You wish you had it this good :) Watkins & Shepard

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/11/13/news/local/news03.txt

 

What can you tell us about teams and W/S? good, bad, not set up for them, etc????

 

Great info. My wife and I are applying to W\S and are hope to be scheduled for June 23rd class in Missoula after MONTHS of research and deliberations over Class A sponsored training. Hoping to base out of AZ, where my wife is from.
1 question. My wife is concerned about the "lifting" exercise. She's not 100 pounds or anything, but what do they expect drivers to lift? Dimentions? Weight? We would be a team, so chances are I'll get stuck with most of the heavy stuff lol. I did read a post from a female trucker who failed this test because of the dimensions, not the weight. We have heard a lot of great stuff about this company, and your post just confirms our decision to apply. Any tips you can give us would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

my company has been pretty good to me, everybody a little slow these days. watkins sheppard don't sound to bad, I usually just see local drivers never new what they were delivering though. a little hard work never hurts, some drivers are getting too lazy these days.

 

I am so happy to hear such wonderful things about this Watkins & Shepard especially now. I just dropped off my husband at the bus station and he will be in Missoula, Montana in 2 days for a 10 day orientation for an interview for a regional driver position. He has his doubts about going as he was a bit fussy and argumentive with me on the way to the bus stop . But I insisted he give Watkins & Shepard a try as the recruiters seem really nice and friendly over the phone. My husband wants to a local driver job so he can be home every night but this is not a reality right now because everywhere local jobs require at least 6 months to a year driving experience and he only has 2 months OTR at Covenant. Watkins Shehard appears to be the closest to a local job as they have offered him a Regonal positon with a maximum of 2 weeks away from home. This is way better than his OTR job at Covenant where he was forced to be away for 7 weeks from me and our 4 children. I do not see how he would not be happy here at Watkins Shepard. I am hoping and praying that Watkins Shepard works out for him because he is a good driver and just needs to work for a company where he can be given the opportunity to contribute and prosper. I also love to shop and would like for us to make plans to save money and buy a house one day. Does anybody else have positive or negative things to say about Watkins Shepard.

 

He'll do fine at W/S. I am also married and have 4 kids. I could get home every two weeks but have been staying out 18 days at a time so that I can be home for 3 days. You get 1 day off for every 6 out. I have not had any problems getting home time when I want it and I've even taken extra days and they don't have any issues with that. It's been a bit slow lately but I expect it'll pick up soon. Paychecks are almost always accurate too which is nice.
Good luck!

 

that line there is telling. Home time, hard work, miles.. that can be busted or made by the driver and/or the DM. But getting the pay right is a whole different ball of worms. To me, more than just about anything, that says they're concerned about their drivers.

I will admit to a bias on this, though. My wife just started work for a new company (not trucking, though she does get to drive. And turn on flashing red/white lights, and even a siren). On her first paycheck, the payroll department lost a timesheet (and admitted it) and ended up shorting her almost 15 hours. Apparently, from what other employees are saying (including the payroll staff!!) this is not an unheard of occurrence.

Sorry, that doesn't cut it. If payroll has a history of screwing up the pay, it means two things: 1) their processes are hosed. Somebody needs to come in from outside and go over the process from start to finish. 2) The payroll people, and management above them, are not as concerned about their employees as they should be.

In my previous life as a company owner/partner (still part owner, I just don't work there any more), one of the things we prided ourselves on was that pay was accurate. You can pay less than top dollar for the industry if you provide a pleasant work environment and don't screw up the paychecks. (granted, not a LOT less than top dollar, but the cost incurred in ensuring accurate pay is a LOT less than the cost in fixing the mistakes, and in having to pay higher wages to compensate)