R E West Trucking

I was with them last year, if you had your CDL with no experience you started at .26CPM.
They started non CDL holders at .22CPM
At 6 months they bump you .3CPM.
That 5K bonus is BS, I never heard of it.. nor saw any paperwork saying that.

My paychecks averaged less than $600 per week, working full time.
You go to Michigan A LOT, I was there pretty much every week to pick up water heaters.
You also will go to to the Baltimore area a lot to the port to pick up farm tractors put into a van. (hours wasted waiting for an escort and at the port getting loaded)
You will also go to Plano, Il to a menards distribution center which almost always takes to you Michigan to get your next load.
Makes for fun winters always up North. I was north of Tennessee 90% of the time.

$70 to unload water heaters is a joke, you could have 3 stops and it could take ALL day getting unloaded.. which YOU will be doing the unloading.
Does making $70 for an at least a half day of labor sound fair? You could be making $10 an hour doing some boring retail job making that.
Sometimes you could finish the trailer in 2-3 hours, sometimes takes 7 hours. The people off loading sometimes want a lot of breaks.
Remember your clock is still running this whole time.
Have fun with those 200+ water heaters squeezed to the ceiling.
I met a Dillon driver who left RE West and told me he get $100 for water heaters and $25 for each stop with them.
I waited around a lot at shippers and receivers and rarely ever got paid detention time.
There's a reason why they have this training program, they want to milk drivers and not pay for experience.
They have these old beat up drop deck trailers which have problems 90% of the time, you will find air leaks nearly always on them.
If you call to have it fixed.. there goes half your day not getting paid to get it fixed.
I met two drivers there.. both over a year with them and STILL they were at .32CPM and both told me they didn't get raises they expected.
Needless to say I left because I wasn't paid market value for a driver.

At 6 months you can make...
37CPM at southeast carriers only running the south, no northeast.
40CPM at Averitt staying regional and home every week.
42CPM at Crete doing OTR and can bring the truck home.
Those are just a few examples of what you can earn after 6 months.

RE west is good for it's no contract no money out of your pocket training to get your CDL and experience.
Once you gain experience however you won't be paid what you're worth.
No OTR driver with experience should be paid less than .40CPM.
You live out of that truck and must always be safe.
The "driver shortage" is a joke.. the companies WANT a shortage.. it drives up freight rates and makes the company whom has drivers more money.
If were were paid 60CPM there wouldn't be a shortage and freight rates would go down.
There needs to be a fair balance.
At .32 CPM you might make $700 a week.. living out of a truck.
You could work a 10 hour shift at multiple jobs.. 7 days a week doing an easy job at $10 making the same money and actually having a life besides a truck.

Did you see the sign that says you can make 60K per year at their lebanon location?
What a joke

 

The bonus now is $600 paid during the first 2 weeks of training. And you are started at .32 cpm.

 

ThinBlueSmoke, Are you still at RE West? If so, how are you doing there? I spoke with a recruiter from there and wondered how it really was.

Thanks!

 

HHC, I drive for RE West and would be happy to answer any questions you might have.

 

Thanks, JohnnyboyTrucker. How do you like it? Are you treated fairly? Miles? Are you a flatbed or dry van driver?

I would like to try flatbed and wondered how that division was....looks like mainly hauling heavy equipment.

I appreciate any info you can give.

 

I like it a lot more than I thought I would. I needed my CDL, but had heard too many negative things about Prime, Stevens, & Swift. My wife told me to apply with RE West. I read some posts on here and was skeptical about them but did it anyway. I'm glad I listened to her! They train you for 2 weeks to get your CDL and pay you 600 for that 2 weeks (they hold 2 checks back so the bonus gives you income during that time)
Then they send you out with a trainer for 3 weeks and pay you 350 a week for that. I was only out for 2 weeks with my trainer. I haven't met anyone at the company that I don't like. if you do your job they really do treat you like family. I have Run no less than 2,600 miles a week and there have been about 3 weeks out of the 7 I have driven with them that have been over 3000. I rarely have to wait on a load assignment..by the time I get to my stop I already have my next load and if I am detained I get paid for that. when I got my own truck it was dirty inside so I cleaned it and when they found that I had to do that they gave me a $50 bonus for having to clean my own truck. what to tell you when they recruit you is accurate unlike some other companies out there. I have been home every weekend since I started and my home time is good. I run dry van

 

the only thing I really know about the flatbed division is that they make more per mile

 

What you forgot to tell them about is what you're paid.. which is .32 CPM and NOT practical mile last I inquired.
Plus the water heaters and unloading those, don't forget that.
And the Baltimore port.. have you forget about going there? If you haven't yet you'll be going a lot with a drop deck trailer waiting hours to get a TWIC escort and the hours to get those farm tractors loaded onto your trailer.

To get your CDL and get start there is fine, they make that easy with no contract BUT there's a catch.. they pay you garbage.

$350 a week is lowest of the low for training out there.
Then .32 on movers guide rate is sad pay.

Stevens and Swift do suck as well.
Prime however pays $700 during training and .43 CPM when you get your own truck.
All on their site.

There are better options out there than RE WEST, unless you enjoy low pay.

 

Man, that is really great to hear. I am in a school to get my cdl currently but RE West has a place right down the street ( Lebanon, TN ) and I liked the idea of starting with a small company.
I am a 46 year old dude making a career change and really want to avoid being miserable at my first company. You know, work hard, expect the worst but hope for the best. I read that orientation was short and sweet.
I am glad to hear that you ended up okay and at a place you like working. It makes a difference in your quality of life, for sure.

 

Get a TWIC card, then no waiting for escort at ports.
This is one of the things experienced drivers recommend for new drivers to help you make more money.
Get TWIC, passport, and all the endorsements.