Hello,
My Husband just got a job with Western Express, I been reading your posts about the company, some bad some good, but I did notice that all the companies have issues. I’m not a truck driver I’m retired Military, I don’t complain about civilian jobs they are all great!!! Nowadays just having a job is great. If you can all help me to understand some things because I’m under the impression that I will not see my husband in several weeks, and he can’t talk on the phone he is in a training truck (I equate this to trucking boot camp). Anyway his trainer will not allow him to talk on the phone unless they are stopped and its only for important stuff like if he needs money (checking on what is avail in the bank account). Is this normal? How long will he be in the training truck? How much does a "rookie" make? (Got that term from looking at your website) My husband did say he is not going to drive a flat bed he wants to drive a van what does that mean? How can I ship him some warm clothes if he needs them while on the road? (I was in the Navy so our packages would meet us at our next port) Will he get paid time off? Will he get paid vacations? I guess that’s all my questions, Please do not slam me I read some of the post on this website and you all can be brutal
Thank You
God Bless
Lydiae

Welcome to the forum, Lydiae. Most of your questions could more easily be answered by your husband's company, but we should have some on the board who have had experience with Western Express. I will start with some generalities about carriers. Each company makes their own rules and policies. Typically, most carriers will put new drivers with an experience trainer for a few weeks to a few months. When the trainer thinks that the driver is ready to go out on his own they will turn them loose. Some may have a fixed minimum amount of time that they are assigned to a trainer. Most will keep a new driver out for several weeks in the beginning. Some carriers may get drivers home weekly, but that is not the norm, especially in the beginning. Most will keep drivers out 2-3 weeks at a time. I have not heard about cell phone restrictions. That may be due to the trainer not wanting the driver to be distracted during training. There should be times when the truck is stopped for meals, showers, etc., where you husband could call you. Pay is usually low during the training period. Training time will vary according to the company and how well the trainee progresses. A van is what most CDL holders drive. It is also referred to as a box truck. It has sides, back, front and top. A flat is only the base part of the trailer with no side structures. Most otr drivers run irregular routes which means that they may not know where they are going until they unload. It is usually easier to pick up clothes when a driver is home, but you may be able to ship something to him at his home terminal. He might be able to get by the house as quickly as he would his home terminal. Personally, I would try to wait until he comes by the house. It will save money and the weather isn't that cold right now. If he is pulling a van then the only time he will be out in the elements is when he does his pretrip, fuel or to open or close the doors on the trailer while loading and unloading. Most drivers starting out are paid mileage. Some carriers pay trainee's a flat salary during training. They are not paid while off. Some carriers will likely have a paid vacation after a year. I am sorry that I can't offer you precise information on Western Express, but I don't have any first hand experience with them. To make sure you get the most up to date information you may want to call the Western Express recruiting or safety department.

If you are retired Military, then this whole process should be a cake walk for you. :thumbsup:

I've done both ( not retired from military, but been there ) and was a brand new rookie ( to trucking ) not that long ago. I'll take truck driver training any day! :lol:

You didn't tell us where you live, or which terminal he hired on at. That would help alot. You HAVE been to their website and studied EVERY page of it, right? It shows the states operated in, and where most of the terminals/service centers are. If you live somewhere around the Mid-Atlantic area, you should see him quite often (after training.) I'm fairly sure his phone restrictions will ease up soon if he proves to be somewhat capable as a driver. Tell him to take his phone with him to the .... um..... toilet! I doubt his trainer will be stalking him THERE!

Welcome to the board lydiae, Most of us are only brutal to eachother because most of us like eachother... :smokin:

I am having a serious issue with his Trainer.... why can he not talk to you on the phone about whatever he wants when they are stopped? As you stated, this isn't the military, and he is a grown ass man. I think some of these trainers get a huge ego when in themselves are usually rookies. I would seriously question this guys rules. Sounds like a lot of BS to me.

he should be able to call his family when ever he wants to (well not while driving I guess) but there is absolutely no reason he can't call everyday and chat. If I was you, I would call his company and bring this up to them. IT IS NOT ETHETICAL OR COMPANY POLICY

We all know that he can't talk while driving because we were all told that you can't see out of your left mirror with the phone in your left hand.. :lol: :smokin: :rofl:

This is only a guess, but as you describe the personal use of cell phone situation it sounds as if his trainer is exerting his authority/power a little too much. I can absolutely understand the trainer now allowing him to talk while driving, or while "on the job", but not even at lunch/dinner or on a 10 hour break? That's extreem in my opinion.

As golfhobo said, he could always take it into the john, as many drivers do.

I will offer one small suggestion to you though, if I may. Unless you're having a real emergency at home, I'd do my best to not lay too many "problems at home" on him when you do talk to him. He's going to have a full plate while out there learning to drive and to do about 100 other things that drivers do while on the road. Adding worries from home could really throw some major distractions on him and obviously, while he's behind the wheel of a 40 ton vehicle, concentration is paramount.

Then, once he's done with his trainier and has been assigned his own truck, he'll really be learning how to do the job - figuring stuff out on his own. That's when the real learning takes place.

Again, just some friendly suggestions.

Good luck to both of you and thank YOU for serving in the military.

And then, once you have been doing it many years, that 11hrs of driving is very boring and gives you WAAAAY too much time to contemplate things LOL