Running With Watkins & Shepard

YES! LOL

Hey everyone, hope all of you are well. I've been wanting to post here for a long time but believe it or not, this is actually the first chance I've gotten too.

I know it's been a very long time since I've posted but life has been an almost indescribable challenge for my Mom and I since May 2012. I'd have to write 30 or 40 pages to even scratch the surface of the past 6/7 months. In fact, I hardly know where to begin. But first, I miss all of you on this forum, I really miss the few friends I made while driving, I miss interacting with everybody at Watkins and Shepard and I can't even describe how much I miss DRIVING!

So I guess I'll first address the personal side of my whole experience in the trucking world. As many of you know, I started my quest to drive because after a 32 year battle of a serious back injury at age 15 for which I had no help (Not diagnosed correctly to start with, preexisting condition so insurance would not cover it, self employed single white male so no "aid" programs for me, etc..etc) , my back finally forced me out of my self employed construction business in October of 07. After nearly a two year fight on my own to literally get back on my feet to a point where I could walk for more than 5 minutes, I started trying to find some way to make a living and dig myself out of that 2 year deep financial hole. A strange turn of events put me in my lovely EX's truck for a month OTR where I did everything but actually drive. That showed me I had a shot at driving for a living. So when I got home from that month OTR, I started trying to find a way to pay for CDL school. Still being that single white self employed male, there was no "aid" for me so I decided to sell my 4x4 work truck and a few wood tools. That gave me just enough for the $4000 school bill and gas for my Harley to make the 140 mile round trip to school every day for 6 weeks. Got my CDL end of June 2010, spent July doing the "job search" lol and came across WS the beginning of August. Spoke with them, did all the paperwork and was scheduled to start orientation August 16 in Conover. Met Vern in Jersey and he drove me and two other guys to NC. When I arrived in Conover I had $18 to my name, almost 20 grand in debt (thanks lovely EX...lol) and 5 months behind on my pretty large bike payment. Finished the 10 day orientation in 7 days, got shipped to the Myrtle terminal to get Ole Betsy. An 05 Volvo with 418k on it and a whole host of issues that took my first week of employment to get fixed...LOL

In my time driving between August 25[SUP]th[/SUP] 2010 and May 10[SUP]th[/SUP] 2012, I lost my God daughter July 1[SUP]st[/SUP] 2011 while sitting in KY between runs, buried her in the rain on July 4[SUP]th[/SUP]. My Dad Sunday morning October 9[SUP]th[/SUP] 2011 while stuck in Missoula with my truck in the shop and me in a motel since the previous Tuesday. My Mom called me that Sunday morning, told me Dad "took a turn for the worse the night before" and wasn't sure if he'd make it. I told her to keep me posted, explained my situation and said I'd try to get home ASAP. She called me back 15 minutes later to tell me he'd passed away. Got home 4 days later to be with Mom for two days and arrange for the family to get together two weeks later to spread Dad's ashes. On May 5[SUP]th[/SUP] I was in CA at our shop doing a 34 and getting a few things done to the truck. I called Mom as I did every couple days to see how she was and that's when I learned she had hurt her back. She told me the doctor said it was just a sprained muscle but, knowing backs the way I do and hearing her voice, I could tell it may be more serious so I told her I'd make my way back as soon as I could. I arrived at her place on May 10[SUP]th[/SUP] 2012 just a few minutes before midnight and she was obviously sleeping so the first I spoke with her was Saturday morning. The 10[SUP]th[/SUP] was a Friday and I figured I'd spend the weekend with her, evaluate her situation and thinking it was "just a sprain", I'd get back on the road Monday the 13[SUP]th[/SUP] which is what I told dispatch.

Well, Immediately upon seeing Mom Saturday morning I could tell there was something seriously wrong with her back and the level of pain she was in, even on pain meds, was really bad. I told her we needed to get to a specialist for another opinion. She agreed but obviously we couldn't do anything on a weekend. I called weekend dispatch to let them know I couldn't go back out Monday like I thought. First thing Monday morning I called Missoula to let them know as well. They asked how long I'd need and obviously I had no idea but told them probably the rest of the week. Well.... It took three days to get an appointment for an MRI. Unfortunately, the day of that appointment, Mom was in such pain she couldn't lay down long enough for it so they told me I had to take her home and reschedule. I called Missoula to let them know I'd now need a second week off. Well, the doctor and I devised a plan to dope her up pretty heavily on pain meds to get her through the MRI which was now in the middle of the second week home. After the MRI we were informed that Mom had a compression fracture in one vertebra and two herniated discs. As soon as I heard that I knew I was not going back to work for a LONG time as at her age, in her condition, this would take months to heal if at all. I called Missoula to let them know that I'd try to see if I could set something up to cover Mom so I could get back out there. They gave me until the end of what's now the third week to hold the truck but if I couldn't get back out the following Monday, I'd have to turn the truck in. This was a KILLER for me as I spent the whole time grooming that truck to buy it. I had 10 grand saved toward it and was willing to sell the Harley for the rest. At that point I was roughly 3 months away from being able to. The truck now had 620k miles on it and they normally sell them around 700 to 800K. I can't even describe how hard and emotional it was for me to drive that rig back to the Jersey terminal Sunday night to turn it in. I don't know who got that truck but they got a GREAT RIG for sure!! I hope they really cared for her as I did. Anyway, it's now obvious that I'll have to be here 24/7 as I have been since May to care for Mom for the rest of her life. Her back is healing slowly but there are other health and mental reasons that will prevent her from ever being able to live alone again. My Dad handled everything at home and while I won't get into all the details (that's the 30 or 40 pages I'd need), when I got back here everything from the house, property and finances was a complete disaster. It's taken me almost this whole time (in between caring for Mom, dealing with doctors, hospitals, therapy, cooking cleaning shopping etc...etc...) to get it all straightened out.

OK, that's a very "basic" picture of things on the personal side. So now on to the WS side of things. I don't even have words to describe how fantastic Watkins and Shepard as both a company, and from a personal level, have treated me through this whole time. But I'll try. Now obviously I don't have any experience with any other trucking companies so this is not about "comparing" WS to any other company. Quite simply, I wouldn't bother because as I told Mark Dodge on Wednesday (before my Dad died Sunday), when I was stuck in Missoula that week in a motel, I'd never even consider driving for anyone else. Had I been able to buy that truck like I worked toward, I would have leased with them hands down without a second thought. I have nothing but the utmost respect, loyalty and GRATITUDE for Watkins and Shepard and I would, and do, recommend them to anyone as a great company full of great people to work with. Why? Glad you asked....LOL

First, back to the beginning, I've ALWAYS been upfront about my back and the reason I sought to get into "driving" a truck. When I explained that to the recruiter (remains nameless), I was assured they "had plenty of no touch freight" to keep me rolling. Well....LOL....on the third day of orientation they started talking about having to deliver furniture and the need to "unload the trailers by hand". This was the first time I had ever heard of this and I actually stopped the instructors mid sentence and said...Ummm WHAT??. We have to unload furniture?? They said "well yes, that's what we do here". I said "well there's no way I can do that. It's not that I'm unwilling (after all, I did build houses for 35 years so it wasn't the "work" I was afraid of and in fact, I MISS the "work"), but my back simply won't allow me to that. After all, if I could unload trailers, I could still enjoy my passion and build houses for ten times what this, or any other truck company could ever HOPE to pay me. If I won't cripple myself for my passion in life, I SURELY won't for driving a truck" LOL (Side note here, Understand that I was under the impression the recruiter TOLD them of my back and they already knew about and still asked me to orientation to "drive". Apparently not...lol). So the instructors asked me explain about my back. I did. Now they could have put me on a bus RIGHT THERE and sent me packing but they didn't. The advise I was given was to have dispatch "get me out West and keep me there". This left the door open for me and I said "GREAT!! As I have no home, no family and I can spend many months at a time OTR no problem". Obviously I continued, obviously I was hired and obviously I started my driving career.

Again now thinking, OK, now they ALL know about my back and while I now feel VERY guilty about it, it's cool. Well apparently, not so much...LOL About 6 months of having to always ask dispatch for "no touch" runs, getting asked why and explaining it over and over and over again, dispatch and I were finally getting on the same page and all was going pretty well. However, In my 7[SUP]th[/SUP] month I'm in Myrtle and they try to give me a 9 stop. I once again explained the story of my back and while they weren't very happy about it, I got a straight terminal run to Conover. Not 10 miles into that run I get a call from Dave in Missoula. He says " Hey Chris, I'm hearing some grumbling from that side of the country about you refusing loads or refusing to unload trailers?? What's going on?" I said "wait a minute Dave, hold the phone. I have NEVER refused a load or refused to unload but I avoid it like the plague!" (YES, I did have to unload some occasionally mostly to get home and then I'd get home crippled). So he asked why "I avoided it like the plague".

Once again I explained everything to him. He says 'Well, not that we don't take you at your word but...we're going to need a doctor's note for our files backing up your claim". I said that's fine and I'm sure I'll have no problem getting that for you. He then assures me he'll get me a "no touch" load out of Conover to Jersey so I can get home to get that doctors note. I didn't say anything to him at the time but my first thought was... a no touch load to Jersey out of Conover??? I had no idea there was such a thing. Whenever I needed to get home, Steve always made me take a FULL unload to get there. Well I roll into Conover and sure enough, I get a beer load out of Eden. Never even knew about them before that...LOL But the point of all this is, It's now pretty obvious to both WS and myself that even hiring me in the first place was probably a mistake and once again, they could have simply let me go. But they not only didn't fire me, they did everything in their power to keep me working. I can tell you it was a nightmare for dispatch and they literally went OUT OF THEIR WAY to keep me rolling hard with no touch loads. THAT my friends, is the mark of a GREAT company and GREAT people in my humble book. But it doesn't stop there! Not by FAR!

I'm writing this in my email program and I can see it's getting very long (hope the forum doesn't get mad at me) so from here I'll just try to "list" all the reasons I respect and MISS this company and all the folks that make it run so much. These are the major events but there were plenty of other, smaller reasons when I needed to get home and I did.

Obviously my back issue which they worked with me about. I've hesitated to write about this as I don't want potential drivers to think it's OK to come here with a bad back. It's NOT! But as I said above, WS may have made a mistake hiring me, but they made good on it.

When my God daughter was killed on July 1[SUP]st[/SUP], it was early morning and I was sitting in KY and had "just" been dispatched to get a beer load out of Cincinnati not 5 minutes before I got the call about her. I QC'd KH2 and asked her to get me home ASAP. Even though it was a big problem for her to cover that load, I was home by the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] and able to attend to the funeral on the 4[SUP]th[/SUP].

When my Dad passed that Sunday morning, my truck had been in the shop since the previous Tuesday having a lot of major work done to get through its annual inspection. I called John "Sunday morning" to tell him about it. He was simply GREAT as John always is. He offered to fly me home but since I knew my Dad's wish was to be cremated, there was no funeral to miss. Not wanting to get caught up in the logistics of leaving my truck in Missoula, flying to Newark, renting a car to get home, and then reversing the whole thing to get back to Missoula, I asked if they could just get me a load or two to get me home ASAP. Remember, my truck was in pieces all over the shop. They put EVERY mechanic in the shop on my truck first thing Monday morning. Had it done by roughly 12:00, HLK gave me an empty (Well...LOL... one roll of carpet pad) to pull to the Helena terminal where I got a GM load "brought to me" headed for MD. I was home in 4 days. Spent two days there and then had to tell them I needed to be back home in two weeks to spread my Dad's ashes with the family. They kept me rolling for those two weeks (out west and back) and got me home in time.

This past May I'm in la Mirada on the 5[SUP]th[/SUP] just finishing a 34 and got a dispatch to MT. I call my Mom and hear about her back. I tell dispatch about it and that I need to get home ASAP. It took a bit of creative work (John to my recue again!!) but they gave me a two stop in AZ and I had to take another driver and drop him there. The rest went right to the Conover terminal. I was nervous about that as I knew that all freight going to Jersey was now being put on rail. Chad didn't know what he could do for me. It just so happens the big guy himself was there that day. I walked up and said hello, he asked how I was doing and explained my concern about getting home. He asked my truck number, told me to hang tight and in less than an hour I had a rail load straight to the Jersey terminal!! I was home by midnight on the 10[SUP]th[/SUP]!! Folks, I know family comes first but I sit here now feeling like I've let this company down!!

After getting home to Mom, all that we went through as explained above, They allowed me to hold that truck for THREE weeks. Company policy is you have to give it back after two. Then, after giving Ole Betsy back, I spoke with HR and they let me apply for and get FMLA. This meant I was still employed until August 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] when they would have to let me go. Obviously I had hoped to return before then but life just didn't see it that way. So, on August 2[SUP]nd[/SUP], they had to let me go. Very sad day for me for sure. Then, completely unexpected and much to my surprise (I never even had the thought), I get a bank deposit for almost 400 bucks??? Turns out that even AFTER I was let go on August 2nd, they "prorated" my second years vacation pay (second year would have been August 25[SUP]th[/SUP]) and gave it to me. They could have never done that and I would have never even thought about it.

They (HR) told me that due to my perfect safety record and performance, if I can ever return to driving they would probably hire me again. God knows I hope my Mom is here for many years but, I know the longer I'm out, the tougher it will be to get back in. I can only hope that IF/WHEN that day comes, they'll give me the chance to show my heartfelt appreciation for ALL they've done for me by allowing me to drive as hard as I once did for them.

Having been self employed my entire life with this job being the very first time I've ever been an "employee", I say without hesitation that Watkins and Shepard is a TOP NOTCH company and exemplifies what it means to treat their crew like people!! My most humble gratitude goes to all the folks that make Watkins and Shepard the BEST TRUCKING COMPANY ON THE ROAD!!!

God Bless and Be Safe out there! I miss you all VERY MUCH!!

 

You've always had my number. But I've been living off that money I had saved to buy the truck and it's dwindling fast so I don't know how much longer I can keep the cell phone going. Hope you're well darlin. I'm planning a little bike ride up around the white lake area tomorrow if the weather is like they say it will be. It'll be my first and only ride this season. Can't be gone too long but I got my brother to come watch Mom for a few hours Sunday.

 

Hey folks, Just wanted to give a shout out and best wishes to all those in or going through OK. I was watching the tornado coverage live last night and actually caught a shot of a WS truck headed East on 40 so it prompted me to post here.

Stay safe out there folks.