WERNER ENTERPRISES, Omaha, Ne

Since you keep mentioning my name on here, I'll assume this is your way of showing affection. I don't, however, love you in return, don't know you well enough. BTW, I see you haven't taken any english courses yet. Does "Riddens" mean riddance?
A trip recorder and satellite invasion, btw, are 2 completely different things.
Oh and this "animal control can only hope to improve" that goes along with that red dot? I mean, I haven't seen a single other person on this board with a red dot following them around like a tail on a dog - you do seem to have a problem here, don't you?

 

I can't say for certain when Werner first installed QualComms but I can say with absolute certainty that on 6 April 1998 FMCSA published 63 FR 16697 soliciting motor carriers to participate in a pilot program in which HOS would be monitored by GPS and related safety-management computer systems, in lieu of the RODS required by 49 CFR 396.8.

Werner was the only company to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

So, that is the absolute earliest Werner could have possibly used the QualComm for logging a drivers HOS- 6 April 1998.

Don't believe me? Then check it out for yourself on the website: Dept. of Transportation, FMCSA, Docket number FMCSA-2003-15818.

 

Well, when they stuck that thing up on the roof of my truck and then filled the cubby full of electronic junk - literally took up the entire space in there - they weren't logging me. They were "watching me", as they decided to do with their entire fleet. There was a monitor looking thing they installed in the cab that had a keyboard on it. It was also too big and took up too much room. The dispatcher used that thing to beep me at all hours of the day and night. I got sick of it quickly. I mean, you couldn't read the message on it unless you pulled over. You couldn't reply to it unless you pulled over, either. This was before cell phones were affordable - or even that there were cell towers everywhere for good coverage, so the dispatcher wouldn't try to call you on a cellphone, he would try to get you on that blasted "thing". I got to the point where I started ignoring it. If I was sleeping, tough. Let it beep. If I was driving, same thing. The messages rarely turned out to be anything important. Even if they were, I figured I had driven my entire career up to that point without that junk - how did they survive the caveman days without them? Of course, you communicated when you needed to - by calling THEM. Lol. I don't even think they called that equipment they installed in my truck Qualcomm, but whatever it was, it was a huge annoyance.

 

Hopefully my final rant: Werner apparently says they began using QualComm in 1998. That's what they told me and others I know. That's what a friend of mine who worked for them in 1998 told me as well. I think these stories are accurate, but whatever. The problem is, they use them to a point of complete aggravation.

I got home yesterday, and turned in my truck as planned. I had 5 trucks in 8 months. That's 4 too many. Only one didn't have red tag type problems, but that QC was still a big problem. The dispatchers love to use it, but they tend to reserve the use for when it suits them. When they want a driver to call, they send a message saying so. I had it out with my "fleet managers" boss over not calling. He told me I'd better get out my werner manual and learn the rules. To wit: I immediately opened to the 1st page about team driving as he said I should. Instantly, I pointed out that sentence 2 as I remember, paragraph 2, states: the QC is to be used for ALL communication! I won that fight in 20 seconds. I always won the arguments about rules. Positively zero exceptions. I always won.

Monday, I start for a local company I've worked for before. After an ugly phone call on Thursday morning, I told Werner I was finished with their utter stupidity. The FM claimed I threatened him, though I hadn't. Besides, he was in Omaha, NE and I was north of Chicago, in IL. Less than 30 minutes after the ugly call, I was called by the other company. I laughed and said I was about to call them. I was offered my job back and asked to start on Friday, but since I was out of state, couldn't.

Werner still owes me as much as $2,000.00 and that's plenty. Every cent owed is because my FM failed to do his job. He actually asked me why I said I didn't want to see him when the chance arose on Monday. I told him I was afraid I may pull him through the window and do something I shouldn't, no matter how deserved. This, he claimed, was a threat. Fact is, I avoided the situation on my own. They claim I need counseling for anger management. I responded by reminding them how truly moronic and thoughtless they really are, noting I had purposely avoided the confrontation. This clearly shows I need no such "help" from anyone.

There were fewer than 5 Werner(non-driver) employees I met that I believe to be remotely educated. It's honestly just sad to know the company hires such morons. Sure, this is my opinion, but it is based in reality. I know of 4 other drivers who relayed the very same thoughts I actually shared with them. Only one other has turned in keys. The others told me themselves, they cannot afford to do what I have done. The other driver said the same, but added, "If not for turning in the keys, I'll lose my mind and I'd rather be broke and even unemployed than to be talking to myself AND THEN answering!"

No doubt, I made the right decision for me. Too bad more Werner drivers can't do the same. If so, I am convinced the company would quickly change policy to be more driver friendly. Could it or would it be all great? No, but the best way to make things better is to make an attempt. To this point, Werner is failing miserably. They've got a 121-127% turnover rate. With over 11,000 employees, that is simply astounding, not to mention difficult to understand. Over 13,000 drivers per year, passing through the doors of a single company, and not coming back.

On Wednesday morning, I spoke with a Werner driver who began with them in 1988. He told me there are ways to work out the issues, but I'd have to be tactful and persistent. I'm likely to tell how I feel and "tact" isn't the problem. Irritation is. He gave me a card with his name on it, then told me it wasn't his number, but that of a driver relations manager. I called it and was transferred to the FM's boss. This ended with him promising to get my pay to me on Friday. Friday came and went. I got 5 days of layover pay. I was owed nearly 30. On Thursday morning, he came to the defense of the FM and told me it wasn't their responsibility that I get paid properly. Wednesday, he had told me it was. Whatever... I'll get it handled.

End of my story here. I won't recommend Werner Ent. to anyone. Best of luck to everyone who goes there. I know there are some happy drivers. I also know there are many unhappy drivers.

 

All I can say is, when they put that junk in my truck, it was either 1993 or 1994. It wasn't Quaalcomm, I think is the point here.
Regardless, it still amazes me how many drivers do not carry a microcassette recorder with them. Recruiters, dispatchers, all kinds of people make all kinds of claims - that aren't true - the only way to protect yourself is to tape every freakin' conversation. I STILL do that to this day.
I am working for a GREAT company, but there is one warehouse manager who is a total ###. The other day, he came out yelling at me about "throwing stuff all over the place". As soon as he started his tirade and anger venting, I started taping. He didn't realize I had a tape recorder, and went on for at least 5 minutes, yelling, throwing things, and letting the insults roll off the tip of his tongue as fast as he could come up with them.
Our company has a policy against abusive treatment of any employees, so I went and played that tape for my manager, who is above that manager.
The beauty of those tape players is that you don't have to have them visible, stick it in a shirt pocket, even put it in your pants or wherever you can find that the microphone part will have some open access. They work well on phone conversations, too, though you are supposed to legally warn the other party that the conversation is being taped if you are taping it over the phone.

Anyway, my boss called that guy and basically read him the riot act. Informed him how about the "Ferguson Way" of doing things, which did NOT include the way he was acting. The man knows I have a recorder now and has been on his "highest act of being polite" - and for him, it IS a total act, it certainly isn't a natural part of his reportroire.
Probably ought to start a new thread on this one - if I would in the "market" for a new company again, I would be recording every lie that every recruiter told me - including the date, the name of the recruiter and the company he/she is working for - for "future reference".

 

My husband and i team for Werner. We love it. Of course our dispatcher is the best. I think it helps when you get along with your dispatcher. I do understand though that not all are easy to get along with. She keeps us moving , home when we want or need to be home. She understands if weather makes it unsafe for us to drive. I am a rookie, my husband isnt. If i am driving and i feel it is unsafe (like going across parts of nebraska empty and wind gusts to 65+) . She understands. We have never ever gotten any flack on when our truck needs work, or if we have to pull over due to weather.
whitedove

 

I'm just glad to be elsewhere now. No QC, no load swaps, no dispatcher delay, no bad attitudes, no more dealing with a slew of clearly uneducated people trying to get to the bottom of why something went wrong so it can be done right next time, no more problems with home time and nobody purposely lying to us about what amounted to a plethora of issues. All said, the concerns we had were primarily due to the dispatcher/s not doing their job, outright.

Now if only they'd pay us the final amount owed. We're looking at only 1 trip now, plus layover pay for breakdowns, and bonding fees. That's all I can think of at the moment. Again, I'm simply happy to be done with the immediate problems which amount to "WERNER ENTERPRISES."

 

The problem with Werner is that #### electronic log book. They want you to take a load to the middle of no where and they know you have time to get it there. But what they dont take into consideration is finding a safe place to stay after because your time ran out. And unlike a paper log, if you need 15 minuites more to get somewhere, you dont have it.

 

I have driven for Werner, CRE, and JB. Werner by far has the worst equipment. The last truck I had with Werner was an old pete longnose. I had just picked it up and went to the shipper. I hooked onto the trailer, did my pull test, and checked everything out. I went around the building to the guard shack and the trailer came off!! Another driver said he saw me do a pull test too. So, I got the trailer back up and hooked onto it again and as soon as i took off it came off the fithwheel again! I decided there was something wrong with the 5th wheel. So I bobtailed back to the terminal about 100 miles away in Allentown. The mechanic checked it out and said there was nothing wrong with it. He greased it. I went back to get the original trailer and took it to Baltimore. I went to unhook the trailer and it would not release. Had to have road service come and get it unhooked. I bobtailed back to Allentown to have it looked at. The mechanic said again there was nothing wrong with it. I called my DM and told him I wanted a diferent truck. This one was a piece of crap in other ways also. He said no. I was issued that truck and have to stay with it. I said I refused to kill someone with this defective equipment and I quit. Their stuff is old and not well taken care of. Even the matress was stained and stunk, but they would not give me another one. Good luck if you go there....

 

Oddly, I also had a 5th wheel problem. For me, it simply wouldn't disconnect. I told them it was going to be a problem before accepting the truck and they fought me on repairing the arm. It was bent so badly, it got heated and bent in SEVEN places to appear correct. They'd have saved money by simply replacing the arm, but that wasn't allowed.

There was a time when WERNER equipment was some of the best in the industry. That time has passed.

Changing from one major company to another seems like a moot point to me. You're still just a number, It's like changing clothes. Nothing else really changed in the process. The bonus would be getting a dispatcher you can deal with. If I'd gotten that, I may have continued dealing with the equipment to some degree.