I don't recommend working for this company at all. They stole money from my check for toll roads I never used...and never corrected it. They cheated me out of hometime and days off. They left me stranded away from home because they couldn't get freight to get out of there. It happened twice this year. I was stuck in Kansas City for three days for which they paid me a measly $140. I was also stuck in PA for the last weekend I was employed there (for which I didn't receive any layover pay). The safety guy is completely unreasonable and doesn't care about your needs as a driver. He wouldn't give me a three days off to tend to personal mattrs at home (even though I had been out for 11 days and had earned that time off). They would send me to make local deliveries (as an OTR driver) which took all day. For example, I got paid $30 for a delivery that took me 15 hours. I never received a penny for detention time for any delivery over two hours (literally, hundreds of hours which I was never compensated for)! The list of problems goes on and on! They lie to you left and right at orientation. I would definitely look elsewhere if you are considering working for them.

 

How long did you work for WH? Who is the saftey guy you spoke with?

 

I worked there for almost 18 months. A LOT of people (who have been with the company for a long time) are quitting because of the safety director. There is only one "head of safety" at WH...Dan Garcia. He's pretty much worthless if you need anything. He has to be one of the most ignorant, unprofessional and illogical people I have ever met. He's friends with Virgil who is in charge of the company. They used to work together which is the only reason why Dan is the safety director. The only thing I have really seen him "do" is send out Qualcomm messages four times a week saying "There R storms expected in this area. Get off the RD if U need 2." It's like....THANKS, CAPTAIN OBVIOUS! He refused to give me days off which I needed. He said "we don't have a leave of absence policy. You have to quit if you need the time off and reapply if you want to return to work." I said "Leave of absence? Three days off isn't a leave of absence!" Lori Ott was in charge before he came around about 6 or 7 months ago. She was awesome! She did everything she could to help drivers. She was very professional and actually cared about the drivers. If I needed days off she took care of it. I needed a week off last year and Lori said "no problem". I came back to work a happy camper. This Dan guy has some serious issues! Last time I checked, vacation time and days off is a human resources job (and has nothing to do with safety...let alone, to leave some knucklehead in charge of it).

 

Who was your dispatcher?

pronghornracer

 

i just worked my 2 wk notice out wednesday and ur right about them not being a good company to work for. i talked to dan wed. and he told me they arent hiring anymore van drivers, dont train anymore, and a dispatcher told me they were gettin rid of like 25 more trucks. not a good sign since they already got rid of 300 plus.. they were good to me for the most part while i was there but dan is running the co. into the ground for sure. i always had enough time at home and hometime was never an issue, especially not 3 days! but that was all taken care of by tim, my dispatch. there are quite a few digruntled drivers there and i am speculating wh wont be around do much longer..

 

well, i was almost accurate saying wh is going under. they are getting rid of their van division as of 7/31/08. i was wondering why they were preesuring everyone to go to flat bed.. they sent the msg to all their drivers today.

 

You're talking about this company, correct?:

http://www.whtrans.com/

Guess they'll be adjusting their website soon to reflect the changes.

 

I read in the Wausau paper that they are laying off 340 or 380 people in 3 states. A mix of o/o, drivers, maintainence and dispatch. There sure are alot of trucks sitting in their terminal. Most with the decals off of them.

 

Dan Garcia was totally in over his head. He has absolutely no management skills and relies on intimidation. Hopefully, he lost his job along with the other 340 employees and any future employers find these words here.

Look at the safety record of WH while he was there, talk to anyone that worked with him before you hire him. Talk to former drivers, talk to Lori Ott, Tracey Champagne, anyone in maintenance.

Safety director is a tough job. The objective isn't to make friends, but to produce results. Dan Garcia failed on all accounts.

As far as the rest of the company is concerned, I'm sad to see it go. I had a great experience the year plus I worked there. As with any company, there were issues, but I found - with the notable exception of Dan Garcia - they were all resolved amiably and respectfully. Even when I was wrong - or at blame.

I hope all - with the exception of Dan Garcia - land on their feet and live happy and productive lives.

As for Dan Garcia, perhaps an extended period of unemployment will teach him humility and respect for his fellow human beings.

 

Just curious as to why the safety director would have anything to say about a driver taking time off at home. Every company I was ever with time off was between the driver and the fleet manager and the only time the safety manager or department came into play in a time off issue was if the driver brought them into it because of being told s/he needed to run in violation of the regs.