Only Drivers Happy With Werner

Anyone with first-hand experience with Werner being fresh out of school? I finish school on the 21 Oct and looking at Werner to start with. I live just out side of Dallas so any company based there is a plus for me.

 

Werner can be a good company to work for. you just need to know how to handle your f/m. i am dedicated out of Morehead KY running family dollar. Yes the unloading SUCKS. I will not even try to cover that up. However, I gross over $800 on an average week. The backing can be a little intimidating at first. having to blindside around a building, miss a telephone pole and a dumpster that you can't actually see and still getting #### near straight with a 3-4 ft wide door on the back of a store. Ive been here for a year and never had a MAJOR problem with the company as a whole. now my trip planner is a jerk-off who i would love to knock out with a tire thumper just about everyday, but that's someone who came out of college with a degree and has the "i'm better than you mentallity". The one thing that you need to learn with Werner is that the company has become not as 'grand' as it may have once been. C.L Werner (the old guy who started the company) has stepped down and allowed his sons to take over. I feel that a lot of the stupid things going on right now are because of this. They are trying to be cheap and cut corners. If you can get a dedicated position with Werner jump on it. OTR drivers are skrewed over daily from what i hear. as dedicated you always know who to contact if there's problems with the load, you always know where your load will be coming from. And there usually isnt much sitting around. The most i have ever had to wait for a load is a few hours because the DC got behind and the trailers weren't ready when they were supposed to be. (doesn't happen often). Normally i get back to the yard, drop my empty, get my paperwork and loaded trailer and am back on the road. i'm home every weekend with far and few between exceptions. Do not let other people tell you don't go to Werner If you can get dedicated, you'll be alright over here.

 

Yea, I made a few dollars at werner, pulling for the dollar general acct.

 

Recruiter came by today and I like what he had to say. Werner offers a lot of options and enhanced versions of what other companies are offering. Examples are: kicking in 50 cents for every dollar put into your 401K, getting 1.15 for every dollar you spend on stock purchase, dedicated, OTR, Pony X, ect. APU's, good pet policy and rider policy. I'm going to start with Werner and see how it goes. I want to start with OTR for now and see how that goes.

Thanks for the good info dpark.

 

No problem. One thing that you will have to fight however when you get into Werner is that Werner is trying to move away from APUs..... why? i havent the slightest idea. however I do know that I had to fight with my dispatcher for 2 months in order to get mine. If they give you a truck without an APU then tell them that they will be getting you a hotel everynight. Or they will turn the idle shutdown on ur truck off. it CAN be done, and $500 worth of hotel reciepts will change their minds. ive seen it work. lol

 

The recruiter told us that they have APU's. Don't know how binding that is With that said, many states are adopting no idling laws. My brother said NY will let you idle if you have a pet on board.

Guess we'll see when I start orientation next week.

BTW, My CPAP needs A/C for the humidifier to work. Don't know how fast an inverter would draw down the battery and oh, my refrigerator needs A/C as well.

Any good trainers out of the Dallas terminal that will be available? I may be ready to attend orientation on the 26th.

Thanks

 

When you get to orientation make sure that you let them know that. That should be enough to ensure you get an apu. any truck with a 54 number or lower will have an apu most likely. any 55 or 56 is hit or miss. and most 57 or 58 numbers will not have an apu. Werner believes that the apu is too expensive to maintain. Fight them a little if you have to. Don't give in.

As for trainers in the Dallas area, im not too sure. I am in the eastern area, mainly running near the indy and springfield terminals. I went to lithia springs for my orientation. Good luck with you trainer, some are good, some aren't.

 

brand new trucks DO NOT have APU because of having to have DEF fluid. If you truck is/has DEF there must be a DPF on the APU also! So truck has DEF= NO APU!!

 

that is not true. ive seen trucks from other companies that have an apu on a truck that uses DEF. Werner is too cheap to continue using APUs because the people that come through Werner do not take care of the unit like they are supposed to.

 

CARB compliance it the biggest issue I see out there. I would imagine that all APU manufactures would have by now gotten CARB certification for their product to be used in California. May have something to do if the truck is used for a dedicated account or OTR or goes to California, IMO or maybe not.

How mileage is calculated/paid. Does Werner calculate miles, HUB, Practical, HHG, or other. I think my brother was telling me they pay HUB but not sure.

Any scraps are appreciated.

Doug