"We Care Werner Cares" REALLY????

Ok so I worked for Werner for almost two years. During that time I heard alot about the company some of it good some of it bad. I just wanted to tell my story and let whoever reads this be the judge.

I live in Tennesse and being fresh out of Truck Driving school got a job with Werner. I was sent to the Atlanta terminal for oreintation. Two days of paperwork and videos and I was ready to go out with a trainer. Within hours of getting out of oreintation I was told to be outside and meet my trainer. The guy pulled up introduced himself and told me that we would be a little while in leaving because his truck had been red flagged and needed repairs. Several hours later I was told he had been pulled off the road for safety violations and was no longer a trainer. I was sent to a hotel (a very cheap hotel) and sat for almost a week without pay waiting for another trainer. I was finally assigned a new trainer who was a great guy and helped me alot. Half way thru their training they give you the choice of going home for a week and getting another trainer when you come back or staying out with the same trainer. I went home.

I got back to the Atlanta terminal after a week off and was assigned to my new trainer. In less then 16 hours this new trianer managed to tell me I was too overweight to drive a truck, tell me that I was a slob and needed to clean myself up if I really wanted a job, he made several racial comments that even though I'm white I found pretty offensive, then after I had finally had enough and told him to be respectful or keep his mouth shut he kicked me out of his truck in Laredo TX for "medical issues". The medical issue was that I have allergies and was sneezing. This resulted in my being sent home for another week without pay. The only way Werner would allow me back was for me to get checked out by a doctor (a visit I had to pay for since my insurance wasn't in effect yet) I get cleared and sent back to Atlanta.

I got to Atlanta checked into the Terminal and was sent back to the cheap hotel and told to wait for another trainer. I checked in everyday to find out when my new trainer was coming. After a week I was told my paperwork had been lost and they had forgoten to assign me a trainer. Another week without pay.

Finally i got a new trainer, this was a really great guy who taught me a lot and helped me out alot.

I got thru my training and was finally asssigned to my own truck. I had to wait two days for the truck since it was undergoing repairs. As soon as i got he truck I noticed the steering seemed really strange. I complained about this and was basically told that I was a new driver and had no idea what I was talking about. I drove this truck for about 6 months. I was a new driver and had a lot to learn. I kept complaining about the steering on this truck but I guess they recieved too many complaints and i did not even get respones to my complaints anymore. One day as i'm driving down a two lane highway the tyerod breaks and sends the truck into a guardrail. I of course had to call in and report the accident and that the truck needed to be towed. I told them that the steering had finally let go. Becuase I told them it was an equipment issue that caused the accident I was told not to move the truck and wait untill someone was sent to inspect the truck. I sat on the side of the road for 7 hours. A guy from a local truck repair place gets there takes a couple of pictures and says "yeah your tyerod broke" He gets back in his truck and leaves. I set there for another 6 hours and a guy from a nearby truck stop shows up to replace the steer tire that was busted in the wreck. This dosen't really help tho since the steer tires are pointed in different directions at this point. I set for another 10 hours and finally a wrecker shows up to tow me to a shop.

After waiting for a week and a half my truck is "repaired" and my dispatcher is looking forward to getting me back on the road. I go to pick my truck up. Before I can leave the shop the mechanic runs out and stops me from leaving. I'm told that they have completed all the repairs that Werner would allow but the truck is not fit to dirve and that they cannot align the front end becuas too many parts are worn out. I tell my dispatcher this and still he has me drive from Greeneville TN to the terminal in Atlanta GA. By the time I get there the new steer trie that was put on the truck has worn down to the steal cables in the trie from the truck not being aligned.

I'm pulled into the saftey department and spend two days defending my job and trying to prove that it was not my fualt that the truck wrecked. Every person I talked to in safety starts out the conversation with "Now are you sure you were awake during this wreck?" Finally Werner agrees not to fire me if i admit that the accident was my fualt and not caused by bad equipment.

I have other stories of the way Werner treated me while i worked for them but i believes this is enough for you to make up your own mind about Werner.