Running With Watkins & Shepard

Chris,

I have been reading your posts and others from who have started this "realality" blogging. These post have made it much easier for the newbies (like myself) coming into this industry. After reading the updates everyday it makes you feel as if you were right there with you. I have been looking into a few of the larger companies but did not like the time away from home (upto 8 weeks). My brother drove for Swift a few years ago and had no problem with them. I came to this site looking for just the right information and try and get a good idea on a good company. After reading your encounters I'm going to give W&S a try. Being from NJ and the terminal only a 1/2 hour away is great. I'm looking for more of a regional route, but I don't know what they offer. I will have my CDL in about three or four weeks, depending on when I get my CDL Test date. Besides furniture, what other things do they run. I would like to run "no touch" runs, but I know they are hard to come by. What is the pay while you are at school? I looked at their web site and there is no detail of the ten day training. What is the pay when you start driving (.** per mile)? The web site says something in the ball park over $40K. I know I will have more questions and I know this is the site and place to ask them. Good luck and stay safe.

Eric

 

Hi Shiftin' (Eric) and Welcome to the Truckers Report! So glad you found Chris's thread as it has great informtion in it and some fun! As you saw we kept Chris's thread alive while he was trying to get his rig up and running!
Chris may want to PM (personal message) you some of the information you asked for-you can not PM until you hit 50 posts- or post it here.
My ex worked for a different company and it was not bad but from reading Chris's experience and other W/S's posts it seems like W/S is more of that family feel and not a ''bottom feeder.''
Good luck and Welcome!!

 

AMEN!! to the clean truck Cruiser! I don't know about anyone else but for me, I can actually "feel" my surroundings and when it's not right, I don't "feel" right. I have to say my two weeks in NC showed me both really nice people and some really nice scenery. Now I was raised in the country up here in the Tri-State area of NJ, PA, NY and the topography is muck like NC. Beautiful rolling hills of lush trees and green fields. I have MANY pictures and as I can, I'll be sure to post a few.

Yeah sweetie...LOL...a real "twist" from what I thought my first days would be like. But as I've posted before, learning how to deal with break downs is all part of the business. I just got the advanced course first! LOL....In fact, I'm really glad it happened because I learned a LOT about who to call for what issues and at least for me, it's better to have that happen while NOT under load trying to meet a delivery deadline.

God works in ways we simply can't see "up front" but placing my faith in him has led me here and as I look back, it's all happened just the way it should. I've learned in life to not second guess things "going in" but to wait until the dust settles "afterward" and then look back and appreciate the beauty and simplicity of his plans.

You're right and I already have a few ideas for some simple modifications to make home...well...a little more like home.

I can't wait to see as much of this nation as I can cpape. The month I spent OTR showed me a fair amount of it but there is so much more to see. Funny you also call your area the Tri-State area. We do here as well and in fact it's officially referred to as such. I've lived very close to a spot all my life where if I had three feet, I could stand in NJ, PA, NY at the same time....LOL I've heard of a place in the US where you could stand in 4 states at once but can't remember where that is...LOL

As we discussed on the phone buddy, this was a much needed time for me to clear my head, get organized and provide myself a fresh start where I can now just focus on the job. Your help has been simply priceless to me Mike and having this time to really work out the next trip from a few different angles has giving me the basis for the "system" you advised me to create for myself.

Although I've taken much more time to do my trip plan than we'll ever have out there on the road, going through the process of it has helped me "see" the wisdom of your words and given me a good view of how to do it faster and more accurately. So I started with the "MAP" (lol...you know what I mean) and much to my surprise, the Qualcomm routing they sent me matches it almost exactly. I have it all written out and more importantly, I have the "big picture" in my head as well so if and when my GPS says something different, I'll LAUGH instead of getting LOST....LOL

This time has also demonstrated what you meant about when I can start out this trip. I now understand what you meant about being able to leave even Monday morning to get there in plenty of time. Although I still want to leave more than enough time in case there are delays I can't foresee, rolling out of Sayreville Saturday night or even first thing this morning simply isn't necessary.

The trip from Sayreville NJ to Stone Mountain GA is 944 miles give or take. If I figure an average speed of 55 and roll out at say 02:00 Monday, drive my 11, that puts me at 13:00 with 605 miles done. My 10 hour break puts me at 23:00 Monday night with 339 miles to go which is roughly 6.25 hours. My delivery window is 01:00 - 07:00 Tuesday. So under this plan, I should get there at around 05:00.

Now what I'd like to ask all you experienced folks is, is 55 a good "avearge" speed to figure?

The reason I ask is, this plan assumes driving 11 hours straight with no breaks. We all know that's not a viable option especially since I have two fuel stops given to me and I like to stop every few hours (or as needed) for a 5 minute walk around the truck and stretch a bit break. So that will surley push the timing forward a bit. So I'm wondering if 55 MPH will allow for some of that.

I know it largely depends on where you're going (hills and such), how heavy the load and the time of day driving for traffic. I'll be hauling a FAK load at about 28,000 pounds which is light. I'll be driving at night so traffic shouldn't be much of an issue. Since I'd like to not push the timing "too" much, I figure to roll out at midnight tonight instead of 02:00 Monday.

My route: 18 - 622 - I 287 - I 78 - I 81 - I 77 - I 85 to GA and then Exit 95B to GA I 285 - Exit 39B to GA 78 - and local from there.

 

I-85

and I-285..........Can both be screwed up, traffic and time wise.

Best of Luck !!

 

Chris- good luck tomorrow or LATER today I should say.
(sorry I still can't get this multiquote thing down.....)

Stay safe driver!!!

 

AM radio 750 gives traffic reports.........For Hotlanta !!!!!!!

 

Hi Eric and welcome to the family here!

I thank you for the kind words sir and I'm truly happy you've found my humble posts helpful in some way. It is my intent to do exactly that as I endeavor to give a little back to a family that has helped me SO MUCH!

I will always try to answer any questions the best I can. But ALL this info is available with a phone call to W/S so if I miss anything or get it wrong, you can call them and get the straight answers.

So, W/S (from my experience thus far) offers almost any type of run. They haul anything and everything. So far I've pulled two furniture loads and my next is FAK (Freight of all kinds). I have no idea what it is yet until I see the BOL for the load which I'll get tonight at the terminal. So far, each of these has been no touch which is also what I need to get. My back isn't going to let me be a moving man...LOL

The orientation pay is a total of $400 for the 10 days. $100 up front, $100 the start of week two and $200 upon completion. Now this IS taxed income so they take all of it out of the last $200. Now for me, that was direct deposited the following Friday so if you go with them, I'd suggest you take at least $100 with you and spend your money as sparingly as possible. I wound up running my second trip pretty much flat broke because I thought I'd get that last 200 the day of completing orientation. Hitting some tolls on my second run was a problem for me.

They start new drivers at 25 CPM and start bumping you up from there after 3 months. It's not much but again, call Roxi for all this. She's simply a doll and will answer anything you ask.

I'd also like to recommend that if you can physically handle the furniture runs, DO SO. It can significantly increase your earing potential. If I could, I WOULD for sure! You can make $20 per stop whether you unload one piece or the whole truck. I've spoken with a few drivers that had like 20 stops on a run. That's another $400 in the kitty bro. If you intend to do what I have to with largely (or only) no touch runs, you better be prepared to run long and hard to make a decent income from the miles alone.

Call Roxi and have her email the pay schedule to you. That will spell it out for you. From what I've "heard", W/S will pretty much let you run however you want. My experience so far has shown the dispatchers to be nice and willing to work with you if you do with them. Once they get to know your preference and you don't let them down, I've heard they'll try to work with you. Now that doesn't mean "every" load will be what you want or lined with gold but take what they give you and deliver it on time with a smile. NEVER take a load unless you're SURE you'll get it there on time or early. Although I'm NOT advocating "refusing" loads, it's far better to that then take one you can't deliver on schedule. Remember, if you make dispatch look good, they'll remember that. If you make them look bad, they'll remember that even more! LOL

Above all else, do your best to represent the company as if you own it. I haven't been with these folks but a week now but as a general rule in bussiness, that will go a LONG way to helping you find your nich here.

I ran my own company for 30 years and the guys that treated my clients with respect and courtisy always found something extra in thier stockings....LOL

 

Yeah I live down here and I avoid Atlanta like the plague!!!

 

Don't We all.

You can always pull that cabinet out since it's useless and give yourself more room.

 

That's a big 10/4

I'm actually using that cabinet as of now. I like the cup holders on top, it's a shelf to put my battery powered alarm clock, phone charger (I have two phones and use one as a charger to keep a spare charged at all tims), and AA / AAA battery charger for my camera, mouse etc. on.

The upper shelf inside holds dry good foods, nuts, peanut butter, canned stuff, paper plates and plastic ware, the space at the bottom is great for my small garbage can, cleaning supplies & laundry soap (once I get them) and all my soft pack fold-able luggage (the liners from my Harley double as luggage).

At this point, the only "nice" space I lack is for the Colman cooler. So for now it lives on the upper bunk strapped in. I don't mind climbing to get at it. The little bit of exercise sure won't hurt any...LOL I do think I'll get a small collapsible step stool though so I don't have to step on my bed to get there. The FL's have a step in the lower cabinets but this puppy doesn't.

All in all, I've found the space issue isn't really as bad as I first thought it would be. I think for me, it was more the fact that since before this, all I knew was the FL and I lived in one for a month with my EX and my dog. So I had this "plan" in mind on how I'd set it up.

Also, being a self employed carpenter all my life, I'm no stranger to building custom shelves and racks in the vans and pickups I've owned over the years. I'm sure when the need arises as I get more of the things I'll need like a microwave and such, I'll do the same in this.

But for now, it'll work out OK. Once I start making some money and getting caught up on my bills, the first big ticket item will be a good 1500 or 2000 watt inverter. For now I plan on getting one of those plug in 300 watt jobs in hopes it will run my laptop, hair cutting shears and small stuff like that.

Although I won't have "at the ready" Internet right away, I have my life's collection of music on my laptop and it plays DVDs so I have a few movies I'm bringing with me. I can burn Cd's off my hard drive and the stereo has a CD player so over time, I can use it more and more for music. I do wish the stereo had an input jack though. It would be cool to pipe my laptop through it for music.

Right now I need to see if W/S will give me a working CB (I can receive although faint but not transmit), and an Easy-pass for this. It has a Prepass and another unit stuck to the windshield. It has no markings on it but I took it off yesterday and on the back it appears to be some sort of "pass" for Florida?? Not sure if it's tolls or scales??

I've also noticed from my Rand McNally that some scales are called "Norpass"? Is there a unit for those?