Werner Enterprises

I have no issues with Werner. Wouldn't work for them at .99 a mile either.
That is your choice, ours is to drive for them they treat us good. majority of the time.
Sooooo.... Let's get this straight. You're a team? And you think that high idle times are good reason for terminating a driver?
Yes i do. THAT is if they are idling not because of bad weather. No one should be uncomfortable in the truck, but if they are going in to take a shower, eat or just bs it should be off dont you think? Fuel is insane as we all now. They are a business and have to think and run like one. If they didnt get rid of the drivers who are idling for no reason how productive is that for the company?
Maybe you should show us how GOOD you and your spouse are. And do solo for the next 6 months. But we all know that isn't going to happen. Because you're not really that good, you're just using a dominate position to speak from.
Dominate? where the heck does that come from? we do our job, we drive our ##### off when we get the miles. We dont eat, sleep, shower together majority of the time because we are moving. I am a rookies BUT my husband is not, he has driven solo for 9 yrs. are we good drivers , your #### right, we do our job, not late, we work hard just like the majority of drivers.
Placing this in proper prospective. Maybe EVERYONE should quit whinning about the economy and fuel prices, because Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have no complaints. So that makes anyone else who complains...a bunch of cackling hens. And they should just "step off" and move to Haiti or someplace warmer.
if the dont like the company then yes, step off and find one they think will NOT complain about production or idle times.
Let's talk real teams, not husband-wife teams. Ever done 21K miles in 18 days at Werner? Then take a day off and repeat? I doubt it. If so, then I owe you an apology.
why in your opinion are husband and wife teams not "real" team? and you probably know our trucks go 65mph so at werner NO we cant do 21k miles. When hubby was o/o he drove his rear off, we drive our rear off the majority of the time. We go home every 3 weeks for 4 days. We do our job, we do it well. Wether or not if we worked for werner we would always do that. we are NOT truckstop truckers as i call it.

In answer to the obvious question. NO I do not consider the majority of husband-wife teams on the road, to be real teams.
again i ask, why not? what do you think husband and wife teams do? sit around and play all day?__________________

 

The truth of the matter is. Most solo drivers WILL have 30-60% idle time during extreme weather changes. Even if they turn the thing off at every possible chance. I know this for a fact, I've watched the software readouts. Idle times at redlights are included in this time. As are idle time between every stop-start.

The software can be set up to "not" include those times. But most companies would rather blame the driver, for all of it.

Your dominate position comes from the fact that you rarely NEED to idle as a team.

No driver should have to subject himself to people who think about ONLY the companies bottom line. So we do agree on this statement.

But, that's why you and your husband are playing with Electronic logs. Because of Werners lack of concern for their drivers and public safety. Read the entire agreement, and the legal issues surrounding those recorders.

How much of your freight is live load/unload? How much is dropped in a yard, for someone else to deliver? How many times a week/month do you actually have to back into a dock?

What do you think solos do? Go to the yard, drop one trailer, grab another and start hunting for a truckstop?

I've done BOTH. Team and solo.

The differance I am not ashamed to admit I worked less, for more money, than the average solo driver. I rarely touched a piece of freight. I rarely backed into a dock. And, I was dispatched within 6 hours MAX every time I dropped/unloaded.

Most times I was pre-planned 10-20 hours before we reached our destination. I may have been pre-planned 2-3 times a year as a solo driver.

Bottom Line: Teams work less, make more. If they are husband-wife. ALL the money goes into one account.

Most husband-wife teams DO NOT have young children at home.

But younger solo drivers NEED those pre-plans, miles, and money.
Instead, they are at the beck and call of "team drivers".

For ME to get up on my soap box, and state the obvious about the "bad" companies, with bad pay. Is a simple no brainer.

If I'm not willing to stand up for the truth, If I'm not willing to stand up for the new and younger guys just starting out. Then I am no better than the blood suckers who run companies like Werner
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actually as of late we do alot of live loads and unloads. Even when we were doing alot of drop and hooks we were backing into a doc. i can see what you are saying but i also dont agree with some of it. But thats what opinions are , individual views on stuff. The over idling i was talking about was as i stated before, having the truck running when no one is in it and it isnt freezing out so no chance of damage to the engine. everyone has their veiws on companies. We have done the o/o and got screwed royally, that is neither here nor there.
yes, the pay may still go into the same account but we do have kids, 2 are grown and one abroad that we miss dearly but we do send her money. when the miles are down we suffer also.

 

And I understand what you are saying as well. Though we view it through a different lens. Mine has a bit more jade on it

And I agree, you guys are most likely doing a bit more load/unload than in the past. Even the better companies (my opinion) are seeing this, as freight slows for solo and teams alike.

Fortunately, I don't work for one of those companies. And, I actually wished I had gotten fewer miles this week. But, I have to do what needs to be done. And I'm home as usual anyway

Good Luck to you guys, and take care.

 

You people sound like a bunch of 5 year old babies for christ sake. I hear less ######## from group of 1st graders... You want to say that My wife and I aren't a "true team" BULL ####!!! I did the solo thing for 8 yrs. I know what it's like to have a family at home, and to support them. You say because both our money goes into the same account. WHAT IN THE #### does that have to do with anything???? What, is that question too hard for you to answer??? We do the same EXACT THING that every team does. WE DRIVE...DRIVE....DRIVE. We don't do mostly drop and hook, we do mostly live loads. I've done more backing than what the hell you think. I've done over 1 million miles in my 9 years driving. So I do believe I've started paying my dues here. I've put in my time. SO DON"T EVEN TRY TO TELL ME THAT I DON"T KNOW WHAT I"M DOING OR WHAT I"M TALKING ABOUT. If you have excesive idle time, then you should be fired. you are wasting money up the stack. EVEN if you are a company driver, you are working for that company. The trucks belong to them, not you. IF they want to do something with THEIR trucks, then they have that right. If you don't like it, then you can go elsewhere. If you don't like having somebody tell you how to run the truck, then here's a though, BUY YOUR OWN TRUCK!!! If you don't like a company, THEN QUIT...Nobody has a gun held to your head making you stay with werner, or what ever company you are with.

 

Maybe you should read the actual content of a post, before you make a comment on said post.

If you're unable to answer the "same account" question yourself. Then you ARE part of the problems newer drivers are having within this industry.

Your "I paid my dues, I'm getting MY money...pi$$ on the rest of you" attitude IS part of the problem.

I'm not in this industry to supply a welfare workforce for companies that fail to understand simple economics.

I know logistics... I can increase the number and frequency of JIT deliveries to a client by 150% above teams, using solo drivers running 100% legal. I can do it for less money. Does that mean you should work cheaper???? Because a company COULD do this...since they own it.

Simple economics...cost goes up, your rates go up. Or you go out of business. There's only a limited number of drivers willing to finance a company. And I am not one of them.

And I stand by my ORIGINAL statement. MOST husband-wife teams ARE NOT true teams. Many use the wifes logbook while the husband does most of the driving.

Many use the husband for backing, hooking and unhooking, and heavy lifting. As a trainer, many of the trainers I worked with were told to merely "polish" the straight line skills of a wife about to go onboard with her husband. Don't worry about the "hard" stuff. And the majority run "no touch" drop and hook. I can take a first week student, and have him doing that the first day. No skills or brains required.

Driving a truck is NOT the entire job.

But, as you so clearly stated/implied, we should shut up because you got yours. And other peoples issues are not worth consideration. You do the same as EVERY team does...about 2/3 what a solo driver does.

At least man up (I did) and admit that part. You work less than a solo. For more money.

So what if you and your wife covered 7000 miles this week. I covered 3450. Am I less of a driver??? The differance. You got an additional 5-7 cents per mile driven, because you teamed with someone you WANT to be with.

What makes YOU worth the extra nickel?? Not your attitude, for sure.

 

Talk about sounding like a child.. Sheesh! Could you possibly be more useless in your banter?

You say you know what it's like to support a family at home.. What family is that? You and your wife are on the road together, not home. If you're both on the road, either the kids are gone, don't exist, or someone else is looking after them at your home... Unless you're a terrible parent. At your age, you have no grown children. Perhaps your wife does, but they were not spawned of you.

If your pay goes into the same account, you have much more in there than a solo driver for the same company at the same pay, period. You'll get double for running the exact number of miles. You don't actually have to work as hard as a solo because there are two of you to split the wheel time. With that, you can run more miles than a solo... Having been solo for 8yrs, you know this, so what really is so hard to understand?

Getting ones own truck isn't difficult... Paying for it can be. Something tells me you've never had your own truck. Makes driving just a TAD easier.

Oh, and could you give your definition of "excessive idle time" so we'll be able to see why one may be fired over that issue?

The company, regardless of which, has certain rights with their own truck. Maybe nobody ever told you, but drivers also have rights. When the company wants you to break federal law, and Werner dispatch has specifically told me to do so in the past, they don't have that right. When they told me to get my truck moving last Dec. on I80, knowing I was sitting due to weather, or be charged with a late load(which wasn't late), they were trying to force me to break federal law. Don't be so quick to exclaim that the trucking company holds all the cards... They don't because federal law trumps them even when they tell a driver otherwise.

Bottom line: While you may see the issues of other drivers as "whining" or some other less than perfect thing, those issues exist. They are brought up for that reason. People don't just sit around wondering what bad they can make up about a company they work or worked for. They remember the problems and share in hopes some other driver will at least "see it coming" before diving into the abyss.

Some people work because they have to, even for Werner. I made more money as a solo than a team driver, btw.

 

Therein lies many of the industries problems. People that "have" to work, even for Werner.

And I don't fault these people for doing it. Lord knows I have been there...more times than I care. I'm in a much better position now in life and finances. And, I don't have to take sh## from ANY company.

Thankfully, I am with a good company. They treat me very well. Although if you ask them what I think, they may tell you I hate the place LOL.

Being in my position, allows me to voice my opinion with more authority and without fear of recourse. I just don't care whether I drive a truck next week or not...period. I'll miss it. But, I'll be fine.

Most companies treat new drivers like pieces of firewood. If they get a little burned, toss em. If they get completely burned...tough sh##.

They treat older experienced drivers like they all have mental issues, and "just don't understand business". Hell I run a business for 5 years, before I sold it. I never asked an employee to work for free. Or take a small cut in pay, before I took a huge one for myself.

Trucking has only 1 commodity to offer it's customers. Drivers !!! They can own 100,000 trucks. But NONE of them will ever move without a driver...period.

So this grand fairytale of trucks moving America is just a myth, without drivers.

If trucks bring good stuff. Send 10 to my house tommorrow with Ice Cream loads...leave the drivers at home though. Let's see how many actually get here.

I hate a Union with a passion. But it is time for me to reconsider that train of thought.

 

I'm with you on all that! If I never drive another truck, oh well. I refuse to go back to the company in question though, regardless. Simply enough, I haven't got to. And while I also have no personal use for a union in general, it would almost be a relief if there was a really strong truckers union that could help drivers get pay according to their abilities and stop companies from treating drivers as merely a tool FOR the trade, or like they more often do... "When you leave, another sucker will be waiting to take your seat before it even cools off."

 

This thing is getting crazy. Some know way too much about this C.L. Werner dude, and some get highly pissed when contridicted (did I spell that right?) by someone else. I don't think its that serious.
Although, I must say, even though that i have never driven team with my wife, i am rather curious. Where are the rules and requirements written that determine who is a real trucker/team and who isn't. What gives you the right to consider yourself to be in an elite catagory of truckers, while others aren't.
1 million miles, 2, 3 doesn't mean much if you're an #######.
RUN TELL DAT