Watkins shepard

I just recently finished the 10 day training in new jersey. I applied for w/s after reading the comments from driver and students, and i have to say very impressed so fAr. Hopefully, i will be getting a truck tommorrow and enjoying the road.

 

Congratulations! Was the training in NJ any different from what you read on these forums (which were based on the Missoula training)?

 

alot different but in the relaxed sense. our first day we ran to syracuse,ny. got a little of what trucking will be like , in the sense of recievers who take their precious time to get u unloaded and such.
we mostly did our time in the classroom watching films and stuff. in all we did about 10 hours of driving for 10 days between 2 drivers. But, believe me alot was accomplished out of those 10 hours. we did some backing but, was not allowed to use the trucks after hours like many have suggested. in all we spent 8 days in training off weekends so you could figure how the driving hours were that low. Another plus was we got pulled in to a d.o.t. inspection station by the ny/pa state line; talk about high pulse rate, I forgot too update my log book from syracuse to driving joke the rset of the class.

 

Hello to all thanks for the great information on w/s, I am scheduled to attend the class on the 23rd of March, look forward to meeting you all somewhere along the way take care..

 

Hey Bud I am hoping I will be there at the same time, still need to get my DOT physical and take the agility test and pass the written test. I hope it warms up by then.

 

Bud, Captamb1, congratulations on being accepted by W/S. I have submitted my application to them and have been talking with Bonnie D. over the last week. How long did it take for you to get accepted? It seems I don't get any response from them unless I initiate it myself. I'm just wondering if I'm being too impatient.

 

Ahoy Chief, seems like I applied online 2/2 or close to that and had a
E-mail response from Sandy on 2/8. She then emailed me on 2/11 the application and some loan docs and had me fax them back which I did the same day. I had to follow up with some work verification docs. and then on 2/18 Sandy called said it was a go and that Roxie would call me some time this week or next to get me scheduled for the DTO exam and to go take my written test. So that's where I am at right now. You should hear from them soon I think they where jammed up trying to get the 2/08 class going. We will have to swap sea stories if we all end up at W/S at the same time.
Good Luck

 

Senior Chief and Captamb1 hope to see you there this upcoming month, the process was fairly quick, my paperwork was being processed by Gwen and she seemed to be on it. I would say within a week everything was completed except the loan paperwork, physical and so on, so fairly quickly. I was sure to call often and find out how things were going. Take care see you all soon..

 

Well it's been awhile since I updated my Watkins experience so here it goes. We went on our student trip to Sante Fe Springs with 4 students and 1 instructor in ONE truck! This was the first unpleasant experience I had with Watkins and I don't think they will do it again. One of the instructors was on vacation or they would have had an extra truck on the trip. 5 grown men in a truck for a several days is to much. When you get to class be advised that the rooms are really small and the beds in some of the rooms are really crappy. If you can swing it stay in a motel all or part of the time. You will be glad you did. Also, the instructors have very different personalties so don't take it personally if the style of one of them gets you rattled a little. Remember they are getting you ready to have your own truck by yourself in just 4 weeks and need to make sure you can handle the pressure.

Anyway, I was sent out of Missoula to Vancouver, WA to pick up my truck last Friday. I got a 2006 Volvo with 400000 miles and a bad clutch. I picked up a load of news print {44,000 pds) and headed toward San Jose. I had another graduate with me and I was to drop him in Medford to pick up his truck from the Volvo dealer there. His is a 2007 with only 200000 miles on it and ran great just really dirty. My truck however never made it out of the Volvo dealership. They took a look to see if the clutch brake could be adjusted and discovered the clutch need to be replaced. And even though I offered to limp down to LA where they have a shop to save money they put me into a hotel and ponied up to have the repairs done right away. I am saying all of this so you guys will know that even though problems happened the guys at Watkins are following through on their promises to keep me safe and reasonably well taken care of.

You will learn allot at class. Practice after class and on the weekends as much as you can it will make the difference between being confident or not when you get your truck. This is the only company I applied to after much research and I am still glad I did.

 

Good thing you had the repair dine prior to going to SFS. They would have sent it out to get the work done. They won't do big jobs at the SFS shop. Only minor stuff, just so you know. Missoula or Helena are the only places to get big stuff done.