WERNER, this kind of rip off cant be legal

I went thru TDI also in indy.. The first week of school was a joke.. My husband was my trainer thank goodness. I could not imagine getting in a truck and trusting someone to teach me the ropes when i dont even know if they know how to drive it. They are very upfront on what the student rates are. Yes, they do suck if you are putting in so many hours looking around for trailers or waiting on loads. But ya know , thats really all part of trucking life. You go thru training, then you are paid for all your miles (pretty much lol). There are times when the cargo will be down. Times of the year. My husband and i drive team for Werner. Yes, we do have an amazing dispatcher. SHe is really great, she will NOT let us sit around. We are a very productive team. We arent' truck stop truckers. We get home when we want to. I know the pay sucks, but for us it works, it all goes to one account and we are together. Sure we could go somewhere else , but we ask ourselves these questions...1. pay may be more with another company but how do the miles compare. 2. dispatch, will we have a great dispatcher like now (doubtful). 3. Do they get us home when we want or need (doubtful). 4. Will they fix problems on our truck without bs (doubtful). sorry your experience with Werner was bad. Welcome to trucking

 

Yeah, well recruiters try to suck everyone in, I don't care HOW much experience you have. I ONLY recently got rid of the calls after I got rid of the phone numbers that they had on file. Cellphone and home phone - both are changed, both are unlisted. I don't hear Hunt calling me however many times a week, which is the biggest culprit, but then you get calls here and there from other companies - how THEY got your number, who knows. I figure eventually, they will find my number again.

I am going to start posting this everywhere on these boards - don't just rely on Qualcomm messages to back you up, GET A TAPE RECORDER. Get their moving mouths and all the hot air coming out of them on audio tape - have a nice recording of their lies. IF I ever wanted to go OTR again, I seriously DOUBT it would be with ANY of the big trucking companies. I would love to get one of these recruiters on tape and then call corporate and ask them to verify these claims - IN WRITING.

I dunno - it just makes me wonder how the trucking industry even survives. Preying on newbies, I guess.

 

That's exactly what most of the drivers for Werner end up doing, and NO! it won't look bad in and of itself having worked for them. Companies KNOW about the rep of "bottom feeders" like Werner. (though werner's use of electronic logs may ding you slightly when going to a paperlog system, but it's a minor setback at worst.
If you're able to manage it, I'd get financed privately to go to school. When first starting out, that's what I did. Then I was only beholden to the company I began with for the discounted hotel room they put me up in. ($350 at $100 a month payed)
The good will come if you're able to stick with them for a full year. That's the gold standard that more reputable co.s look for. The bottom feeder "Training companies" almost all treat their new people like dirt. After that first year, you'll begin to notice a difference. More jobs will open up, but sticking it out with ONE company for a year is very important. I've even heard comments "You stayed with THEM for 2 years!?" Not like a purple heart, but.....

 

i have read about werner and swift.is there a union or something or somebody to deal with these companys that treat employees that way.geesh,i mean how can a person survive with a company like werner and swift.

 

Wrong, total amount of loan is not $3,000.00, it's:
36mo x $150/mo = $5,400.00(ouch, $67/mo in just interest & you pay-owe if you stay with them the entire 3 yrs)
or,
36mo x $250/mo = $9,000.00(ouch, $167/mo in just interest & you pay-owe if you bolt after orientation)

A simple calculation as soon as they told you the payoff terms, should have been enough of a warning to stay away from them. That illustrious pay scale they put you on, should have been strike 3!

I can't for the life of me see why drivers sign these agreements.

 

The dispatchers at Werner are Crap, period.

If you are any good at all, get out of Werner as fast as you can. The dispatchers there could care less about your needs.

I was with Werner for almost three months. When they handed me the keys to a new Peter, I sat in the truck for about an hour wondering what the hell I had got myself into. I walked back inside the office and gave them back the keys and took a bus home.

Trust me. They are the worst company you could possibly work for.

Most of the dispatchers are so called college grads without a lick of sense between their eyes. They will run you like a dog and then some. You could be dying in your truck and they could care less. If I could find the dispatcher that was running my butt off I would be hard pressed not to kick his butt. They are crap. I mean CRAP!

 

I don't understand this comment you made:

"When they handed me the keys to a new Peter, I sat in the truck for about an hour wondering what the hell I had got myself into. I walked back inside the office and gave them back the keys and took a bus home."

There's evidently more to this story than you wrote. I mean, why would someone quit because the company gave him a new truck?

Care to fill us in?

 

Can't believe its the same company being talked about in this thread...Some get 1100 miles a week and some get run like "dogs"? Hmmm...interesting...maybe Werner needs to start balancing it out better I guess...

 

i worked for Werner for 5 years. Every post I've read on this thread has truth in it that applied to me from time to time. However, I also trained for them and, except for the occasional wacko student, made excellent money as a trainer. I also ran Dollar General, flatbed, an d reefers out of Tomah, Wi. Those three paid decent, but Werner really does not compete with the restof the industry on wages. However, most of their drivers are very green and are expensive to employ. I don't work there now. A 48 state solo driver has to know how work the system, be a squeaky wheel, and work hard or he'll starve. All that said I had a good time there. I was lucky enough to get acquainted early on with a supervisor or two, the head log lady, and some safety people. When I was feeling ripped off I'd call, always rational and cordial, but firm and state the rip-off. One way or another it was always resolved.. Also,(pure
luck) I had three excellent dispatchers for most of the 5 yrs. The last one, if I ever see him, I going to choke him darn near to death, then tell him why he is such a jerk. He won't hear otherwise. My advice to the newbies, Werner is an excellent starter company for 2-3 yrs. Keep your nose clean, train if you can. Then you can easily work for the best paying companies. At the company I went to, it was a benefit having been with Werner 5 years. Anyone who stays that long and has a clean DAC is a good bet to hire. They all know Werner. Werner is not that bad, they're just....well......Werner. Good luck, and drive safe.

 

Please elaborate...give me some details please if you don't mind? I currently run 48 and am my first day of Train the Trainer...Thanks in advance!