Watkins shepard

Vickster, We haven't forgotten about you. We've just been dealing with some super crappy weather, and my wife hasn't had time to post. I'll see if she can get it done tonight.

 

6309: The driving is split between city and mountain driving mostly with loaded trailers. The good thing about going in the winter is that you get very valuable mountain/winter training. All the trainer are professional, each one has a different way of doing things which can be confusing at first, but in the end you actually end up with several different ways of doing things and you will surely find one that works for you.

 

Hey Tragic, if you were trained on auto's, I wouldn't even bother with W/S. I myself trained on an auto-shift, and did very well. We did get trained on a 9-speed too, but not much. I was all set up for orientation with W/S until I told them that I'd need extra practice because of the inexperience on the manual. Sandy, the recruiter, told me that because of that, I couldn't drive for them. She was very nice about it, but it was still quite a disappointment. I'm leaving out on the road with Milan tomorrow for 4 weeks of training. They pay teams .28 per mile, split miles, but when you're a husband/wife team, I guess that's not all too too bad, when nobody else will hire a team unless they have some experience. I've heard the DM that handles the teams at Milan is awesome and gets you as many miles as you want. I was having doubts about my hubby's current DM, but last week he got 3400 miles! Gonna be a pretty decent paycheck. They're letting him drive solo until I'm done with training, otherwise they've been teaming new grads up.

MSM, thanks for offering to help, but I guess it won't be necessary for your wife's input now. lol

 

Are you serious ??

I can see Milan has went down hill, very fast.

.28 a mile for a team my ###.

That's a 33% (or more) CUT from the industry average for teams.

I guess companies have figured that if CRST can still find drivers, they can too.

 

Thanks WingRider,
I appreciate the info. I like to learn for instructors who have different ways of teaching. As you said:"you will surely find one that works for you".

 

Do the W/S drivers that went through the 30 day training and financed it through TAB get more miles over the 30 day student who paid for the training in cash. I thought that W/S might take care of those that have to pay back their loan.

 

Be sure to have a back up plan, I was pre hired with w/s as late as 1\6 and then was contacted by Matt on 1\16 that they were not bringing on any new drivers because of lower than expected turn over. w\s seems to be a good company and that means current drivers are staying put, which means less need for new drivers. I will be attending a local school and maybe by early March they will be hiring again.

 

While I'll agree W&S is a good company. Don't let the fact that drivers are staying with any company influence your decision.

There isn't a lot of movement anywhere right now. Folks are scared.

 

I think the fact that there is little turnover says a lot about that particular company. I also think everything happens for a reason. If not w\s right now then maybe later. You just have to roll with the punches and make the best of things

 

I agree with Old Man Dance, people are scared to leave any company right now for fear they will end up jobless. yes to have a low turn over rate is a good thing to have, but take into count that the enconemy is the way it is at the moment,
if they called you a year + ago and said that then yes, it would be a great thing to hear.
and yes, w/s is a great company to work for
to answer the money question.
if you take the tuition reimurs plan you will get paid .28 a mile, then in like 90 days its up to .29, then its up to .30 by 6 months, thats a lot if you compare it to most other " starting " out companies.
swift will start you at .23 and if your lucky by the end of the year to get .30 ----just to give you an idea.
and not only do they take care of those drivers, but they take care of just about every driver in the company.

p.s/ if your at the Crate and Barrel down here in Suwanee Ga, their is a WI-FI that you can connect to. its unsecure, and you have access to it,
thats how im on now.
i think what im going to do is post each place i get a WI-FI, since our drivers will most likly be at one of those spots, so people no where they are.