Watkins shepard

I like to call the customer and get directions then look at the laptop just to get a visual of what I've been told.This works better than the old days when u had to rely only on there directions,hoping they were right.

 

Man, ain't THAT tha truth! I always recall a secretary who routed me into low bridges, one ways, and finally got me on to the next street over from the plant. She couldn't get me from there to the plant "because she only knew how to drive to work from home".

I'm thinking, like, WHY...did you try to route me in the FIRST place???
Sorry guys, I just have this PROBLEM with secretaries who answer phones for a company they know absolutely nothing about.

 

I have a Garmin Nuvi 205w and the latest PC-Miler.
I use the Garmin to find food and such and the PC-Miler to log fuel stops so I know how many miles till I fuel.

Neither one are worth the money.

I usually pull out the map for any routing issues.

If I need to track a shipper/receiver The miler is more accurate.

Most of my receivers are construction sites or personal homes in BFE so gps is only good for finding main roads IMO.

If direction is a challenge for you then this might not be the business to get into.

 

I love it when u call for directions and tell them where your coming from and the road your on and they say I dont know how to tell u how to get here from that way. And there's just 3 roads coming into town. It's sad but extremely funny sometimes.I always ask,well tell me how you get to work and I think I can figure it out.LOL

 

When I hauled vans my favorite calls went like this,

"Hi this "ME" from "SO and SO" trucking Im in City,State, Where exactly are you located?

They would quickly reply City, State.

I had recyc in cali once, called and the lady told me the city and state like usual after I just told her the answer and I told her I was on the same road they were located on but couldnt find the exact location.

I told her the business i was across from and she said "Ive never heard of it" and followed instantly with we are across from so and so.

I was 100 feet past thier entrance.

Was my first time there and the companies sign was at the top of the building, I just didnt see it till I was past.

 

I know what u mean. Alot of people have no idea what business is 1 block away.

 

Its a good place to start if your like me and do not feel the need to be with a trainer for 3 months like the other companies do but dont get to comfortable here.
I am at 6 months here and 4 months I worked previously for a local agriculture hauling company.I made a lot more money at my first class A job hauling tomatos and went home every night.
the dispatchers at WS are pretty clueless when it comes time for you to unload, you may sit in BFE for 5 days without a load and then when they get you one, you have to keep calling them for a layover authorization number that they seem to not want to give out for the lousy $50 a day.I was stuck in Gillette WY and there motels were $105 a day, i couldnt afford that but they dont care.
Oh and they keep changing the rules about the so called "safety bonus" they have made it #### near impossible to get that, I had a load in march that put my truck at 81,000 and i call this guy named kurt and he says to stop every 150 miles to put in 30 gallons, he swore it wouldnt effect my bonus well guess what? HE tells me last week i didnt follow the fuel routing so no bonus for me cause of this! LOL im not really angry cause i got my experiance here and didnt have to be with some "trainer" 24/7 for 3 months but im just letting you newbies to know what to expect when you come here.Its not all roses and 47,000 a year or whatever number they put on there website, I average only 7,000 miles a month, just get your experiance here and say goodbye.....

 

Odd then, that I was told the prehires were frozen because no one is quitting. Seems like people would be quitting if they were being treated no better than the bottom feeder companies do.
Sounds like you're on the west coast region too. I was warned that with the east side you'd see the NE a lot, which stinks bad enough to me.
$500/wk isn't enough money for anyone to live off of. Especially after taxes.

 

Again, I'm not saying your experience is anything other than what you described, however, I will say that MOST of the drivers I talk to who are sitting for more than a day have turned down multiple loads, refuse to do anything for the dispatchers (local work, etc), and generally are the whine and moan about everything type. Not saying you are, but most I've talked to who are sitting like you describe are.

My wife and I have had no problems getting layover authorization. My wife and I have had a wonderful experience so far with W/S. I'm not saying it's all roses, but the only complaints we have are the usual corporate stuff that any company has. The secret to success at most companies (I won't say all because I've worked for one that it wasn't) is treat people right and they'll treat you right.

 

I was trying to stay off this thread. Since i don't know exactly what's going on with W&S at this very moment.

But the obvious stuff just kept drawing me back.

Theres a bit of truth in that. Especially since I myself warned people considering a job there, it would be rough during this downturn. Which just happens to be the period you're talking about.

Thus proving dispatchers aren't the only ones that are clueless. That paragraph speaks for itself. The one word missing from that paragraph, that would lend it a lot of weight, "Daycab".

And we both know, you weren't driving a daycab.

I found during my time there. They would run you within the parameters you gave them. Now I agree, the western regional areas were hurting for freight. Still are I imagine.

But "God's Country" and the money are EAST of the Mississippi River.

BTW... I've loaded out of Portland, OR going to New Jersey grossing about 81k with half tanks.

This is the difference between experience and the lack there of. I fueled 4 times....with my last one being just west of Chicago. I topped that #### off there.

I'm not stopping for fuel every 150 miles, especially if I have to log it. Rand McNally puts the scale locations on the map, for a reason. Experience allows you the knowledge of which may or may not be open.

And the radio, can confirm that easily.

And I'm not the least bit ashamed to ask a local driver about scales located within his state.