How about Werner?
 

I got a mesage on my cell from Werner to give them a call. I looked at their web pag and got a little info.I didn't see anything on this forum about them, so I thought someone could help me out. I also see they have paperless logs :? I guess that would have it's good and bad points. How about it, any Werner drivers out there that will help me out?

What do you want to know?? I will do my best to answer it. It has been a while since I worked there but I will give it a shot.

:?:
I too have been in touch with a recruiter from Werner. She told me something I find very suspect. Most of Werner's pay and benefit package is similar to other large starter Trucking companies. She gave her name as "Jenny"

My wife and I plan to partner and when asked what would my cpm be after training as a team, she replied 27 cents. I then asked if that meant 27 split. She replied, no 27 cents each.

I then asked to verify "you mean a total of 54 cents for the truck per mile?" She replied yes.

Anybody else know what the cpm for teams starting with no experience?

Rick

Warning!
 

Worked their for one month and a horrible experince I was a shag dog. in four weeks my largest check was $212.00 no advances. I did many set ups for teams. I worked out of Lithia Springs, GA.

Paperless log; some love it most hate it that I spoke with because it's taugh to 'word' log correction<-Log Dept. Too long at a traffic light; line 4, slow moving traffic line 4. Most times I would have 5 hours on line 4 and maybe 7 or 8 hours on line 3 to drive. Log dept never took my correction, again 'wording' is very important.

Unless your a Guru driver Lithia Springs, GA terminal was crappy awful showers, nasty floors and crowded. This was in Dec 04', they was just getting started with a new trailer shop building. Guru's driver<--had a private lounge that was kept clean. Don't ask what Guru means :)

DM's from my experince are young kids early 20's who don't care!!! I met a few DM's that left to work for Hills Bros including safety personel. They told me, "inhouse mindset was to think truck, truck and not allow driver to get in your head. Funny since the industry turn over is 100%.

Research hard because the labor dept have no affect on our industry.

She lied. Unless they have overnight given their teams a huge payraise, which is doubtful.

If you are looking to run team....call CFI at 1-800-641-4748 and talk to Christine in Recruiting. You'll be happier.

As to finding information on Werner here on this site.....use the search function with Werner being the searchword....

You're right. Called back got another recruiter. Turns out Jenny is "new".
Team cpm is 29 cents plus a bonus of $2400 at 30 days and another $4000 at 12 months. This is in addition to a raise of 1 cent at 3 and 6 months plus other performance bonuses.

I'll wait and see whats in writing.

I would love to apply to CFI- problem is they will not hire from my home area- NW Montana. We have to take our dog along and that too limits our choices.

I've read post after post about Werner. Many - using the search term "Werner"- are just posts mentioning the company. Other posts seem to from posters with a "beef" against the company.

Any ideas?

Werner teams run a bit different then their solo counterparts. The paperless logs are not that bad. You have to know how to work them to get the most out of them. At first, I hated them with a passion. After I had been there for some time I got used to them and learned to work them and grew to like them. When I trained for them, most of my students did not have a problem with them after I showed them how to work it. What I found was it was mainly the co-drivers that I had on my truck that did not like them because it forced them to run legal instead of the ways that they had ran before at other companies. They just didn't want to change their ways. The logs department can be very hard headed at times. They do not like to alter the logs for anything. The reason being is that when they do make a change to the logs it has to be recorded. When DOT comes in and audits them, they see these log changes and then starts to dig deeper. It just causes a big headache for the company. I will tell you this though, I would say that maybe 85-90% of the time I would get the green light on my Pre-Pass to just roll on by the scale house instead of rolling into it. When, on the rare occasion that I would have to scale, They NEVER asked me for my logs. They don't like to fool with the paperless logs. BOL

Fireman, thanks for the objective post. Its what I'm looking for. If you time, could you PM me? I cannot PM you- too new.

Rick

plus they will give you a nice flat nose pete :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

or will they?? their fleet is the most diverse i have ever seen

So true!

My wife went through their student driver training program - had 3 trainers. Two of them were absolutely terrible the second one was good, very good. I drive for Werner currently - I am not happy. I am on the southwest regional board out of Dallas --- ha ha OTR. The breakdown department and services department is a joke - most of the time when I call breakdown i am on hold for 2 hours. Electronic logging is very dependent on your q-com transmitting on an extremely timely basis -- if not the logbook gets screwed up.

speaking of Werner.....i seen an Werner flatbed today :shock: I did not know they had a flatbed division

Yes they do.

They run dry vans, TCU (thats their name for reefers) and flatbeds.

Well, that's your first mistake with Werner. Don't run on a regional fleet. If you want to make money at Werner, you need to be on a dedicated fleet. I have seen many a drivers get on that regional fleet just to end up quiting for one reason or another. Including myself. It is ashame that you can not make decent money on the other fleets but it just works out that way. Call driver placement and see what they have available out of your area. The phone number should be in your little blue book they gave you at orientation. As far as the breakdown departments go, do you call Omaha or do you call your home terminal? I got better response out of calling my home terminal. But that was just me!

How can I word this politely?

Breakdown: I tried to do the end-run of calling the shop at the Dallas terminal. Was very unpolitely told --- if you are on the road with a problem and you are not coming to the terminal >>> call breakdown.

Different boards: I agree that it was my first mistake -- I unfortunately lost my senses and actually believed what they told me. Driver placement has not been very helpful. Last time I called they have no OTR openings out of Dallas. Will be calling several more times to be sure.

Well, I know that Dallas yard. They are a bunch or pricks there. I never had any cooperation from any of them at all. Driver placement can be a pain in the ass to. Just keep on top of them. you will find out what you need. It is a shame though that you have to keep on top of them like that. I hope it gets better for you.

I cant explain Werner management behavior.

Thread hijack ON:
Rjallen, if you want to team with a carrier in your area might I suggest www.wksh.com 33.5cpm with no experience, 36 with 1 year.
tell them mike in 1807 sent you.
Thread hijack OFF

Thread hijack ON:
Rjallen, if you want to team with a carrier in your area might I suggest www.wksh.com 33.5cpm with no experience, 36 with 1 year.

Watkins Shephard was the first company I looked into. Still have some interest but their recruiter quoted .28 cpm when my wife and I hit the road. Same rate as a solo driver. Thats hard to take. Also after orientation when we first hit the road, we would be unable to take our pet with us for several months- their is a probation.

With W&S HQ just 135 miles from our home, it would be easy to get home.

Thanks for your suggestion!

Rick

Calling your home terminal or any terminal for a Road breakdown issue will get you nowhere. Road breakdown are the only once who can get the reference and Po #s for the repairs.
I have called terminals maintence but only for basic questions regarding the truck.


Just a tip for anybody in Werner desiring placement in a different "Fleet" other that 48 state:
If you want a specific dedicated/regional/division etc, do not use Driver Placement. (I know you are supposed to). Chances of getting on a particular account are very slim.

Get the telephone number from Werner switch board for the Account Manager or Fleet Manager for the particular dedicated account you are interested in. Call directly to that person. They have the authority to "end around" Driver Placement, for hiring of drivers into that account.

Ive talked to many Werner drivers out here on the road who have been attempting to get onto the account I drive. I give them (selectively) the phone number to my FM, they call directly to him. One driver/trainer has been trying to get on for 7yrs, I gave him my FM's number, in less than a week he was on the account.
Only the FM or Account Manager knows what is best for there account.

I know Something about Werner
 

I started with Werner on April 1 2007.

I'm a experience driver (driving for aprox. 26 years) never had an accident in those 26 years. Not even a scratch on a truck.
Now let me tell you about my driving record. I have no points, I haven't had a ticket since 2000, which was a speeding ticket for 5 over in Michigan.
My delivery record for Walmart is no lates for two years. Ok, Now the rest of the Story!!

I started with Werner after Schneider lost a Walmart account in Indiana and Werner took it over. So I went to Werner. It worked out great for me as I live about a mile away from the Walmart DC. Well, aprox. 1 month ago I had a slight accident where I rear-ended another truck in Chicago IL. no injuries just a very slight accident. Mind you I have (NEVER) had an accident in a big truck at all in 26 years. Werner has supended me from work. That was aprox. 1 month ago. I call them and they say I should know if I can go back to work soon.

Well you ask our opinion of Werner. Well I don't think Werner gives a crap about there drivers. To them drivers are a dime a dozen. They figure that they have there own driving schools or schools that they can get drivers from and they can replace good drivers. If or when you make a mistake watch out, Chances are you will be replaced.



Would I recommend for you or anyone to work for Werner? Absolutely not!!

Dont know your full circumstances regarding your accident from the little detail you posted, and Im not trying to "bust"on you here. However regardless of how "slight" your accident was, a rear-ender equates to improper following distance. Whether you total both vehicles or just slightly bend a bumper, the cause of the accident was following to close.

Werner employes upward around 10,000 drivers, how do you think you fit into their grand equation, especially only being employed with them for a month.

How does this differ from any other mega-carrier or even the moderate size carriers.

Ive been with them for over 5yrs and have very few issues with the way they conduct their business.

Dont get me wrong here, Im not a real Werner advocate, but neither am I a Werner basher. I understand how the company operates and I work with that.

I hope Werner gives you the chance you seem to deserve and get you back in the seat real soon. I have certainly have heard worse situations from drivers and they have returned to driving for them.

Please keep us posted.

I did my first rookie year at Werner, so I am qaulified to say that they could care less about you. They are a CDL Puppy Mill. Hire on with CFI or ANYONE ELSE before even thinking about Werner.

2 WORDS...STARTER COMPANY .

I can't quote Team pay ,but just like the Solo pay scale I remember it being much lower than other companies . To give you an example of this I'll show the solo pay scale ,and just compare it to other companies solo pay scale then think team pay scale ,and just as big of a difference in CPM.


SOLO pay scale

starting pay after training is complete.... .26 CPM

with 1 yr in .....29cpm


at 2years in .30 CPM

at 3 yrs .31 CPM

at 4 yrs . 32 CPM

it takes 10 yrs to get to .35 CPM

it takes 14 years to bump up to top out pay of .37 CPM .


Although these are Solo rates ,and I dobn't know the exact rates for Team I do know they are equally as low whem compared to other companies team rates just like their solo rates are low compared to almost every major company .

[quote="Drew10"]


Not only will placement be of little assistance they like to lie ...For example at just over the 2yr mark with Werner I decided to look into a dedicated run that would make me enough money to stay there , But I was told we...NEVER hire for Sears or Office-max out of Denver...Keep in mind I know drivers on this account out of this area , But I let this one fly , And inquired about...NET OPS... And was told we do not do net ops out of the DENVER area either...HUH I guess those trucks running from Denver to north platte Nebraska and back are just my immagination ,as well as the constant turn over of new faces driving them ...Then the lady I was talking 2 told me ,But we do have ...FAMILY DOLLAR...And she said this is all we ever offer out of denver for dedicated well when I called 1 yr before I was told they only had Dollar General ...So I guess it depends on which one of these 2 accounts Dollar General Or Family Dollar that they can't get anyone with a sound mind to drive for is what they have open for you when calling driver placement . Oh I forgot she said we also have ...11 Westrern....Like that is going to make me anymopre $$$ than 48 states ...This chat with driver placement is why I'm leaving the company on this hometime ,as they just can'yt offer me anything that pays well enough to continue to turn the key for them .

---------

quick update on my situation.

The "Devil Truck" :twisted: has been living up to its name and reputation. There has been a slight :lol: improvement in breakdown.

At least with my particular dispatcher, found out that threatening to leave was enough to get some things done. So on Monday I getting transferred to another fleet that supposedly has no openings (according to driver placement).

I worked with Werner for about year. The paperless log system worked just fine for me maybe once in while while I would be sleeping on line 2 and the thing would put me on line 4 in the middle of the night. Then you have to call the 800 number hopefully this happens in the middle of night not in the afternoon otherwise expect to be placed on hold for about 30 mins before you talk to someone. Keep in mind this has only happen to me couple times no big deal at least to me.

I have no idea what they pay people to run 48 states. I was out of Tomah, WI doing walmart stuff. The pay was .32 cpm DH and Loaded in addition to $10.00 a drop after your first one. They had loads everyday I hear this can be problem with other companies.

Good thing about working out of Tomah, WI was they had their own office of like 10 people so everyone knew who you were and you knew them.

Few things I disliked and the trainer I had, he was a good guy actually taught me allot of things. But when knew how to drive the truck and what I was doing. We were running like a team but he didn't like to eat by himself. So when it was my turn to sleep he would wake me up then after he would say i'm to tired to drive. So i would be driving under his hours then switching back to my hours. It was burning me out pretty fast.

When I went to Omaha on my first day. I woke up at 7am and went to bed at midnight sitting in classroom for about 13 hours then after that doing there stupid computer programs. Same with the second day and third day lasted only until noon or something.

One last last thing that really pissed me off. After completing the training and I was out on my own. I needed a week off for a wedding I sent a msg requesting a load to walmart in Sioux Falls, SD so i could drive and return the truck in Omaha. Per there policy i couldn't leave the truck in tomah. The DM said NO!!!!! after a little fight he finally said i could leave it in tomah. But i was pretty upset..

My first driving job was for Werner in 2002. The things didn't like. 1. Training was two months. I hated sleeping while he drove, I never got any sleep. Thankfully he was a decent guy. I still talk to him once an awhile. But having to sleep on his bed while he drove was rough. 2. Oh man was it a nightmare if you ever got pulled into a werner terminal. Be prepared to sit on your ass for at least two days. They always claimed to find something wrong with our truck and trailer that was pure b.s. And the maintenance people hate you with all their heart. One actually said that if it were up to him we'd all sit there till we quit, then laughed his ass off. 3. I hope you're rich, and just want to work for them for fun money, because you don't make jack shit. I had to leave because i couldn't afford to do it anymore. I made .24 cents per mile for them then. And I never had constant miles. 4. When you leave it's very cold shoulder, you by your own ticket back home, which I'm sure is the norm for every OTR co., but it was very meaningful to me. I'll never go back.