Our new 2015 Volvo is sick, in Volvo hospital

Discussion in 'Watkins & Shepard' started by jungledrums, Jun 12, 2014.

  1. zmpart

    zmpart Light Load Member

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    In helena the good empty trailers are red tagged even though they are fine, to prevent drivers taking food grade trailers to go load cardboard or recycled whatever, or hay...you get the point. alot of the wheat customers in great falls are strict on having good trailers and drivers having other loads try to snag the good trailers even though any DOT passable trailer will do....

    on the new trailers with fiberglass roofs, if there is even a small hole, (which should have been noticed upon VI, but that is not always possible on sealed loads, and really beside the point) a small hole will allow enough airflow in that cant escape that it does indeed peel the roof off the mothersucker, again a thorough and legally required VI prevents this, again not always possible. the problem with watkins that many other companies dont tend to have is that a lot of the freight is upwards of 20 stop runs delivering furniture to small towns across the country. one small tree branch can cause this hole. i am certainly not blaming these two, just putting it out their. that because of this, knowing this, a thorough inspection is all the more important.

    I take umbrage to the 99% comment and have a hard time believing that even if they are friends of yours that you can defend this comment. really 99 out of 100 trailers they pulled were junk? and yet i have only normal everyday wear and tear problems every now and again usually due to poor post trips? friends or not their is no need to exaggerate or defend this level of exaggeration. this forum is for truth so be truthful.

    i noticed this team writing on here when they worked here and took it upon myself to contact upper managment on their behalf about their situation, though i had never met them i still really truly and honestly felt for them. they were getting crap runs over and over again. while the company was begging for good teams to service a new account they hoped would pan out that never did they were screwing the teams they had over in the mean time til the said contract came fully on board. they should have done something to take care of these two because it was obvious to me that under the right circumstances they could be successful, their time at usx has proved that. but they fell threw the cracks. the problem with watkins in regards to teams is their is only a limited amount of runs, though more than enough for the teams they had before the said 'new contract' but those runs really required people to a) be at certain places at certain times, i.e. LA or east coast on either Tuesdays or Fridays. and b) run fully 100% no un-necassary stopping while under the load. If you arrived in LA or the east coast on monday or wednesday or thursday you would get a crap run, like to vegas, phoenix, modesto, or jersey, ohio or michigan, etc, and feel like you were being screwed but this was being done to get you back to LA or Georgia for the correct day. Trust me i have run team with these guys for two years, but had the advantage of knowing all this before hand. Last year and into this we consistently ran from Montana on mondays to LA for tuesday to Dalton, GA on thursday then a quick turn to northern ohio and back to be in Dalton again on friday night to run back to montana. we had a day off in Helena every week and still ran over 6500 consistently. we got screwed a few times but always managed to make it up somewhere else. this year we accepted a run on that infamous new account running from LA to Mississippi and back two round trips a week, over 7500 a week, but with no days off. it was exhausting but we ranked in the bucks while it lasted, again the new account never really panned out, big talk but little freight. we are now going back into the Tues/Fri coast to coast thing and see how it works out.

    I dont mind that these folks left, good on them, they did get messed around, and there is no reason to live in truck with any one else, spouse or otherwise for wal mart pay. i am glad they are having a good time at USX, but in the interest of honesty i felt their 99% comment didnt due justice to the situation. they had plenty to ##### about and just choose to do it about something that quite frankly, statistically speaking is near impossible.

    Best of luck where ever you are and by all means be safe.
     
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  3. jungledrums

    jungledrums Heavy Load Member

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    We pulled one nice trailer during our time at W/S...the rest of them were in poor condition, of which a lot had to be taken to the mechanics to be fixed so we would not risk getting a citation.

    When we tried to find a newer trailer, they were red tagged, while the old trailers were not tagged...just as mtn . Dew said. We ran into that problem over and over again...the better trailers were off limits.
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2014
    horsecrazychic22 Thanks this.
  4. Brandson

    Brandson Medium Load Member

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    Teams shouldn't be running for less than 40 CPM. Last I heard, teams at WS made 32 CPM. Jungledrums is making 18 CPM more now. Any decent team company pays 45 CPM or more, even fresh out of training. How is 32 CPM for a team not an insult?
     
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  5. jungledrums

    jungledrums Heavy Load Member

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    We made .31cpm at W/S. We are now making .50cpm.... Our paychecks are much better now!
     
    Brandson Thanks this.
  6. wd40

    wd40 Light Load Member

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    I agree with both of you about many points. I ran team there. They treated teams like bottom of the chain employees. Out of 9 paychecks as a team, we only pulled more than 4000 miles once... never broke 5000... they are unorganized as far as teams. I was told by dipatch the solo drivers didn't go further south than 20 miles below the Dalton terminal. Atlanta is 60 miles- south of Dalton So, if you delivered to Conover NC from LA., the next trip was about 300 miles to Atlanta. There you sit until the next day. Then hands on unload. Then you drive the short 60 mile Distance to Dalton. Then you wait until the next night to load Carpet (heavy out of Dalton) . With rough trailers. That results in cutting your previous long trip miles to shreds. It would make more sense to run teams out of NC and Dalton right back across the country and let the local solo drivers make the Atlanta and short runs with a good Salary. Solo drivers at Watkins made many trips across country while teams ran short trips that were maybe 100 miles more than a solo could run in one day. That way they could make fast delivery promises (as long as the trailer didn't fall apart)... forget about the team getting any real miles. It basically seemed like a Newbie team mill. That said, fresh out of school with 10 days orientation was great. I enjoyed discovering this beautiful country with my wife instead of us each first seeing these places with unknown people. We as a team at Watkins ran through are savings and had to leave. Sorry, but that is the way it is.
     
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  7. TruckDuo

    TruckDuo Road Train Member

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    Chicago, IL
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    Zmpart - how did you know that jungle drums and wd40 were doing poorly? They only posted how dire their situation had gotten right before they made the choice to leave, around June.

    I think everybody on here needs to have a good look at his post again and re-read it. Why would someone be contacting upper management on behalf of another party when mgmt can't talk about another employees situation anyway?

    I don't think you're a driver. I think you're a Watkins office worker defending the company. Only an office person would have the knowledge about their situation and the ability to speak to mgmt about it.

    Besides jungle drums & wd40 I've also spoken to negativecold 13 and his wife and they are not doing well either. The most telling quote he said was that he wished he got paid for fixing trailers because they did more of that than driving.

    The company recruiters say they have team runs but they fail to mention that all the teams they have will be fighting for the handful of team runs they have. When people are deceived like this the financial ramifications can be devastating.

    Both of these teams went to Watkins mgmt and nothing was ever done to help them.

    Another thing we need to consider is that while we dwell upon the low pay at this company, equally important is the absolutely horrible benefits. The whole situation is a lose/lose for team drivers.
     
  8. jungledrums

    jungledrums Heavy Load Member

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    Yes, negativecold and wife have had a difficult time at WS too.
     
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  9. TruckDuo

    TruckDuo Road Train Member

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    Chicago, IL
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    "Watkins-Shepard offers TOP PAY for 2 person and 3 person teams. We have actual team freight, excellent bonus program and benefit package. We also offer special team dispatch, separate from solo drivers. "

    Saw this at the W&S website. Too Funny !
     
    blairandgretchen Thanks this.
  10. wd40

    wd40 Light Load Member

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    Yep.... I fell for it.
     
    blairandgretchen Thanks this.
  11. zmpart

    zmpart Light Load Member

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    119 posts, 172 thanks, and 73 thanked since 2010, i will let my record speak for itself, but thanks very much for your informed opinion.
     
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