Watkins & Shepard - Yesterday and Today

i was a newbie once just like everyone else and believe me if I did not know what gear I needed to keep control of the rig. Slow and low will get you down any hill.

And I am sorry but I live in the NW and I ran 11 western for years and I never had to do what the OP says he flunked out of.



Either there is more to the story or WS has a screw loose.

 

I talked to western and Western pacific on the phone, western seems slightly less expensive but have heard good reports about both schools, wonder what percentage of their students are getting hired right now.

I am slightly inclined to reefer work as my previous experiences where busier than van or curtain side, also would be easier to get the CDL in California and not have to exchange it.

When are you planning on starting? right now i have a 4 week wait for work authorization and then will get my car license promptly after that. Would like to hear what you think of Western when you visit them.

 

I've been with WkSh for the past year and a half, I went through a school in New York and did the 10 day training in New Jersey and then got into a truck and haven't regretted going with them at all. I didn't go through the school in Missoula and wish I did just for the winter driving and mountain experience. I have met the instructors and I don't think any of them are anything but professional. (sorry azroadrunner) but if they don't think you're able to handle a truck, they aren't gonna give you one. And IMHO if that's the case, I don't want you on the road anywhere near me.

They put out the bad boy sheets every week for all to see, who crunched what, the experience level of the operator, dollar damages and the story. I will tell you that the percentage of WkSh school grads (30 day) involved in preventable accidents as compared to other schools is way low. Gotta be something there.

BTW, this Friday is my last day at WkSh and I'm moving to a tank job, the money and hours are just too good to pass up. I will tell you though, I am not leaving without regrets. I like the company. It has it's problems right now - just like all the others. They aren't spending any money they don't absolutely have to spend which does create some frustration for the drivers but it's bearable if you can see their point of view. This too shall pass.

The people in the office that I've dealt with, which is pretty much all of them in one way or another, are without exception, great. I can say I've never, never got anyone who wasn't willing to help or explain or at least point you to the person who can help you out. That includes getting the truck going again a o'dark thirty in the middle of winter or when you gotta get someone out of bed for a t-chek for a lumper.

Dispatch is the key and yeah, you can turn down loads- they won't pay you a layover for turning it down but you don't have to go. I've averaged just over 10k a month in the entire time I've been there and that included a few really dismal months when I first started. You won't find me complaining about dispatch. I got my home time almost always when I asked for it and all I had to do was send in qualcomms telling them when I was going to get there and then be reliable and get there. Nothing is perfect, I have sat and stewed about not getting miles and too many resets and every time I did the math at the end of the month and took into account the hometime i asked for and was getting, I didn't have too much to talk about.

Some posts throw out some low cpm at WkSh but you can make .03 cpm in fuel bonuses if you hit the four tiers for that and also .01 for the safety bonus. I know it can be done 'cuz I've done it regularly.

Like I said, I am not leaving without regrets and If the tank thing dosn't work out I'll be asking to get rehired. All things considered I was treated well, had some fun and met some great people. I can't imagine I'd pull a dry van for another company and get treated any better there. At another company - maybe a few cpm more, maybe nicer facilities or equipment - but getting treated decently - for me - priceless.

 

Yes he is. but.... Like what others have said he really isnt that bad a guy, he just seems intimadating to straight out of truck shool newbies so be prepared if you have never driven a loaded semi down a hill before.

As far as the dispatchers go, if you take poopy load after poopy load(load going less then 400 miles) without complaint, that is all they will give you if thats what they have on there board cause they know you wont complain so you get stuck in a 1200 mile a week rut!
Alot of these guys will B.S. you and say if you turn down a poopy load thats all you will get, well BS, if you dont complain, thats really all your getting if they haveit on the board they give it to you instead of the guy that complains that he needs to feed his kids...
Also most of the "pro W/S" guys on this board are running teams with there significant other, W/S teams do get the miles so beware of there BS.W/S favors teams like they prolly should as they can get the freight somewhere twice as fast as a solo and its impossible for them to ever run out of hours!
I personally dont trust my wife's d
riving her minivan with me in the backseat so teaming with her is out of the question..Anyway I got to get in my house for my 34 hour reset so take it easy all.

 

Oh, it's possible for a team to run out of hours. We managed to do it...

And as far as W/S favoring teams: yeah, they do to a point. But there's an awful lot of solo guys getting 10K miles a month on the monthly report. A fair number are getting 12K.

 

Supertwucker makes an excellent point about getting stuck with the 400 mile crap runs because dispatch knows that you'll take them and not complain about it. The old tired argument of only lazy drivers get low miles doesn't pan out at WS.

Also, I notice that everyone who defends the trainers as "aw shucks, those fellas are just big ol' teddy bears and great guys to boot"......yeah those guys all went through the 10-day orientation. Dukester makes a joke about speeding up in thick fog, yet I still remember being pushed to run fast in fog on our "student trip". It seems that the instructors really get off on who gets back first for bragging rights.

 

Irish, I went down there to Western to check it out, the offices are kinda nice. The classroom is in an old building that may have been a service station at one time, kinda run down, and the yard isn't real big. They have an old Volvo and an old Frieghtliner for skills. Apparently they have a Werner Freightliner for driving on the road, but I didn't get to see it. Everyone seemed very friendly, the recruiter I was working with was working something out with DMV for a guy that was having an issue while I was there. The school tuition is $4995, or $3500 if paid cash

 

just got my class A 7/31/09 and called W/S the next day. I talked to Sandy and she was trying to get me to MT for the 12th but couldn't, so I'm scheduled to start their 10 day orientation on the Aug 24th. Thanks for the info, at least I have an idea of what to expect