WS through my eyes

Congrats TAJW, i'm going back on the flatbed fleet. I've been dispatching for 2 months now or something like that and i'm ready to hit the road again. I miss seeing some other country besides just missoula

 

Thanks, Milktanker!

I know I'm gonna work my butt off during orientation, but from what I've seen, I'll come out of it with a lot of additional skill. Sounds like the trainers have the mountain driving part pretty well nailed.

 

I almost signed on with W/S when I got my CDL. USF Reddaway called me before W/S did. Turns out we have a terminal right down the street from you guys. I always pass the W/S terminal when I am waiting on trailers and I am off to get lunch at the Cross Roads truck stop

 

By the way, how much did they start you guys out at? And how do your guys' raises work?

 

When I started it was .25 a mile, got bumped to .29 shortly afterwards. I'm now at .31 paid on the hub

 

Yeah, I think they told me that it starts at 25 cpm. My current carrier started me at 41 cpm, but the downside it that I only get about 2,500 miles a week at most. So it does kinda even out. I sometimes wonder if I should have gone with W/S. I only hear good things about them.

 

I think it was about 10 months ago that they bumped the starting pay to .29. Where I made the real money was on the Ltl runs here. They've given me a lot of different opportunities so far, I've done otr van, dedicated Ltl to Canada, flatbed, and am now currently a dispatcher. I'm in the process of going back to flatbed though because office life was not all it panned out to be lol

 

There is not enough money in the world to make me work dispatch.

That IS awesome though that they mix things around for you. I heard W/S treats their drivers really well. What does a dispatcher start out at if you dont mind me asking? What are the pros/cons of it?

 

The money isn't good. I definitely made more driving. The pros? I have a gf with a 4 year old daughter so I get to see them every night. The cons? Guys that were my friends on the road I am now suddenly their boss and we don't always see eye to eye. Dealing with brokers all day is definitely one of the worst parts. And just the stress level in general, I feel more worn out after 40 hrs here than I did after 70 hrs driving. I'm just not cut out to be an office dweller, I'm happier on the road