Walbon - Rosemount, MN

I have to admit, their maintenance department does keep up on all the equipment, so that is a plus as well.

 

Umm I am not sure where you got your information from, but I am a driver for Walbon & Company and the miles there, and the freight is there, They run me non stop until I ask them for a break. So 12-1600 miles is not anywhere near accurate.

 

Well Lets See... I have Truck 490, have had the truck for quite some time, I run 10,000 miles a month, have never slip seated, never hauled a plant load, never hauled Wayne Chicken Farm load, never been #####ed at about using fuel to keep warm, in fact, Walbon has been nothing but good to me. See the problem with these discussion boards, you get people on here that the company probably wouldn't kiss their ###, so they quit, and then bad mouth the company. If you really want to know the truth, just ask one of the drivers, not someone that was formerly employed.

 

You have been given bad information ..

 

Well so far Walbon has been true to their word, they have given me all the miles a could possibly run in a months time, I have not encountered any of the rumors that I have heard on here, like all plant loads, poor miles, slip seating, etc.. so far Walbon is a great place to work.

 

Slip seating is a fact here. Every time I'm home I must empty out the truck because local drivers will be using it while I'm home. Twice they have assigned me to a different truck when returning from home time.

I have spent an inordinate amount of time sitting still, either waiting for a load or waiting to load or unload.

Walbon depends almost entirely upon one single customer to keep the company afloat. If that account is ever lost, Walbon will be forced to go out of business.

$0.40/mile is their top-out pay. No one there makes more than that (except fuel and safety bonuses) no matter how many years of service. That's actually horrendous when you know that most of the mega-companies pay even student drivers the same rate (and Walbon requires prior OTR experience).

Nice equipment though! All their trucks are APU-equipped, all the new trucks have automatic transmissions and company-paid SiriusXM radio.

The staff there is friendly and understanding. Great folks to work with. There's a "family atmosphere" there that is rare and delightful. But the folks there are helpless to change company policies and procedures that have become obsolete, so the same mistakes based on old assumptions are just repeated over and over.

If you're a "lazy" driver and don't care about mileage or pay, go for it. In 3 months there, every single load from the single account that keeps this company afloat has been delayed at least 8 hours to load or unload - the latest one took two DAYS). They know they have Walbon by the gonads and that Walbon will put up with it if they want to stay in business. Turnover is incredibly high.

I suspect that their part-time local drivers make better money than us OTR drivers do if you consider dollars per hour spent actually driving.

-Robin

 

Thanks for update boy wonder. Because the ones not getting the #### loads or slip seating were owner ops and company pets. I noticed they got newer equipment and it's about time. Yes the mechanics down there do a good job' That's about the only plus. Darby must have changed office people again. Good luck to anyone who drives for the outfit. If you like it more power to you!

 

WOW!!! 75 bucks paid orientation after 90 days, if that doesn't spell out Cheap Skate Outfit, you must be dumb and stupid to sign on here. Can't believe some people have no value over their CDL if it's clean to drive somewhere that proudly advertises 40 cpm top out pay on their website!

 

I have been away from trucking long enough to not qualify for the local stuff I was looking for, and Walbon is close to home. I didn't look at many trucking jobs and just went with them because they were willing to hire me, that's all.

3 months later I'm better informed. I put in my notice and have applied at several other companies over this holiday weekend. One recruiter offered $0.48/mile for the same work I'm doing now for $0.36/mile, but they will have me run with a trainer for "up to three weeks" since I have only three months' experience in the last few years. That sounds fair, and assuming I do okay with the trainer, I'll go solo at $0.12/mile better than I'm making at Walbon. I may be slow, but I'm not "dumb and stupid" enough to stay aboard a sinking ship for lousy pay.

 

Best of luck to you boy wonder and thanks for update on sinking ship.