. I would advice buying anything for your truck anywhere but a truck stop if possible. A good GPS and fridge, microwave, whatever can be gotten much cheaper at walmart or maybe best buy. All trucks come with an APU, but you will need an inverter. Anyway, all those extras are nice to have, but not really necessary. I've driven for months in the past when I couldn't afford any of that to put in a truck. Yrs ago I drove 3 months with only a map, pillow and blanket before I could afford to make the truck comfy. You can get around fine with a that $5 map and a cell phone and get ya some cheap food to put in the truck that don't need a nuker or fridge.

 

I've been with WEL for a bit over 2 months now, and so far this is best company I've worked for.