Hello:
I just returned from WSE (Willis Shaw) Terminal in Boise. The company and employees seemed to be outstanding. I am enrolling in their Driver Training Program and am interested in getting some industry info on them. They seem to be very safety oriented, have equipment that is about two years ole... Mac, International and Freightliner. They haul mostly refrigerated materials. Does anyone have any supportive information on the company? Do they have a good reputation in the industry? Is there a big difference between hauling refer and dry goods? Their pay scale is a bit above other in-house driving schools and it seems to be a pretty good situation. I will need to give them one year of service or pay $3000 for the training. This includes all tests, physical, Drug and Health.... does anyone have any comments......?
Thanks for your help!

They don't have any info on school on their website. Do they run their own school or is it through an indepedent school? How long is the school? What is your OTR training pay? What will your starting mileage pay be? Good luck to you.

WSE owns the school... it's not advertised at all on their site... I found out about it by accident when speaking with an instructor at Boise State who teaches truck driving. As far as pay goes there is no pay for the first three weeks, which suits me as I live in Boise and it's about twenty five minutes down I-84. All I will need is a lunch... then week four they pay $350 per week while I am sent out with a Trainer they say usually four to five weeks. Starting mileage pay is .2825 per mile plus bonuses and it is anticipated that the pay will top off the first year at about .33 a mile.... But, I am told after the first of the year there will be what they think is a substantial increase in the base of .2825..... In comparison to others it seems pretty tight.... the benefits start sixty days from the day I start with the Trainer... it's a participation on my part about forty bucks a month.... for major medical... dental and vision will run about another twelve bucks... any comments?
thanks

I worked for a sister company of them, Commercial Carriers, they're all under one big ownership known as Comcar. I don't know much about WSE, other than that i have seen they bought old Heartland express trucks for their company trucks. My experiences with Commercial Carriers was not too bad, COMCAR as a whole seems to be like any other big company out there, you're gonna have drivers who like them, and some who don't. As for reefer compared to dry box, just look at it this way, there might be a little more work involved as far as keeping up on the unit, and fueling and what not, but the upside is you make yourself available to any freight that needs to be hauled, dry or refer. With a dry box, you limit yourself to only those commodities that do not require temp control. Best of luck, i think you might also fall in to a regional division up there that offers better home time, you might want to look in to that.

What is thier pay based on...practical or hhg?

When hauling reefer you always have a load. Remember reefer can turn into a dry van but a dry van cannot.

My preference reefer, I don't wait any longer than the dry vans going into the same place but I have a load waiting when I leave. I don't have a slow time in my niche of the industry. Thank you all for eating....keeps me working.

As far as Willis Shaw.....if your happy with them then go with your instincts. You will hear both sides of the coin if you ask drivers. You see we can't ever seem to agree on anything.

I beg to differ, a dry van can turn into a dry van, although there is no need, since it is already a dry van.

Excuse me....late. A dry van can never be a reefer. Pretty dang sure I can run circles on miles around a dry van. More loads than I know what to do with every week.

Just yanking your chain. :lol: