Watkins and Shepard 10-day Program

I recently finished Watkins and Shepards 10-day program and wanted to post the details so anyone considering it would have a better idea how it works. There is a lot of good info in other threads about this company but not too specific on the 10-day orientation. All the 10-day people in my class stayed at a local Hotel and used the company van to shuttle back and forth in. If you need to practice your shifting or backing, you'll need to be proactive and drive over to the yard and practice, trucks are available 24 hours a day to get that done.

If you have less than 90 days of OTR experience and already have your CDL, chances are that you'll be in this program.

Day 1 - Classroom Day.
On this day you'll do paperwork and such, get your company manual and be given some tasks. The tasks consist of watching a handful of short safety videos and you are given several days to complete it. You just go upstairs and watch DVD's with your classmates when you have time. Most of my class went in on Saturday and watched them all. You are also given a few tests to complete on your own time. They are open book and easy. There are two Hazmats tests, air brakes test, drug awareness test, general knowledge test etc. You have to take the hazmat class with them and the tests even if you don't have or intend to get the endorsement. Don't worry, they are easy and again, open book.

The next few days are very similar to each other so I won't break them down individually.

Most of this 10-day program is classroom stuff. They will show you how they want logs done, how they want their billing/trip envelopes filled out and basically all the paperwork they want you to do for each run. Pay attention, it's all about how you get paid. We got a winter driving class and were shown how to put chains on as well. They go over all company policies etc...There is also a class on how they want you to utilize the Qualcomm and they familiarize you with their macros.

The first drive day was all city driving with a 53' trailer in tow, it may or may not be loaded. Ours were mostly loaded due to the icy road conditions in Missoula, MT. The next drive day was backing. They will observe you backing into a dock (onsite) and in the yard backing between trailers. They also give you a backing class and demonstrate some backing strategies.

There is a final road test where they take you out to drive in mountain conditions, the grade we went on was at most 6% and fairly short. They want to see that you can shift going up and down. After the mountains they take you back to town for some more city driving. They will have you take sharp right and left turns to make sure you can safely handle the 53' ft trailer without causing damage to street signs etc...

Once you finish all the above to their satisfaction you are graduated from the program and assigned your truck. I feel lucky to have taken this class in the winter in Missoula, because it gave me some good winter training that I otherwise would not have received.

Watkins and Shepard takes good care of their equipment and most of the OTR or Regional trucks all have APU's for driver comfort. The shop will remove any cabinets you want them too so that you can put refrigerators, microwaves, etc in there. I was lucky enough to get assigned a 2007 Volvo and I LOVE IT! Makes a big difference getting a good truck, my former company didn't take good care of theirs and it just made the job that much harder.

Once I checked out my truck and was ready to go, I had a load to California within 30 minutes of going available.

I think this is a great company to work for and would recommend them to anyone thinking about it. Just keep in mind though that if you do already have your CDL, make sure you know how to shift, back and corner, if you don't chances are you won't make it. We lost one person in the beginning because he couldn't do his logs correctly and was a terrible backer. They don't necessarily expect perfection from a new driver but in their eyes, they just want to make sure you have the skills that your school was supposed to teach you.

Another good thing to consider is that this company pays you for a lot of extra things. You get $5 every time you bump a dock. If you drop an empty and pick up a loaded trailer at the customer you'll get $5 for each (that's $10 for 15 minutes of work folks!). There are other things too that most companies pay for, layover, detension, hand loading/unloading etc...

Experienced drivers orientation is only a couple of days (FYI).

Good luck and if you do pick W/S you won't be sorry.

 

If you already have your CDL you'll go through the 10-day class. If you do not have your CDL you can go through the 30 day class to get it (you'll need to have your permit however, before your class starts).

If you live in Montana their 30 day class is only like $1000...if you don't it's comparable to other schools in price I think...Call a recruiter over there and they can give you good information. They didn't tell me anything that wasn't true, top notch department!