Werner Enterprises, Inc. - Omaha, Ne.

That was one of the reasons it didnt work with my first trainer. I didnt feel comfortable in his truck with the tranny he had. Litteraly 15 mins after I met him he went in the sleeper and told me to get us to San Antonio. He "helped" me 'learn' his transmition on our way to the on ramp and that was it. I eventualy got it figured out enough to get there, but thank goodness it was late and I didnt stop along the way.....I had no idea how to down shift this thing short of coming to a complete stop and starting all over. I tried it and grinded a few gears but not too bad. I got it figured out enough to get where we had to go but the guy was absolutly NO help. Not much of a trainer at all. I would much rather he rode shotgun at least the first week to help me and actually train me, after a week or so I would have been back in the groove enough to feel comfortable to be left alone and team drive. Just didnt seem like a safe way to do things.

 

Question, doe's werner require everyone to go out with a trainer after orientation? even if you have 20 years of exp?

 

Werner is trying to better their training program but it is hard to police the trainers. Werner now requires the trainer to observe the trainee for a minimum of 15 driving hour during the first 3 days and an additional 15 hours over the next 11 days. The only way for Werner to know if the trainers are doing this or not is for the students to fill out the trainer evaluation form at the end of their training or call their student driver manager and request a new trainer. I'm not sure what happens to the trainer in those cases. I was lucky enough to get a good trainer. I've done twice as much driving as he has and he sat in the front seat and helped me for the first 2 weeks until he felt comfortable that I could drive the truck and navigate to where we were going without any problems.

 

tai mia shu, that was great input, thank you very much. very helpful. sorry to hear you are sitting there doing nothing. that is one thing i am afraid of. but take what you can get, i guess. especially in this economy

 

Welcome to the forums, Suncoast.
Is your 20 years experience recent?
Or have you been off the road for awhile,
and returning to OTR?

 

Just thought I'd pop in here and yes this will be LONG.

My other half has driven over 22 years and has worked for Werner for now into his 18th year with them, currently working on a dedicated account. He's nearing his 2 million mile accident free mark with Werner, and he has a 100% on time record for over seven years, so he's not your stereotypical driver. I and/or he (via me) can answer many questions that you have about Werner based upon his/our experience with them.

One of the major complaints I hear about Werner is that they rip you off or steal from you. I am here to say, that is not true, AS LONG AS you go through the proper channels and pre-authorizations. I have never known them to not reimburse him for anything such as tolls, anti-freeze, oil, wipers, headlights, etc. As was stated in a prior post by IROCUbabe, if you follow the proper procedures, then you will be reimbursed. If you don't know the proper procedures, then it is YOUR responsibility to LEARN how to do your job correctly. If you don't know the macros, find out. Sorry if you don't like the attitude, but that's the way it is.

As for payroll shortages, remember the cut off date for payroll. Additionally, sometimes, if you have submitted a trip in time for payroll cut off, the trip does not show up on your next check. If this happens, take a look in the lower left hand corner of your check stub. You will probably see a message that says you need to speak with your load planner/dispatch for approval. But ultimately, I've NEVER seem them NOT pay him for a load. If its not on his check, its because he didn't get into Trip Pak on time, thus it didn't get to Omaha in time for that weeks check and has always been on the next weeks check.

Additionally, sometimes when your routing is different from what the QComm says it is, the trip will be flagged for approval from the load planner. If you have to deviate from routing for a valid reason (weather, accident, construction), you need to let your lp or dispatcher know via QComm as soon as possible, that way, it's on record.

Or if you deadhead over a certain mileage, that also has to be approved by payroll before it is paid. If you bobtail, no matter the mileage, pretty much, it ALL has to be approved by the lp or dispatch.

One other item I would like to address is the comment that "Werner destroys relationships." That is false. The trucking industry as a whole helps to destroy a relationship, not necessarily a company. The point of being a truck driver is that you are paid to drive, not to sit at home. If you or your significant other doesn't like that lifestyle or can't handle it, then you need to turn in your keys and take a job in a different industry. Sorry to sound so cold, but that's just the way it is. Don't expect them to be home for holidays if you are a "newbie" driver or new to Werner. Even this year, there was a possibility that my other half wasn't going to show up until Christmas Day however, somehow he managed to get home early Christmas Eve. And of course, he's back on the road today (Friday). That is the truck driver lifestyle, no matter who you work for. Also, don't get stuck or hung up on "exact times" of them being home because you will ALWAYS be disappointed. Try working with four hour windows. I personally work with morning, afternoon, evening, and night because everytime he gives me a time, even if he's only 100 miles out, he's never home when he says he's going to be due to a delay from either from traffic, the yard or the office.

As for Werner firing drivers, if you are the bottom of the barrel with low on-time, high safety violations, high tickets, a preventable accident(s), low production, etc., then you might want to consider trying to improve or possibly face being terminated. This is not the first time Werner has cut the bottom of the barrel, and I'm sure it won't be the last. And honestly, I can't blame them. Why keep someone who is a liability, or who is an expense or someone who can't be depended on to make deliveries on time? Werner has lost MANY accounts because of drivers being late for no valid reason. How do you think they lost the Wal-Mart account which Swift picked up? If they lose accounts, they have less loads, and the bottom of the barrel will be the first to go.

As for miles, well.. I can tell you, my other half has gotten mileage bonuses four out of the past six months, meaning, he has done over 10K in 30 days as a solo driver for four months out of the past six, and the other two were missed only by 100-200 miles. I also know that in the past 12 months, he has done over 125K miles. If you want to drive, the miles are there.

On idle time, the other half has an APU and generally averages anywhere from 7-10% (remembering that he's not a 48 state driver, but a dedicated driver, which means lots of time spent in large cities, traffic and at lights), and he was asked why he had such a high idle time, when there were drivers that had 1 -2% idle time. He told them exactly WHY and HOW these guys were getting 1-2% idle time (there's a sneaky way, and don't ask me how cause I ain't tellin), and needless to say, there aren't any more 1-2% idle times on this account, and now between 10-12% is acceptable for an APU and idle time, depending upon the load (remembering that Budweiser requests that trucks idle during breaks in cold weather so the beer doesn't separate), the account, the distance, etc.

The thing to remember ultimately is that bad/inexperienced dispatchers/load planners can make a good trucking company job a nightmare. It's not necessarily the company, it's the people that work in the company. And you think driver turnover is bad? You should see Omaha.

Unfortunately when you have a high turnover in an office, training is "pushed" and they don't get the training they should. For example, for his yearly bonuses, he has always gotten a bonus for continued service. Usually all the bonus checks come at the same time however, this time, this check didn't show up. He had to make 4 phone calls in a row (thanks to those that don't know how to transfer in Omaha), and talk to 12 different people in three different departments before someone knew what he was talking about. Several people at Omaha told him that he had NEVER gotten such bonus before, as they had never heard of it. Other's said there was no such thing. Other's said they were clueless at to what he was talking about. Came to be, they renamed the bonus to "Year End" bonus for seniority and now it comes a week AFTER your anniversary date in a separate check.

And I don't think I need to address with any Werner driver about being "on hold" with road breakdown for sometimes HOURS, but always a minimum of 45 minutes. Or them forgetting to make the phone calls they say they are going to do....

And the one thing about Werner is that yea, they are the lowest paying in the industry however, after a few years, there are perks. For example, after ten years, you get free health insurance. If you invest small amounts in your 401k (and put that into the fixed asset fund, thus no matter if the market goes up or down, you still make the same fixed interest), and invest in stock, then you have a nice little "insurance" account. Don't believe me? Try buying Werner stock, investing $25.00 a week of your paycheck for into 18 years wtih a company, and then getting a dividend. This year, the board decided to give a $2.10 per common share stock special dividend. It was a nice little bonus check (of course we have to pay taxes on it as Im pretty sure the Werner boys weren't going to reimburse us for the tax on the divident if we decided to reinvest it back into the company, why pay taxes on something you never see, so we took the dividend instead of rolling it back into the company).

There are also mileage, safety , year end bonuses and being able to take your vacation pay without taking a vacation. The thing with Werner is that if you expect to make money, a LOT of money straight out of school, it's not goign to happen. You have to earn your stripes and then are a few perks. Werner as an employer to make money at is a long term investment. My other half finally cleared the 60K for the first time, and he's a solo driver, and has never been and never will be a trainer, he says the headaches aren't worth it.

His best friend who is a 2mil miler, and a trainer has told us many a horror stories about his trainees. And this guy, is the cleanest, nicest, and even has printed out training materials for his trainees. He's no schumck when it comes to training. A recent story is one woman (he's a coed trainer) who ended up being schizophrenic (she talked to herself and other people that weren't in the cab) and she was taken off the truck. And another who wanted him to deviate over 200 miles to some address in a ghetto, so she could pick up a "package", and was accused of shoplifting by a truck stop. We always know when he's got a new student because we don't hear from him for two weeks because he actually stays with the student, and sleeps very little during that time. Not all Werner trainers are morons.

The one major complaint that I have about Werner, as does my other half, is regarding tires. Currently all 8 drive tires are at minimum DOT depth with one actually having a bald spot on it. Werner/road-breakdown will not authorize to replace any of the tires, much less all 8 of them at once, even after going through a safety lane, and submitting multiple requests to road breakdown via the QComm. He has said if they send him in snow, he's shutting down and sitting as its hard enough to drive in snow, with or without chains, but with no minimum tread on all 8 drive tires, it's impossible to drive safely.

And this is not the first time he's had hassles getting tires for his truck. One prior time about a year ago, the safety lane told him no on four tires, he got hold of the terminal manager and the safety manager, and then put in a call to Omaha safety. They finally approved it after two days of fighting, but he had to sit at a terminal for FIVE ADDITIONAL DAYS UNDER LOAD (he was on priority, but he kept getting pushed down) before they changed the four tires.

And as for terminals, there's a reason why you see on the QComm to not go to a terminal unless instructed by dispatch. Because if you do, and you're red tagged, you WILL be stuck there at LEAST three days, if not more. About 8 months ago, my other half went through a safety lane, and they redtagged him for a QComm upgrade. He sat there for three days waiting for something that took 15 minutes. Another guy that was there at the same time, had been waiting SEVEN DAYS for ONE TIRE.

Needless to say, on his current tires, he says as soon as they are below DOT, which should be in about a week, he's pulling in a scale house and asking for a "Courtesy Inspection".

Hope this helps. Any questions, feel free. If I don't know the answer, Im sure my other half does.

 

WELCOME to the forums, Steele.

Outstanding first post!
That'll be a tough act to follow.

 

Welcome to the forums Steele, and great post. I might add that this is one of the most complete post I have read regarding any company especially Werner.. I might also add that I to was with Werner once for two weeks only. It was not that I did not like my trainer, it was because I was honest about an accident I had 17 yrs prior and none since. The safety department bugged me everyday during those two weeks about it. I asked my trainer why they keep on bothering me about that since it was so long ago? He replied that their getting ready to let you go, stupid he said but that is they way it was going to be, so I left instead.

 

Thanks for that warm welcome AfterShock. I will have 23yrs & 11 mos exp as of this month, all recent and a combonation of OTR, Regional and some local work in Philadelphia & Florida. I have been working for a local company in Florida for the past 4-mos so I could take care of some home issues. Now that the homefront is all taken care of I am now ready to hit the road again. I would say that my total OTR exp is about 15 years of OTR with about 5 years of regional work and almost 4 years local stuff. total of almost 24-yrs now. The longest break in work history is 3-weeks and that has been the last 3 weeks leading up to Christmas. I figured I would take the holaday season off before going back to the big road...

 

Suncoast,
I would talk to them and see what they say. From what I have seen usually somebody with your experience would go out for maybe 10 days with a trainer just to verify your knowledge and learn the paperless logs and such.