Werner Training

Well it all depends on who you get for a trainer. If they are dedicated or OTR, Regional. I had a trainer on dedicated for my 1st half of training. My trainer was home every weekend so it took me 3 1/2 weeks to complete 1/2 of my 275. And then it depends on the runs you get (miles), your not going to log many hours if your running 300 miles every load, I'm only saying the more miles you get the easier it will be. You may get a trainer who gets good mileage and lets you rack your hours up, A friend of mine has logged over 1/2 in just under 3 weeks, it's basically the luck of the draw. If your not at your halfway point by Christmas don't count on your SDM (Student Driver Manager) giving you PTO, you'll be paying for it yourself and put on Leave of Absence, not fired, just not paid. My trainer was great, so i have no complaints there, as for my SDM, nothing good to say there, but once your through training you don't have to deal with an SDM anymore, you'll have a DM (Driver Manager) and a Dispatcher to work with and that's where it will really count. Oh and if trainers aren't available at the terminal your at when you finish orientation they may offer you to go to another terminal. I was in PA and went to TX for my 1st 1/2 of training. Hope that helps and good luck, keep a possitive attitude.

 

thats why im waiting til after xmas to go to orientation, I wont have to worry about being home for xmas or not.

 

My first trainer was a quack and a very disturbed and racist individual against anyone not his own kind. The next trainer is a great person and we had no issues and get along fine. With the first guy I logged 20 hours in 7 days because he was a dedicated driver with the company and went home every weekend amongst other things. The 2nd trainer I was with I was able to finish my hours in 2 weeks easily but he was a 48 states driver so it just all depends on the type and personality of your trainer. I can assure you that if your scheduled for 300 hours then figure on 400 to 500 because THERE IS NOTHING IN ANY DIVISION right now for anyone, I only had to do 140 and got stuck for ALOT longer. If you are going to go with a trainer and think that you may be home for christmas then I would not count on it I would wait till after christmas to start because not that they wouldnt want to get you home but if your in Arizona and you live in Missouri then dont count on making it. Best of luck to you and I hope it all works out for the better for you.

 

badmothertrucker i reccomend calling your manager and ask if they can get you home for xmas. They didnt have a problem sending me home for thanksgiving and said it wouldnt go against getting my bonus to be home for the holliday.

 

I would not rush starting with Werner right now because even if you get a trainer where you can run and suck your hours down you will still be told there is nothing available and you are either going to be required to stay on that trainers truck and go home WITHOUT PAY and be expected to call once every 1 to 2 weeks to see whats available. Its a tight time for everyone right now and believe me We Care, Werner Cares is nothing more then a PR stunt its just words to them. THEY DONT CARE if your family starves, they still will hire 2 to 3 orientation classes a week which consist of 20-30 men and women which added up is a few hundred company wide a week. They never tell you during orientation that they probaly wont have anything or you they just hope that one of the ####### out here will screw up and get fired or they will quit which opens a spot. They dont care about over hiring but they care about keeping you on a truck for welfare wages to get a cheap team on the road.

 

Hey guys and gals, I just wanted to join in on this conversation seeing as I start orientation tomorrow Dec. 3rd in Allentown. Reading all these posts gives me somewhat of a heads up and Ill do my best to try to keep you guys informed with whats happening on my end. I know times are tight and I am prepared for a rough start, I just hope we can at least make it through and not get let go before we even start.

 

They wont let you go they will just make you choose to make trainee pay for several months which if you have a family and financial responsibilities then its not really a good opportunity unless you count being broke and losing your power and having a hard time feeding your family as opportunity. If I didnt have a family I wouldnt care but its very hard to do this while watching your family be in a bind, WERNER DOES NOT CARE, they put a good foot forward in the beginning but throw you to the wolves later