Watkins/Shepard Entry-Level Driver Earnings

[Brad M]

I just received this information from a Watkins/Shepard recruiter and would like to know if the earnings are realistic for an entry-level driver, solo dry van.

.28 cents/mile first 6 months
x10,000 miles/month
$2,800 (mileage pay)
$100 (tuition reimbursement)
$200 (ave. monthly bonus pay/month
$200 (ave. monthly unload pay)
$100 (ave. monthly layover pay
_______________________________
$3,400 (ave. month earnings-new driver

.30 cents/mile second 6 months
x12,000 miles/month
$3,600 (mileage pay)
$100 (tuition reimbursement)
$200 (ave. monthly bonus pay/month
$200 (ave. monthly unload pay)
$100 (ave. monthly layover pay)
________________________________
$4,200 (ave. monthly earnings-new driver

$45,600 the first year :?:

[RottsATruckin]

Yes








Oh, except for the layover pay, I've not had the opportunity (waiting 24+hrs for a load) to qualify for it.


AND I've run 12000 miles in the last 30 days.

[Brad M]

Thanks for the reply. What routes do they have you run and what type of goods are you delivering.

[RottsATruckin]

They're keeping me in the West, MT,WA,OR,CA,UT,CO,ID,AZ,WY
mostly furniture and some paper being the primary freight, I'd say 70%drop/hook at terminals. If you want to go East they'd be happy to send you there.

[TBird]

Hi,

I ran solo for about 7 months for W/S. I did western regional. I am now driving team with my hubby and running back and forth between the east and west coast. We have been doing the team thing for about 16 months. We are still very green, but learning and getting better everyday. Right now I am sitting abut 100 miles north of New York City, waiting out the majority of the traffic due to the flooding of the subways today. Hopefully I will be on the road again in an hour or two.

Recruiting at W/S is pretty honest and upfront about the company and the miles you will run. Freight is good right now, so everyone is getting the miles they want. When freight is slow, then life sucks, but it is that way with any company. I have been very happy learning the ropes with them. The school they run in Missoula is very good. You will learn the basics of driving a truck or they will send you home. The trainers are very hnest from day one and you always know where you stand and how you are progressing. I wish I would have known about it before I went to another program. We put my husband thru the W/S school and it was a great decision.

Every company has it's good and bad aspects. It is a matter of finding one that fits with you. My hubby and I have been very lucky and we are happy where we are. I hope you find your fit also.

Have a nice evening, I am going to check traffic and get a move on (and hope that I don't have to pull out the swimfins).

Seeya out there

TBird

[Brad M]

T-Bird,

I appreciate the information on the W/S school and am glad you think it is a quality one. I have done a lot of research on companies and W/S is a company that not many people have said anything bad about.

[Brad M]

They're keeping me in the West, MT,WA,OR,CA,UT,CO,ID,AZ,WY
mostly furniture and some paper being the primary freight, I'd say 70%drop/hook at terminals. If you want to go East they'd be happy to send you there.

Where do you do the furniture deliveries to, stores or warehouses. What type of paper products do you deliver. I would not want to go East as the Western region I know and would be comfortable in.

[Brad M]

TBird,

How does the freight go with W/S as far as slower times. Do you find that the winter months slow down in the western region when hauling furniture and paper.

[Kev C]

I went to the 10-day orientation in June and started driving for them by month end. Assigned to a 2005 Volvo w/ 249K. I got my CDL through CREngland . Wished I'd had found out this website earlier.

Anyway, they'll run you hard if you have the will to do it. I've getting good miles since i've started 6 weeks ago. I've hauled paper and talc out of MT to CA. Wine a few times out of Modesto to LA. Furniture/Carpet, beer, Staples ld out of LA area.

I've run furniture/carpet from trml to trml. On one ld, I only made one stop(unload one piece of furniture), and the rest went to the other trml. On another ld, had 8 stops (mom&pop stores) btwn Billings and Helena.
At one stop w/o a dock, had to unload 45 carpet pads and 10 pallets( very heavy). The guy there was nice enough to help me out. It was a hot day in the middle of July. Long, tired day but got a good workout & paid for doing it, too! Watkins & Shepard compensates for stops, backing up to a dock, unload, pallet jack, pulling doubles (need exp./training), hazmat ld (need endorsement), etc. They also have mileage, fuel compliance bonus, etc.

Disp has been nice to me so far. Once they asked me over qcom if I will go east. I said no, just want to stay in the west for now. They had no prob. w/ it. Walked into the Missoula disp office after unloading a paper load nearby one time, asked what do I want to do. I said a ld w/ good miles. Bam! Here's a 1200mi ld. Be in Fresno in 48 hrs! See ya later. They would get you a brokered ld to get you an out. In fact, right now i'm hauling a Walmart ld through a broker.

I love furniture ld. One had 70 pieces of La-Z-Boy, just under 7,000lb. Hauled ***** from SFS to Kent, WA. Got good fuel mi, too. One ld with talc, weigh in 79,600 w/ 250 gal. of fuel. had to slide tandems (happens a lot on heavy lds) to get it legal. Looking forward to those Pier1 and Home Depot lds.

Starting pay is not the greatest but could be worst, but hey, consider I'm new and got a decent piece of equipment to drive. Home few times already; Don't have to go east; Decent miles w/ workouts in the mix... So far, I'm happy w/ them.

[VULCAN1999]

Yes








Oh, except for the layover pay, I've not had the opportunity (waiting 24+hrs for a load) to qualify for it.


AND I've run 12000 miles in the last 30 days.

Rottsatrucking, do you drive for them? If what's your opinion ?

[Kev C]

Yes








Oh, except for the layover pay, I've not had the opportunity (waiting 24+hrs for a load) to qualify for it.


AND I've run 12000 miles in the last 30 days.

Rottsatrucking, do you drive for them? If what's your opinion ?

He posted his opinion a couple of months ago in this thread, if that's what you were looking for. Enjoy!

[Phantom433a]

Thats what they paid new drivers 8 years ago....sad to see they haven't bumped it up.....is Macon still the safety driector?

[Kev C]

Yep, Macon is the driver ops & safety director.

[CB JR.]

Macon is a good man. Just do your job and he'll treat you with a good amount of respect. I quit a few years ago... W/S has to do something about that terribly low solo pay scale.

[RottsATruckin]

Yes, I drive for W/S, and I'm quite happy with them (OK the pay is a bit low, but for a newb it's about par with other companies) like Kev posted, funiture loads go to terminals and individual stores, last week I had a 9 drop load throughout Oregon with a final drop of about one half trailer load at a terminal, I made more money from the drop pay than I'd have made driving a full day. The paper is usually big rolls for printing or recycle bales destined for a mill.
I'm just wrapping up 4 days off, after my last drop I asked to be routed home, they got me a load, I delivered and qualcommed I'd be off for 4 days, no problemo

[Brad M]

Yes, I drive for W/S, and I'm quite happy with them (OK the pay is a bit low, but for a newb it's about par with other companies) like Kev posted, funiture loads go to terminals and individual stores, last week I had a 9 drop load throughout Oregon with a final drop of about one half trailer load at a terminal, I made more money from the drop pay than I'd have made driving a full day. The paper is usually big rolls for printing or recycle bales destined for a mill.
I'm just wrapping up 4 days off, after my last drop I asked to be routed home, they got me a load, I delivered and qualcommed I'd be off for 4 days, no problemo

What furniture stores did you deliver to in Oregon. I used to work for M. Jacobs Furniture.

[TBird]

Hi,
Sorry I haven't been back to answer any questions, we have driving like crazy. I don't think we have done anything but drive and sleep for days. We are now in Missoula getting work done on our truck, that unfortunately is going to take a few days. We are sitting in a hotel a few miles from the terminal while our truck issues are figured out. Stinks to be sitting when we are planning to take 10 days off in about 3 weeks, but oh well. I would rather have the shop find the problems during maintenance, rather than something happening on the road.

Paper loads never really seem to disapate too much. Right now there are more paper loads than drivers. Carpet slows down a bit, but then we usually have back up loads, like talc, flour, sugar, bottling company stuff going between Coke and Pepsi facilities.

Team driving is a totally different beast than solo driving. I have done both, and actually enjoy both for different reasons. Freight slows down for the entire trucking community in the winter, but if you know the ups and downs you can plan financially and vacations and such.

Hope you all have a good day, I am going to walk down the street and go to Johnny Carinno's for lunch/dinner. Talk to ya all later

TBird

[BobMack]

Can someone tell us what kind of home time W/S has to offer? Thanks.

[Kev C]

1 day off every 6 days out.

I'm taking 3-day home time as I type. Been out for more than 30 days.

[BobMack]

Is it possible to run 12-14 days and take 2 off? Or do they like to keep you out longer?