discouraged Werner driver needs advice
 

Please save all the I told you so's. I am a new driver with Werner for 2 months now. I heard all the horror stories before I went with them but had to learn the hard way myself. Can anyone suggest a company that will take a driver with only 2 months experience that doesnt s@ck. I like Crete but dont have the experience for them, Im almost willing to take anything but Werner at this point.

You don't say where you live, however give Transport America a call I do believe they will work with you. Since you only have 2 months experience you may have to go with one of their trainers for a week or two because they have to cover the a$$ insurance wise. They will treat you with respect and nothing like Werner.

so what is so bad with Werner that you want to leave? Cant you work out the problems and still be driving get some more experience then you will be in a better position to drive for another company

Thanks for the tip movinit, Ill look into them.

Classic the main problem with Werner is .26cpm and the lack of miles. My loads are never late , Ive never gone into log violation yet Im not getting enough miles. I dont know of too many drivers that would deal with a $5oo wk paycheck for too long. I dont wanto be a job hopper but I do have a family to support.

I have no driving experience . . . so take the advice for what it's worth.

Before jumping, consider the total costs involved. What will your bottom line for 2007 be if you stay? What will it be if you jump? Generally, you will earn more by not jumping unless you're really getting hosed by an unfair pay structure.

Looked at another way, if you do jump ship, at least do it with the understanding that it may not help your family's financial situation for a while.

I've been hammering at the seasonal lack of miles and business for weeks now, trying to understand it for myself.

I still don't. I can't get enough drivers to respond to make a fair assessment of whether there is a slow down, whether it is seasonal-related or economics-related.

But from what I read, it appears that we're in a slump and all companies are slower than normal. Freight is slow right now (it seems).

Have you taked to management at Werner? Other more experienced Werner drivers? Is this normal for them? Have they seen this happen before/ What do they expect for '07?

And again . . . I'm a total newbie to the industry . . . not speaking from experience.

Freight is a little slow for everyone right now, plus the fact that you are still a new driver. Personally, I would stick it out with them a month or so more. Be nice about it and ask your dispatcher or FM what is it going to take to get more miles. Tell him or her that you think you are ready to handle more miles. Dont be a smartass about it. Then see what they say. There are drivers at Werner getting good miles right now. Ask the dispatcher what they are doing different than you.
Like I said, you are still pretty new at this with only 2 months. A lot of it has to do with the fact that you havent learned a lot of the things that help you get more miles.
As far as the 26cpm part....yeah that sucks no matter how many miles you get. But you have to get your experience somewhere.

On the otherside of things.....If you go ahead and quit, I can put you with a trainer until you get the full 3 months and after that we will pay you a lot more than 26cpm.

General commodity freight is slow . .
 

. . all the way around. Regional and dedicated fleets are probably doing a little better than OTR.

That said, part of driver development is learning how to get miles. Don't be afraid to call and ask for work. Don't rely on just your DM and the qualcomm. Some planners/dispatchers will work with you and some won't. When you hear "there is no freight", ask to be moved even when it will take you further from home.

When all else fails, let your DM know that you're not happy and that if things don't improve quickly, you'll walk. Depending on who you listen to, it costs these guys around $6000 to get you on the road and it will cost another 6k to replace you. If it comes to that, you want to leave under the best terms possible. Don't quit or even threaten to quit while you're under load.

Try filling out the online app here and at other sites like layover.com. Investigate the nibbles, talk to a few recruiters and ask questions here. Whatever you do, don't jump until you have something else lined up.

Thanks for all the helpful responses, its alot to think about, possibly just tough it out a few more months till more doors open for me.

I have yet to meet a Werner driver that was getting more than 2000 to 2300 miles per week. Some were happy with that, most were not. Crete gets a lot of Werner drivers who turn in their trucks in Omaha and then get a ride to Lincoln to join us. However, if you did decide to go with Crete be prepared to start from scratch and train for another 8 weeks.
Might get lucky (depending on your skill level) and get away with 5 or 6.
You'll definitely get more pay and significantly more miles (I avg 3300 to 3500 a week) though.
Going with Transport America would not be much of an improvement. Some, but not much.

Frogman, freight always slows down this time of year, from Dec 1 on till about the second week in Jan. Several reasons. Places don't want to recieve stuff and have it in inventory at the first of the year and have to pay tax on it. Building is down because of weather. Places close for taking inventory. Right around now they can't find anyone to work the docks, same around New Years. I've been doing this for close to 40 years and it is the same every year, slow, and the rates suck. I always plan on having the truck parked by sometime in the second week of Dec. and it don't move till the second week of Jan. Lucked out this year and didn't have to deadhead far :) Came from LA to Mobile then picked up 4 pieces of LTL right there going to Orlando, hour and a half from home :)

I work for hogan as a new driver.. same pay been to california twice have been running 2500 to 3200 miles a week.. Since thanksgiving and the big storm to hit stl i've been running 1500 miles a week. I dont care since I have money in the bank... They dont seem to have alot of frieght... they do seem to be trying thier best to get me miles.. I'm under a load now that doesnt deliver till wednesday 925 miles away..

Switching this time of year may not be your best decision.. Also I was fresh driver and released from training after two weeks.. When gaven a chance my loads are on time but... They do schedule some impossibles every once in while.

there's pros and cons to every company, i drive for werner and my 1st couple months were a little slow, about 2000 miles a week, but now ive been getting about 3000 miles a week(been driving with them now for 8 months). perhaps maybe stick it out a couple more months.

try tmc. flatbedding isnt to bad. just have to want to work a little.

If you're slow, and aren't in a big hurry to get to the next load are there opportunities to unload yourself? We had a Werner recruiter in the other day and if I remember correctly, he said they'd pay up to $150 if the driver did the unlaod themselves. Maybe do that once or twice a week if time allows?

Just a thought.

Taz

I don't work for Werner but it is the company i started with. The pay is still the same I see but at that time we got more miles.

I hear what your saying about pay and taking care of your family. Just make sure you check out the other companies talk to there drivers at your stops and make sure the grass in greener before you jump ship. Job hoping will only hurt you in the long run.

If you can afford it, i'd try to at least finish out your 1st 6 months. Your opportunities to work for other better paying companies will open up. CFI might be a good company to check out. I'd be with them right now if they hadn't decided not to hire me. :( I'm also with werner right now. It's really a shame because they'd be a fine company to work for if the cpm would increase at least .05-.10 across the board.

Not that I know anything, but I did quit my first company quickly. I'm going to say it's better to have a job than to be looking for one. If you can work it out until you get that "Golden year" of experience you'll be better off in the long run.

I left my first company after two weeks and while I landed on my feet and am happy as a clam now, it took me over a month to find a company who wanted me. That was a tough month.

I too left a company within a few weeks but fortunately for me there were a few local companies around that would take a newbie fresh out of school.Best of all i'm home everynight no weekends unless i want to work them.Starting pay is .32 a mile and .38 a mile on weekends and i also get $10 a stop and i get delay pay if i'm held up for anytime over an hour.Best of all the freight is never slow we average 6 stops a day plus if i do any back hauls its also considered a stop.The company i work for is the sole hauling company for the 2nd largest wholesale grocer in the country i drive a reefer.It beats going longhaul and the $10 tarp pay

Hey Taz,

You are getting solid advice from everyone here. And take it from me, having jumped out of an OTR position after 3 months...... You narrow your hire-ability exponentially by leaving in less than three months. As suggested, do **everything** reasonably possible to work with your company to up your mileage. Do it with sincerity, do it out of respect and with all the diplomacy you can muster. You might find yourself being pleasantly surprised....

At least several hiring doors were closed to me with only three months and 33k miles of OTR. Fortunately, I found one opening in my research that would hire me without having to go through a training period, aside from the usual 5 days of orientation.

Do your best to stick with it a little longer and you will be very well rewarded for your commitment..... And remeber, while your money situation is tight: You WILL loose two, possibly three weeks of income while you are in transition to another company! Choose your move wisely.

Werner pays a maximum of $40 to unload a trailer and its rare that you will unless your on a dedicated route that requires it like Family Dollar.

Just wanted to thank everyone for all the excellent advice. I will try to stick it out to at least the 6 month point, there are some companies out there that do open there doors at that point. Im not the kind of person to be a job hopper, I just want to find the right fit sooner than later. Again I appreciate the help and have a safe holiday.

Oh. Well, it WAS a recruiter and I'd swear he said it was around $150. Oh well, just trying to help. :sad:

Good luck whatever happens.

even if u can stick it out for just a few more mths there are several companies that will hire u with 3-6 mths if u dont get at least that much u will have to go thru training all again then u really will have a small paycheck for a while.

JB will take ya with experience and pay a hell of alot more that Werner is now. Miles will be better than what you are getting

My miles sucked at Werner for awhile when I switched from Western Regional to 48 ...But much of it was me ,As I started to slack for instance if I was given a load on Monday that was 600 miles that did not deliver until Wednesday morning ,but I could be at the cons that night with I would not do it I would take until Tuesday night ,and I would shut down at a truck stop 2 hrs away rather than park over night at the cons then drive over from the trk stop Wednesday morning....Yes I was on time ,But I was wasting much time slacking this way ,and not only did I know this was not the way to run but my dispatcher wasn't to thrilled with it either ,and it reflected in the runs I started to get . When I pulled my head out of my A$$ my runs magically returned to 600-1000 mile runs and my dispatcher did what ever it took to get me miles ,As a result my miles were 2800-3200 every week even when others were sitting .


Werner only pays .26 CPM...But making miles/money with them is no different than Crete Or CFI . I started to slack for awhile and it showed in the trips I was given the miles per wk I was running ...And my 500 a week checks . You will hear your dispatcher say things like time management ,But all that really boils down to is running as far as you legally can with your available hours for the day ,and utilizing shipper/receivers as your shut down points rather than truck stops as often as you can to make the best use of you available hours every day . If you are given a load that can deliver much earlier than scheduled notify dispatch ,and call the cons if you can't manage early delivery inquire about a swap or split ,and keep moving the load I have been split as little as 50 miles from the final ,and handed a new load to keep moving...

Learn how to run ,and make miles before you consider jumping to another company ,as if you don't you may just frustrate yourself and keep jumping from company 2 company looking for that magic situation where miles just fall into your lap. I would suggest you stick it out for for a bit longer learn the ropes then train for 6 months so you can earn 12-1500 wk while doing your 1 yr at Werner then move on to a company where you can make about the same running solo .

.26 cpm? I wouldn't get outta bed for that kinda scratch. But, to each their own.

Nope .26 cpm isn't the best in the industry ...But if one can't make miles at Werner then jumping to another company isn't going to change much ,as making miles at Crete CFI Etc is the same as making them at Werner ,So a 1600-1800 mile driver might jump up to a 1800-2000 mile driver ,but until they change the way they run they will not be running 3k a week and making $1200.00-1400.00$ with any company .


As for the local jobs I looked into that however all the good paying union local/non union jobs require me to don a ridiculous outfit they call a "UNIFORM" ...no thanks ,But I'm still looking for a good local job ,and when I find one that doesn't require a uniform I'll be all over it.

Sweet, No wonder i've been well lazy I dont drive near as hard as I did at first.. I'm making .26 cents per mile I don't really care about running a ton of miles.

Oh I hit two deer today right in front of the rest area on I-64 going westbound the MOREHEAD, KY one... Hit both head on oh well. They staired straight at me.. I didnt swerve to miss em. I didnt overly brake I just attemped to slow up..

Not trying to tick you off or anything but... If your hungry, need to put food on the table, and pay bills .26 cpm is better than .00 cpm.
Ya I know... I'm not a trucker yet, but if I don't get hired by the company I WANT to work for right out of school, I'll take that .26 cpm untill I can fine something better.