Western Express Ripoff

I would advise any truckers to avoid Western Express.

I attended 1 week of orientation of which only 3.5 days are paid orientation ($50 a day and $25 for the half day).
Pro: Free lunch

After I completed orientation on Saturday I went to the terminal to pick up my truck on Monday (they had trucks on the lot).
When I arrived they had me fill out papers. When I was done they said they would give me a call when they got a truck. My DM sent an email twice with no response about my truck. I contacted Western through their Facebook page on Tuesday and asked how long it usually takes to get a truck. 20 min later my DM called and said they had a truck for me. I arrived at the terminal to pick up my truck and get my load orders. No loads. Tuesday was a waste. I sat in my truck all night at the terminal.
Trucks have no power outlets to cook anything.
Trucks stop idling automatically after 15 min and the AC goes off with it.
You cannot leave the terminal for food unless you have load orders. The gate employees cannot issue gate passes. I sat all night with no food.
There is 1 toilet (that I was aware of) in a trailer and no showers.
Wednesday rolls around and Wednesday afternoon I got my first load. 28 miles....
I arrive at the address I was given which was the wrong address. The correct address was 30 minutes on the other side of the county.
I arrive at the correct address on WEDNESDAY and find the customer is closed until Monday. I cant deliver part of my load. I waited all night at a truck stop.
Next morning (Thursday) I delivered part of my load to a different customer. It took 3 hours to resecure my load with the tarp flapping with the wind. This was my first time securing a load.
I was routed back to the terminal where I sat again waiting for my next load. I waited several hours and was told if they dont issue loads by 5pm then you wont get one until the next day. My wife picked me up at 7pm. Im currently home. Its 12:30am Friday morning and I have yet to receive another load.
I will be looking for a new job in the morning. For all my efforts, I was paid for 28 miles, sat with no access to food or showers. I was covered in dirt from head to toe by the time I got home Thursday night. I didnt even have access to a laundry room.
Flatbed is 40 cents a mile but I wont know for sure until they pay me for those lousy 28 miles next week.
Layover pay is $35 after you have been sitting 24 hours.
Avoid Western Express.
I also worked for Swift earlier in the year. They were great aside from the $200/week paychecks which kept me from living on the road and feeding my family at home. But the luxuries were a lot better than Western Express.

 

I forgot to mention with

I had a lot of deductions from Swift. Was told I would make $1000 a week. I figured $700 after taxes/deductions. Even $500 a week was decent money. Didn't turn out like that. I only got 35 cpm from Swift though and kept getting sent to NY multiple times during the storms. I would have to shut down for days. It was fine for a while but when we ran out of savings to keep me on the road and my family taken care of, I had to come back home.
Its kind of hard to Uber food to a terminal without money. I have 8 kids (6 in my home and 2 I pay child support for). My wife budgets money so the homefront is taken care of and I eat on the road. I cannot afford to pay tips when Im on a budget.
When working with Swift I had a fridge, hot logic, water kettle (none of this on a WE truck). I could survive without a truck stop if I had to. Being prior military and eating sour lunch meat and MREs, I know how to manage. Its hard to manage without proper resources.
I also had to save my meal money because Western has drivers pay for the trailer to be weighed and reimbursed later.

 

I left Swift because I went a couple months with low pay. This caused my wife and I to use our savings to make up for it. Eventually it got down to where my final paycheck was $200 and they were sending me out west. I had to put food on the table with that $200. I couldnt be weeks without food for myself. I left there and went to work for an armed security company.

I chose Western Express bc I got a job offer for JB Hunt but because I had 2 minor accidents (1 was the snow was actually ice and ripped my bumper off. The other one I accidently clipped another truck while backing into a dark parking lot), JB Hunt wanted 3 months safe driving. Western is a "second chance" company.

Been driving almost a year.

I simply told my DM i needed miles. I always hear "Ill let you know when I get something".

When I spoke to my recruiter and DM before getting the job I was told $1100 to $1200 every week before taxes.

I have quit Western and have 2 job offers as of this morning.