Running With Watkins & Shepard

Just curious how many miles do you average a week??? I thought 3800 miles was a good week...

 

Glad you made it on time and safely. I hope you get a shower, I know how much you wanted one, , laundry done and some good rest. 2 to 3 hours a night does not cut it for anyone. PM me please when you get the chance. Nothing against anyone here, I just would like a little private time . I'll wait to hear from you. In my thoughts. MUAH xxoo Sallie

 

YIPPEE! I can finally send PM's. I will still keep you up to date with any info Chris shares with me, but the private time is very welcomed. TTFN Sallie

 

BMT, ORG and Chris went to the same driving school and are good friends.

ORG is a SWIFT driver in the last week of training.

 

Good morning all....

I live in Mesa, AZ. I was taking my kids to school this morning and seen a W/S truck parked on Southern Ave by the soccer field getting ready to head out...seen the empty trailer parked there yesterday...just curious who that would be...is it someone who posts on this site?

I am in CDL school at Glendale Comm College...in my 5th week of 8...

I am still kicking around the idea of applying to W/S....I also got prehires from KLLM, Con-Way, Gordon, and May...

Suggestions would be great....

Drive Safe!!!

 

Welcome Mattlundb!

First, good luck with school.

My vote would be for W/S and May, but that's because I prefer companies that have a shorter than average training periods. My preference is to keep the company training to a minimum, BUT not at the cost of compromising safety. I suggest reading all of this thread and CAGEtruckers W/S 10 day orientation thread. W/S has a real family atmosphere. They're my first choice.

Can't tell you about the W/S wagon, but someone might chime in.

 

Welcome mattlundb!!!!
As Wedge said check out the other threads on W/S. I am not a drive LOL I just follow them around! I think that you need to consider how much training you would feel comfortable with once you get your CDL. W/S has a 10 day training and as you read Chris did his in 7 days. He also was OTR for a month with a friend so he had an idea. Other companies will put you thru so many hours of training (generally 160-200) Another good thread is by Openroadguy in the Swift catagory ''I'm going with Swift'' to get an idea.
You may also want to post in the general section/welcome section so that other drivers can give you some ideas. It's really a personal choice of the company that is close and has what you are looking for but it's nice to get other peoples opinions too. Check out the companies in this section DAC as I found W/S seems to have some of the least complaints.
Again WELCOME!! TTR is a great place good information and loads of fun!!!

 

Thanks...I have made a few posts under the newbies section. But...I get a lot of negative comments...seems some people just like to complain and be negative about everything...

I am leaning towards a company with a training period, but some of that is based on my level in school right now....the confidence in driving a truck hasn't come yet, but I know it will in time....I have only been behind the wheel this week...but still have 3 more to go!

Con-way's training period is only 7500 miles (about 3 weeks or so)...
May might be ok, just concerned about the bennies...medical insurance w/ prescriptions is a big deal when u have a family and the 50K lifetime max is a concern.

But we shall see....would like to know whose wagon I saw...

 

Try not to take those that complain too seriously. There are an awful lot of new drivers that fail to consider all of the facets to driving a truck. Mis-information or presumptions on their part leads to disappointment. So when their situation doesn't pan out the way they thought it should, they get a negative attitude and start whining. That's the beginning of the downward spiral. And you know what they say, misery loves company.

The amount of company training one needs is really a decision only that person can make. Just be honest with yourself when you make an assessment of your driving skills and confidence level. In any new situation where training is involved, it's natural to want someone looking over our shoulder at the beginning. The question is: how much hand holding do we really need? You are the only person that can answer that question. Just remember to make safety your highest priority.

When I investigated May trucking, I was also concerned about the health benefits. But my situation is different than yours as I would only need to insure myself. My kids are grown and on their own. Anyway, the length of training between W/S and MAY should be considered just about equal.

Don't let anyone talk you into leasing. It's not mandatory to transition into leasing. You'll have enough on your plate to start with.

OK, I'm off the soap box.


Chris, you missing a wagon?

 

Can anyone tell me what the HPE Consist of? I just did my safety interview, and have to do the Drug test and physical tomorrow at 10am. Just a little nervous as what there gonna have me do. She said you just life weights and stuff for 30 min. I'm 5' 7", 115lbs I sure hope they don't expect me to bench 100lbs or anything crazy haha






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