Wannabe to Watkins Shepard Driver

Well it finally came to an end with Watkins and Shepard. I did all I could do on my end and they did all they could on theirs. I'll leave it at that.

Overall it was a good experience. I learned a lot in a very short amount of time, mostly good. I got a taste of over the road trucking and liked it.

Do not judge Watkins Shepard too critically based on my (very limited) experience. They are the only company I have ever pulled for and I have less than one year experience. I would also discount opinions from others with a similar lack of experience on these forums. There is too much negativity going around.

Now I'm off to orientation with another "starter company" we'll see how this goes. If nothing else I'll gain a greater perspective of the industry.

 

You're surprised? The national fleet average for OTR driver turnover is 75%. For new drivers is drastically higher, several hundred percent depending on carrier. As the driver shortage continues to worsen, turnover is projected to go even higher. When companies start offering sign on bonuses (some already have) drivers will jump ship for the money if nothing else. Unfortunately this is the state of the trucking industry today.

As for "greener grass", no. Your analogy suggests that I left one job because another looked better. I left W&S before I went with another company. Then took some time to decide who to pull for next. I think I've made a good decision but only time will tell.

 

JKWL, Wow, where to start with all that. First off welcome to the forum, you will find tons of information here to help you make your decision. I suggest you weigh my opinions no more than a grain of salt due to my lack of "real" experience. Trucking is not a hard job but it can be a very difficult lifestyle for many people. Lack of home time would be the number one complaint of most newbies, can you handle 4 days off a month? I don't know how family guys can do it. It's also a long road to being solo making decent money. I'm talking from making the decision, finding the school, finding the money, getting a job and making it through a probationary period. This could all take you 5 or 6 months.
There is so much more to all of this but hopefully this ramble will help you in some way. Good luck in what ever you decide.