Reaching the end of my patience...

Read all 10 pages of your thread Dude I went through a similar situation as you in my roockie year back in 91.I hope everything works out for you and your wife.Best of luck.

 

Ok I just want to say I wish it gets better but it dont.I have been with Werner 4 months now and most of my time im broke down more then I am rolling.Now I will tell you this with you being in the hotel make sure you get everything werner pays for you and make sure you keep a copy for yourself.When Werner put me up in a hotel in Iowa for a week do to break downs then rented me a car and I sent in all my receipts cause pay roll will try claming that they can not read them and take it all out of your check.it took me a month fighting with them to get them to give back the $1200 they said i owed do to break down.

But my advise is if you can get on somewhere else do it now cause the miles really are not there in less you become a trainer.

 

That is not true... I live in Omaha and drive for werner...have been with them for just over a year... I drovefor an O/O and a small company beore coming to werner... werner has worked good for me... I have only ever been on dedicated accounts... and have been assigned good equiptment and have not had they in the shop woes that skme drivefs have...

I just switched to a home daily and off weekends account.. which I am liking a lot as it gives me plenty of time to ride my bike... Thursday nignts I meet up with a few othe Omaha based werner drivers and take in a Storm Chasers (farm team for KC Royals ) at Werner park.. where i show them my ID badge and get in for free...


Now... when I am at the game I also look to see if my flleet manager is there and if he is.. I buy him a beer or two... why... because if my truck is in the shop my fleet manager is the only person who can get it moved up the priority list and get it fixed rignt away or get me a loaner... another thing to consider about being on a dedicated is dedicated trucks have a higher priority in the shop over OTR drivers...

I have been able to make it work at werner... I had to learn the ropes and the system.. which I did by talki g to and learning from other drivers who were doing well at werner...

If you are going to stay at werner get on a dedicated account.. there are a plethora of them... the 3M account is great if you have your tanker endorsement... down south the grain hauling account is a good one...
Pick an account with a good sign on bonus.. also.. sometimes you just got get on the account and then move up from there.. the only opening they had was a over night shift.. but I took it.. and ran it great... let my FM know I wanted days and a 3 day weekend... took about a month.. but now I got it...

If yoh decide to leave werner and go somewhere else.. just get in with and learn from the drivers who are successful there... every company has their system.. you just need to learn it...

Also.. talk to your FM.. they can get your truck out of the shop or get you assigned a new one... also.. they can kick hou some money over the layover pay... you just got to talk it out them... not yell it out of them...

Good luck to you..

 

That is not true... I live in Omaha and drive for werner...have been with them for just over a year... I drovefor an O/O and a small company beore coming to werner... werner has worked good for me... I have only ever been on dedicated accounts... and have been assigned good equiptment and have not had they in the shop woes that skme drivefs have...

I just switched to a home daily and off weekends account.. which I am liking a lot as it gives me plenty of time to ride my bike... Thursday nignts I meet up with a few othe Omaha based werner drivers and take in a Storm Chasers (farm team for KC Royals ) at Werner park.. where i show them my ID badge and get in for free...


Now... when I am at the game I also look to see if my flleet manager is there and if he is.. I buy him a beer or two... why... because if my truck is in the shop my fleet manager is the only person who can get it moved up the priority list and get it fixed rignt away or get me a loaner... another thing to consider about being on a dedicated is dedicated trucks have a higher priority in the shop over OTR drivers...

I have been able to make it work at werner... I had to learn the ropes and the system.. which I did by talki g to and learning from other drivers who were doing well at werner...

If you are going to stay at werner get on a dedicated account.. there are a plethora of them... the 3M account is great if you have your tanker endorsement... down south the grain hauling account is a good one...
Pick an account with a good sign on bonus.. also.. sometimes you just got get on the account and then move up from there.. the only opening they had was a over night shift.. but I took it.. and ran it great... let my FM know I wanted days and a 3 day weekend... took about a month.. but now I got it...

If yoh decide to leave werner and go somewhere else.. just get in with and learn from the drivers who are successful there... every company has their system.. you just need to learn it...

Also.. talk to your FM.. they can get your truck out of the shop or get you assigned a new one... also.. they can kick hou some money over the layover pay... you just got to talk it out them... not yell it out of them...

Good luck to you..

 

If you are going to stay with Werner dedicated is the way to go. You can usually build a pretty good relationship with your FM and that can help alot when truck is down.

When ever a truck on my acct is down for more than a few days my fm will work on getting another truck. When I was regional my truck was down for 2 weeks. On my dedicated acct I have never been down for more than 3 days. Werner technically does not give loaners but I have had a loaner twice when my truck was in the shop for extended periods of time.

Have they resolved your battery issue? My pete was in and out if the shop (kkept having to get jumpstarted) and they kept checking the batteries and alternator and telling me "everything is fine" i would say "so it's normal for a truck to need a jumpstart after its been off for more than 8hours?" I finally demanded they check the starter and come to find out it was drawing more than twice the amps it should be. New starter problem solved.

I was originally on a regional acct and if I hadn't found a good dedicated acct I would of been gone long ago. I am pretty happy, don't unload and usually gross about 1300 a week not great $ but not bad either.

Not sure of your area but put in differnt zip codes in the driver portal for a wide variety of available accts to you. 2 that come to mind where you can make decent $, not unload and a have a good relationship with your FM are coca cola and jeld wen

 

No offense dude but you've been with the company 4 weeks and been broke down for 3 of those 4 weeks and you're still with the company. That says more about you than the company......

 

I have been with werner for almost a year and a half.. and have had 3 trucks assigned to me.. the first 386 Pete 13 speed.. had to turn it in when it reached 500,000 miles causeit got sold... did not have any issues with the truck and only in the shop for the oil changes and regular maintenance stuff.. the longest it was in the shop was 2 and 1/2 days while I was on home time... my next truck a 13 speed Kenworth.. had it for 6 months and had to turn it in cause it got sold to a driver that had to have a white 13 speed Kenworth... that was a great truck and again only in for oil changes and regular maintenance.. which I always had done during my hometime. .. then I got assiged a new Freightliner Cascadia... nice truck, but did have to take it to the dealership a couple times for recalls.. and that sucked.. but, I just had to work with my fleet manager and switch around my home time... so either stay out a bit longer or once came home a day earlier.. so I didn't lose to much time and money.. ..

Okay so my point... there is a lot to be said for knowing how to pre trip and maintain your truck.. I do believe there is a lot drivers can do to keep their trucks out of the shop... and I believe are are things drivers do or don't do that puts their truck in the shop... like riding the clutch, glazing the brakes, running low oil or other fluids...