Working For Werner

Tell your dispatcher that he is running you too hard if you think he is. Sometimes theres only one truck in the area close enough to get the ld pu no matter what the drivers hours are and what the deliv appt is,gotta get it pu or lose the ld. Obviously ur company and the customer wants the ld on time. Do you think you can get it there?Safelyand Legally? yes or no? thats the question you have to ask yourself.

 

What you say is true but the loads I was talking about can get to the delivery point on time legally but you won't get your break before unloading . It's not an HOS violation to unload without a 10 hour break . So you get there at 1 a.m. , unload 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. , then you have to stay there for 10 hours because you are out of hours . Then are you going to start driving at 7 p.m. , drive until 4 a.m. to get back to the terminal ? I don't think so .

 

Yep.
It's so true that drivers pull so many diff kinds of lds from so many diff kinds of shps,work for different kinds of companys and what is expected may differ among them.

What was this thread about again? O ya, bobthetrucker drivin for werner:

 

Orientation
The first day at Werner was pretty intense. I was impressed with the fact that they are a no BS company. They are entrusting you with their good name to get out on the road, to be safe for yourself and the motoring public.

This day was pretty much a full day of paperwork, applications and book study. If you love to do paperwork, you will love this day. One form after another till you can’t see straight. Then you get the company manual to read. They give you the chapters to concentrate on with the promise of a test the next day. Everyone takes turns getting the DOT physical throughout the day along with a mandatory drug test.When you are not filling out paperwork or getting your medical in you had better be studying. The instructor was a no nonsense kind of guy with humor mixed in to make his points.
On top of this you have to complete about four hours of computer based training before moving on to a trainer. It's tedious and tiring work but necessary to learn their safety programs and policy's.

What struck me as odd, and I should not be surprised by this is the fact that many of the men did a little too much talking and did not seem to get serious about what they were there for. It always amazes me how people act in these situations.

Here's where attitude plays a part.If you think you are going to just be handed a job and get the best runs and make the most money without applying yourself, well all I have to say is good luck. With the slowdown
in this country Werner and the other companies are in a position to look for the best talent they can find. I can tell you from just being there the first day many people will not stay. I hear griping already about one thing or another. How the company is out to take advantage of the new guys and such. If this is you then please don't apply and waste their money. If your the 'glass is half full' person well come on then.

I worked for 28 years for one of the biggest and best concrete and building materials companies in the country, Rinker Materials. They had pride in their work and stressed safety and employee involvement. They loved people who care about the company. I see the same traits in Werner.

Work hard, care about the company image, for you are the company on the front lines. One hand washes the other and when you go to work be positive, pleasant and give someone a smile. Remember it may be the only one they have gotten all day.

Be on time. This is stressed. If you are going to be late to every delivery do you think the dispatchers will keep giving you the good loads? Have some common sense and give of yourself. I firmly believe you will not go unrewarded. This attitude has served me well in the past and I am sure that it will serve me well in this endeavorer. Don't listen to the naysayers, be your own man(or woman) and give of your talents without being selfish and good things will happen.

Being a former manager I can tell you I would be very leery about some of the talent in that room and I got the distinct impression the instructor was trying to shake out some of the truck driver wannabes.

OK that's it for now. I will write about the second day in orientation later but for now good luck and God Bless to everyone.

 

The first day at Werner was pretty intense.
It was pretty much a full day of paperwork, applications and book study. If you love to do paperwork, you will love this day. One form after another till you can’t see straight. Then you get the company manual to read. They give you the chapters to concentrate on with the promise of a test the next day. Everyone takes turns getting the DOT physical throughout the day along with a mandatory drug test.When you are not filling out paperwork or getting your medical in you had better be studying. The instructor was a no nonsense kind of guy with humor mixed in to make his points.
On top of this you have to complete about four hours of computer based training before moving on to a trainer. It's tedious and tiring work but necessary to learn their safety programs and policy's.

What struck me as odd, and I should not be surprised by this is the fact that many of the men did a little too much talking and did not seem to get serious about what they were there for. It always amazes me how people act in these situations.

Here's where attitude plays a part.If you think you are going to just be handed a job and get the best runs and make the most money without applying yourself, well all I have to say is good luck. With the slowdown
in this country Werner and the other companies are in a position to look for the best talent they can find. I can tell you from just being there the first day many people will not stay. I hear griping already about one thing or another. How the company is out to take advantage of the new guys and such. If this is you then please don't apply and waste their money. If your the 'glass is half full' person well come on then.

I worked for 28 years for one of the biggest and best concrete and building materials companies in the country, Rinker Materials. They had pride in their work and stressed safety and employee involvement. They loved people who care about the company. I see the same traits in Werner.

Work hard, care about the company image, for you are the company on the front lines. One hand washes the other and when you go to work be positive, pleasant and give someone a smile. Remember it may be the only one they have gotten all day.

Be on time. This is stressed. If you are going to be late to every delivery do you think the dispatchers will keep giving you the good loads? Have some common sense and give of yourself. I firmly believe you will not go unrewarded. This attitude has served me well in the past and I am sure that it will serve me well in this endeavorer. Don't listen to the naysayers, be your own man(or woman) and give of your talents without being selfish and good things will happen.

Being a former manager I can tell you I would be very leery about some of the talent in that room and I got the distinct impression the instructor was trying to shake out some of the truck driver wannabes.

OK that's it for now. I will write about the second day in orientation later but for now good luck and God Bless to everyone.

 

Werner ? Company image ? The company that pays for tractors to be washed once a month whether they need it or not and has trucks running down the road with fenders and mirrors held on with duct tape ?
Stressing having it there on time to keep getting good loads can be considered a red flag . There are times when there will be delays beyond a drivers control and these clowns will stress the "get it there on time ".
My carrier stresses to be compliant . If the load can't legally be there on time it gets there late .
Safer is still not up so I can't post their declining safety ratings . Maybe in a few days .

 

Yes but you cant be easy on a room full of rookies about gettin lds there on-time.lol Them guys would be pullin over every 2 hrs to checkout side show attractions if u let em..maybe not but u get the idea. What is expected of an experienced driver, some of them might not be knowedgable to or capable of just startin out, gotta stay on em. At the same time i'm not tryin to contradict what rick g said or anything and so theres my 2 cents fer everyone about rookies and companys and the way they train em/deal with em. I mean you gotta remember, they have 0 experience so therefore have NO idea of what is right and what is wrong or what is actually expected out of them as well as what shouldnt be. First thing they need to learn tho is how to pull that big mf over when they are too tired Werner can be bad about some of the things they do as I think all of the big companys are but I like to point out some of the good/defend them too as I used to drive for them. I could sit here and write a whole paragraph about some of the faults and injustices of werner just as well as some of the good things too.

 

Bobthetrucker, Here is big secret if you think you are going to run California or 1500 mile plus loads all the time because your Mr. safety and the company depends on you. YOUR CRAZY
The Safety department and Dispatch, will never be on the same page. So make sure when you get going you point out to the safety department when dispatch expects you to move your butt down the road. You will be stuck on 3-400 mile a night runs for eternity

Also a orientation Class at a training company including Werner consists of ZER0 Talent. You guys have not been anywhere so where does the Talent come into play. Man they must really pump you guy's up. Do they put salt Peter in the lunch too?

 

absolutely, utterly and completly the truth /\ And lemme tell ya, while thesafety dept may be portrayed as all mighty and you think your gonna run to them and tell on your dptchr thats been there for 10 yrs and u 10 weeks----aint gonna fly. So if u cant get ur butt down the rd without runnin off of it you may need to consider a different career. I ran my ### OFF but was confident of my abilities and never did anything I couldnt do, which was next to nothin. Now my first 4er5 months I dont even think I knew what a split break was or how to use/apply them. Got better after time, learned from my mistakes and gained confidence in myself allowing the fear of the unknown to be a thought of the past. I know I have only 2 yrs exp which is not even a grain of salt to some of these guys on here and their insight but theres mine

 

quote :

What you should say is the best talent willing to accept their pay and working conditions . Better companies with better pay and conditions are the reason Werner has to resort to hiring trainees .