1 year with Western

Jay19871 · Dec 10, 2015

A_C_Cooper said: ↑

Yeah, I'm going flatbed. With the way I eat when bored if I went van I'd weigh a ton. Besides I had a taste of flatbed when I yard dogged for a steel constuction company, securing loads and riding with the driver to unload at job sites and I liked the feeling of satisfaction I got from it
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Flatbed always did look fun to me. Maybe I'll switch it up someday as a change of pace. I bought a weight set from Wal-Mart to combat the boredom eating and do that when I have an empty trailer. With western they run people pretty hard so don't think you'll be bored a lot.

Sneakerfix · Dec 10, 2015

A_C_Cooper said: ↑

I have and if I wasn't dead set on flatbed I'd have more options. Hell even Swift turned me down. I was all set to go and then my recruiter said they changed from no more than 3 tickets in 3 years to 4 in 5 years. Well my high school days of 3 tickets in 2011 caught up with me. Every one but TransAm, PTL and WE say call back in a year, and like I said I'm dead set on flats so TransAm and PTL are out.
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Did you contact you're local DMV to see if you can have your record cleared. I know in California after 3 years we can have our MVR purged of old tickets

A_C_Cooper · Dec 10, 2015

Don't know if SC does that. I'll look into it.

Lightside · Dec 11, 2015

Jay19871 said: ↑

I heard Fontana was a decent terminal to be at. Will you be regional in that area? My training was with two different trainers over the course of 5 or 6 weeks but that's because the first guy put his two weeks notice in during my training lol so I had to start over. Normal though is 30 days out with a trainer then take your test. Advice would be if you don't get along with your DM ask for a new one and don't let them force you into running illegally. Don't be shy about hounding your trainer with questions.
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I'll be 11 western. Dry van.

smokepg · Dec 11, 2015

Jay19871 said: ↑

I've been with Western Express for one year now. Started out as OTR and did that for 8 months. Was put into a new freight liner right at the start and given what I thought was a good DM. At first things were great and I was having fun but after a while I started realizing that they would never let me see my family. I live in New Hampshire and was promised I'd get 3-4 days off after a month of working yet when the time came they would make excuses as to why I couldn't go. Ended up waiting 3 months to finally see them after having to literally send a message on the qualcom every couple days. When I finally made it home they cut my break into two days instead of four.

They use the qualcom and in my opinion it's a terrible system that freezes up all the time and takes forever to do anything. The navigation is practically useless in NYC driving. The amount of macros they expect you to send a day is unbelievable and then sometimes you have to wait hours for responses from your DM.

I ended up putting my two weeks notice in to take a months break because they wouldn't just let me stay a employee and take a vacation. After a monthish I applied to them again and was instantly hired to Northeast Regional which was a terrible mistake on my part that I will be regretting lol. The truck they issued me is a 2012 International that is in bad condition. The AC doesn't work and lately it's been very hot out and I've been sweating it out in this truck while sitting in traffic. They keep sending me from terminal to terminal to get it fixed but my DM always has me leave because the mechanics are to busy and cannot fix it for a couple days. The fender on my truck just randomly came apart and fell off on the highway and western breakdown has me bungie it back up. They gave the truck to me with several pieces of it's body missing and it's paint is coated with oil stains along the sides. It looks like complete garbage, I haven't ever seen a truck on the road looking like this. My current DM messages me daily saying that I'm a terrible driver and micromanaging every single thing I do. I have been home twice now in two months but the promised 48 hours every two weeks is of course a lie. They cut both of them down to a normal 34 reset.

TLDR
Company does not see truckers as human beings.
They don't care about you or your family.
Poor equipment.
DM's are disrespectful and will treat you like a child.
They will set you up for failure, not success.
You will be sent to places that most companies will not go because of liability reasons.
They show off and put on a fake guise for new drivers, sending you out west with a trainer with a nice truck and yes you'll probably have fun like I did doing that (unless you get one of the horror story trainers I've heard about) but when you get into your own truck things start changing very quickly.
Breakdown will tell you to do things like drive with no trailer breaks with 45,000 lbs of water 600 miles to a consignee because they can't find anyone to fix them.

There is a bunch wrong with this company and the complete lack of respect and regard for truckers who keep them employed. I am not sure what to do. Currently I have no CSA violations not even a over weight ticket. I'm a safe driver and always run my clock out. My loads are rarely on time but that's because Western will give you loads that are destined to be late then blame you for it. They are the only company I have worked for and am wondering what some of you who have been in the industry for a while think. Is there companies out there who will actually let us have lifes outside of our trucks ie see family and friends. Have off time and be treated like a person? I've heard that all these large companies are the same.
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Does western express do hair follicles test for pre-employment

Jay19871 · Dec 11, 2015

smokepg said: ↑

Does western express do hair follicles test for pre-employment
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They did when I was there. Took a chunk from my leg.

Lonesome · Dec 11, 2015

smokepg said: ↑

Does western express do hair follicles test for pre-employment
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Jay19871 said: ↑

They did when I was there. Took a chunk from my leg.
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Another one bites the dust.......

A_C_Cooper · Dec 11, 2015

Why are you worried about the test?
if you are driving don't partake of prohibited substances when you quit being a driver then you can go back to partaking, otherwise you will be caught.

gary bourne · Dec 14, 2015

Does WE use electronic logs.

Sneakerfix · Dec 14, 2015

gary bourne said: ↑

Does WE use electronic logs.
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Yes but I'm not sure if this a serious question

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