Hi guys, my name is Cody. Glad to be apart of the forum.
A week after I turned 21, I went to a Werner trucking school. I had a good time there and the instructors were helpful. I then got on my mentors truck for a few weeks and learned as much as I could from him. I got as much backing in as possible. Some of the backs were challenging, but my mentor was spotting me. My backing wasn't the best, but I was getting better everyday. I took the final test after getting off mentors truck and went solo.
I was ready to be assigned a truck and start my OTR journey, but when I went to my home terminal, my driver leader said a rare opportunity had come up for me to work on the dollar tree account. I asked what that was and after he explained for 5 minutes, I told him I would rather go OTR. He then asked "why, dollar tree account pays more than OTR". I thought about it a little more and said no thanks. He then asked if I was sure and I said yes.
He then told me to give him a few minutes while he processes some paperwork. About 10 minutes later, he comes back into the room with some co-worker and they explained that they tried to get me in the OTR division but its full and said they would really like for me to run dollar tree and will notify the second an otr spot opens. I needed to start making some money asap so I finally gave in.
Big mistake. The second week on the account, I had a backing accident. I even got out and looked. Dock was extremely tough to get into. Perhaps if I had more experience backing I would be able to tackle it. I tried the best I could, but my backing skills weren't good enough for that store.
I almost got into a second accident at another accident. It was very close, but I didn't hit anything. Called my driver leader and told him I want to go OTR and he said "but you're doing great". Told him I already had one accident and don't want another one and he said no otr positions available at this time and to just "roll with it".
Sheesh...
Guys what should I do? I love driving a truck and doing the best that I can, but some of these docks are very hard. If I had more backing experience, I would be in a better position for this account, but im losing confidence and not sure where to go from here.
Got into accident while on Werner dollar tree account.
Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by Trucks66, Nov 4, 2017.
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Go over his head and talk to someone higher up. Dollar Tree Accounts end up getting a lot of drivers fired,
Steel Dragon, tscottme, QuietStorm and 3 others Thank this. -
Take as much time backing into hard to manage docks, no one will say anything if it takes you a long time to dock, but now you need to get off that deal you found your way into at $$$ store???
Steel Dragon Thanks this. -
Every week on here some new driver is saying Werner fired them due to backing wrecks at Dollar Tree or Dollar General stores. Never trust someone at a mega that says, "There are no OTR positions available at this time."
Best thing to do is quit and go home; then find another driving job. It's easy to do, you can do OTR and run coast to coast and haul "driver no-touch" freight.
Where is your location; your home city/state. We'll help you find a decent company that hires new cdl grads.
Are you still 21 yrs. old? 21 or 22; plenty of companies to choose from.Last edited: Nov 4, 2017
TravR1, Steel Dragon, FullMetalJacket and 2 others Thank this. -
One wreck isn't a big deal. The main thing is get off the dollar tree account asap. If it requires you going to another company, well make the switch and pay back any loan needed.
Your CDL is way more important than the few K you would owe Warner.
Personally Monday, call the terminal, insist on speaking with the terminal manager. Heck, call Safety to make it happen if you need to. Point is, get on another account asap! You will keep having a hard time on those creap, crappy dollar accounts. I'm sure you have found out by now the driver leader is full of it?Steel Dragon, tscottme and RoadRooster Thank this. -
Tough backing situations don't magically disappear once you go OTR.
Steel Dragon, Lepton1, tinytim and 2 others Thank this. -
P.S. don't let Warner convince you you cannot quit. You have your CDL and they cannot take that away. Absolute worst case to happen when quitting Werner is you will owe the I believe around $5K for schooling, A bit steep, but there is a decent chance you will make that much and more in the first year just by working at a better company.
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Truckermania, dunchues and Redtwin Thank this.
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I find it extremely hard to believe that a company the size of Werner has no openings on their otr fleet.
Your "driver leader" is feeding you a crock of bull to get you onto that dollar account. They are always trying to get people onto that account. I know this because it is a regular topic on these forums.
Get out of there, or at least get yourself a new driver leader.WesternPlains, austinmike and Chinatown Thank this. -
I'm still laughing at the "rare opportunity" joke...
Swedish Chef, BlackThought, lagbrosdetmi and 18 others Thank this.
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