Watkins Shepard is a joke

who ever said that? You need to stop reading so much into my post




American Trucker

 

Almost all trucking companies do this. Sounds like yer grasping at straws.

 

Great first post.

 

What's the punchline?

 

And the point to this story is???

I agree with just about every word, but I don't get the point?

I knew when I went to Watkins I wasn't getting a new truck, didn't expect one.

A lot of laziness at the shops, but I've never been stuck on the side of the road, if its been broke, they fix it or pay to have it fixed.

What are they supposed to do with the trucks when I guy leaves? Retire it? Of course they pass it on to the next guy.

I'm trying to give you the benefit of explaining yourself, before I pass judgement, what's the point?

P.s... They don't get federal dollars to train, like Werner, Crst, etc., do I don't understand the part about making money training new drivers.....?

 

Ok, You got me.....Specifics...Picked up truck from MSLA. 850,000 miles. Inside was filthy and smelled like previous driver smoked a lot. Spent a couple hours and cleaned it out and pretripped it. Went on my first run. Hit rain..was raining outside and inside the truck. Windshield leaked as well. Seat back was broken. Discovered fuel gauge didn't actually work. Headlights were so badly aligned I got flashed by every driver. Week or so later when I got to a shop I reported the problems and went on a 34. Came back, new seat and was told the sending unit had been installed wrong and was fixed. Took off on another run. Headlights still misaligned and fuel gauge still not working...

 

lol,yea guess he would #### himself if he worked where i used to work...1949 autocar.had about 4inches of play in the steeringwheel lmao.

 

sounds like a problem i had at marten.they had me go to atl,indy,then 2 times to mondovi.the last time in mondovi i sat for 5 days waiting for my truck.they made me sit in my truck telling me they would fix it first thing in the am.dead of winter -0 outside.on the last nite there they got me a room.still never fixed it lmao.piss poor companies everywhere,it's just part of the game.as long as you get good miles and stay safe keep truckin....

 

hmmm well obviously those are "major"problems seeing as YOU could fix the headlights if you even know how, if not then well grab a manual and figure it out. And the fuel gauge issue is simple, fill up write down your beginning mileage if you have 2 90 gallon tanks you can go 990 miles at 5.5 mpg, I assume it gets way better economy than that but I'm staying on the safe side. Or grab your manual again and locate the engine oil dipstick, insert this into each tank and then place it on the backside of said tank to see approximately how much fuel you have. I realize that you are just a company driver and they can't expect too much out of you, but any real driver will agree that minor mechanics is just part of our long list of responsibilities. And the smoke thing, there seems to only be one way to solve every woe that you have with your truck....buy your own. You agreed to be their employee, no one forced you to drive that equipment.

Now to the fella that a/t offended, please take anything you read on here with a grain of salt. And just because we are in the new generation of drivers does not mean that we are walking around with ###### helmets on. Some of us are 2nd and 3rd generation drivers and grew up in this industry. My experience didn't start the day I got my cdl, it started when I was about 3 and fell head over heels in love with trucking. I have seen far more ignorant older drivers than I have new ones. Trucking is a whole lot more than just driving a truck my friend.

 

I was at Watkins a year ago. My truck was an old Crete Freightliner. When I picked it up in California it was very clean. I think they had it professionally cleaned somewhere. It smelled good and had Armour-All on the dash. I had maintenance put on a new mirror but other than that it was in great shape. It had about 375,000 miles on it and I was proud of it being my first truck and all.
On my first run back East I got stopped by Arizona DOT because my trailer's reflective tape was falling off. They trailer wasn't in good shape at all, but I didn't mind at the time because everything was new and exciting. Later I got better trailers.
They have great training and I don't have too many complaints. I'm out of the industry now because I got another job offer. If I ever decide to go back in trucking I'll try another company because others do have newer rigs. I knew what I was getting into when I signed up for WS.