Getting back in the game- Werner Enterprises
 

OK anyone got the real 411 on Werner? They are offering me a pretty sweet run from OKC to Amarillo and back.

Nothing recent for you. But when I left back in 03 I had no problems. The only left because they lost the dedicated account I was on. My check was always there on Fridays and I never had a single problem in 2 1/2 years with it. They keep their tractors as nice as they can, it's the drivers who tear them up and make them look like **** if you ever do see one like that.

Thanks for the info. Took them up on the offer I'll see how it pans out.

Dude, just say no to the Big Blue Screw and .25 cpm off HHG routing.
Or is it .26 cpm?
Good Grief, Charlie Brown!
I made that 15 years ago.

Dude, some of us don't make that little anymore. For 48 state, yeah, that's the pay, last I heard (for someone with no experience). However, a dedicated run (like he's talkin' about) probably pays significantly more.

Seems like a good run. I'd go for it, if it paid nice, and if it lasted. Sounds nice.
What's the pay, if ya don't mind asking?

They pay me 258 miles to drive 245 miles each way. So they're HHG is in my favor. The rate is meh (23.8) cpm but Its guaranteed miles. Pans out to 614 a week before taxes. No doubles, no unloading, all drop and hook. So while it wouldn't work for some, It suits me just fine.

Damm 23 cpm, thats an awful number. But if they can find people to do it more power to them.

NO THATS AN GOD AWFUL NUMBER!! but whatever makes you happy bro..

Cost of living in OK is lower then lets say VA(no offense Hawk, just a comparison). So $614 a week would be good money in that area.

ouch, I live in Hertford, NC. COL is low here but wow, that is low. I could never survive off that. As long as your happy with it man.

Good Grief, Charlie Brown!
Companies were paying .23 cpm in 1986.
Hell, I make .55 cpm doing drop-n-hook meet-n-turns.
I just drop, hook, and boogie on down the line to my home-20 every night.
And here you are bragging about getting bent over the barrel like that by the Big Blue Screw.
No wonder this industry's in the shape it's in.
So many drivers truckin' for so little...
Hey, at least they don't give you a 1099 (yet)..that's a plus, I guess. :lol2::lol:

i bet this guy will be willing to work for $.10cpm.

If he hops into CA, yes.
If he lands in AZ, then with the new laws they got there, doubt it.

Anywho, Werner appears to be another good outfit to be able to get with.
They've got a terminal down in Fontana I'll also be checking into in due time.
Duck-egg blue, APU's, seems like they got it together among other things.

Yeah, nevermind the cheap-ass money.
As long as they have run those nifty continental blue trucks and APU's, they're a top-flite outfit.
Jeez...this new breed of drivers is something else.

WOW That's scary!! I actually agree with some of what Joey's saying!! I guess if you need a job and .23 the best you can find ok BUT I wouldn't plan on sticking around long. Take the gig if you must but do yourself a favor and don't stop looking for something better! (just make sure it really is better)

everyone else in the area for local or linehaul are either doubles, hazmat or union and to all 3 I say no way.

$614 a week before taxes depending on how many dependents you have or do not have you might see oh say $500 a week or less. Now if you are home on weekends and I mean a full weekend Meaning you run just 5 days a week you are with that tractor 24 hrs a day or 120 hrs a week that brings your pay up to a grand total of roughly $4.16 an hr. And you think that is good. Whatever floats you boat. It is drivers like you that help keep the industry pay in the crapper like it is now because you will put up with that kind of pay.

Well, I wasn't exactly around during the "good 'ole days" so I'll never know now, will I?

Besides, I've got a limited amount of options as to getting back in after that '07 accident, so I'll just have to get with the one that will get me into the least amount of trouble.

There are some good, small companies out there, but unfortunately I keep having the luck of running into the fly-by-nights that run you into the ground and could care less about driver safety, free-time., etc

We'll stick to our own guns, how about that?

my new carrier is 100% hazmat, actually that makes it easier, I dont have to remember when I have hazmat and when I dont

Whats your beef with LTL or Unions? Don't be afraid of the money, it can be quite nice.

It also takes 140 dollars for a two year endorsement on a license I renew every 4 for a third of that cost. Most companies don't pay extra for HazMat much less reimburse the expense involved. Hence, it's a waste of my time.

I am home every night.
A typical day looks something like this. (Keep in mind Werner uses the Qualcomm to track logs)

1745 Driver Sign-on
1745 Show Unit Available for Load
1750 Load Assigned
1750 Split Assigned
1755 Committed to Load & Split
1800 Arrival At Shipper (Line 4)
1815 Load has been picked up
1815 Going to line 3
2215 Arrival at Split. (Line 4)
2230 Load Split
2230-2330 Off Duty (Line 1)
2330 Return Load & Split Assigned
2330 Committed to Return Load & Split
2330 Arrival at Shipper (Line 4)
2345 Load picked up
2345 Fuel
0000 Driving
0400 Arrival at Split. (Line 4)
0415 Load Split
0415 Sign previous days log
0415 Driver Signing Off (Line 1)

Totals
Line 3 8hrs
Line 4 1hr

5 days x 9 hrs on duty 45hrs a week 610/45 hrs is 13.55/hr

So your estimates are a little off. But thanks for playing.

My beef with Unions

1. They value seniority over merit. I was told I'd have to be a Package Handler making 9.50/hr at UPS for 15 YEARS before I'd have the seniority I needed to get a CDL job, despite the fact I had 2 years OTR and 15 months local operations experience with no preventables or DOT Violations. FUC$ THAT!

2. They care only about what they get and not if the company they work for can afford it. GM anyone?

As far as LTL goes I could care less, but they require Doubles and HazMat and neither endorsement will be on my license in the near future.

See you did not break it down like that. But still either way you may bring home depending again on dependents $450 to $500 a week. And that is if werner keeps up there end of the bargain and if they do not lose the contract. Me personally I would not work for those LOW wages. And neither should any driver. that is why companies like that know they can get away with slave wages because they know people will work for that!!!!!! Let us know in 6 months how its going.

Cool enjoy your $0.23 cpm go nowhere job.

That's IF everything goes 100%.
Anyone who's spent any time driving a truck knows that things rarely go that smoothly.
And when they don't (traffic, breakdown, weather, delays, etc)...that $13.50/hr gets whittled down real quick.
Qualcomm...easy to cheat...it doesn't know what's happening when the wheels aren't spinning under a load.

Besides, if this was such a great home-everynight job, there'd be a waiting list a mile long to hire on.
And yet, Werner's always hiring...just another low-rent coolie carrier.

He's got a shiny blue truck and an APU.
What more can a supertrucker ask for? :lol:

I notice you didn't attempt to argue those points. You must be one of the "haves" with the seniority. One of the ones with a vested interest in the status quo. That alone tells me all I need to know.

As far as freight there is no contract. If it's west-bound general freight, it's fair game for "Net-Ops" guys. We don't handle true expedite or hot freight, but that's what teams and OTR drivers are for.

I have no need to cheat. I always pick up at the exact same place (our dropyard) and I always drop at the same place (a truck stop in Amarillo). As far as less that perfect conditions, it can happen to anyone, anywhere, at anytime. But if your going to stress over something that rarely happens, and that you have no control over, then you should know by now trucking is not the career for you.

Might have something to do with the fact that you have to live within a certain radius of a Net-Ops terminal or dropyard? And that most Werner drivers in Oklahoma are on the Dollar General Dedicated account. The only ones that I have met and left Net-Ops have transferred to another division of the company out of boredom. (The run does get old after a while, especially at night. I rarely ever see the Texas part of my run beyond streetlamps and headlights.)

Actually, I'm in a white 2009 Freightliner Columbia daycab that I just turned 104k miles on this morning, so no blue and no APU but thanks for continuing to troll me. :)

You should know that non-union LTL drivers are making .55 cpm for doing the same job you're doing...terminal-to-terminal drop and hook.
That's more than DOUBLE the rate you're getting.
As far as delays and other stuff "rarely" happening...please...I've been in this business over 15 years...this is trucking...**** happens all the time LOL.
Granted, on a dedicated run there's less BS, but when crap does happen, is Werner paying you for it?
Not on your life.

You can work the numbers any way you want but .23 cpm is .23 cpm which is CRAP money to drive a truck.
It AMAZES me how many drivers and O/O are happy making peanuts in this biz.
Especially in a stripped-down, governed Werner daycab.

But this is why the rates/wages never go up.
They go down because the companies find people like you willing to haul for .23 cpm.
Or morons at Prime/CR England doing the fleece-purchase for .90 cpm + FSC.

I'd laugh at anyone offering me .23 cpm to drive...those kinds of wages are an insult to anyone's integrity.
And people who agrees to work for .23 cpm bring down the working conditions for drivers who demand more for their time/effort on the job.
Why should the companies pay .30/.40/.50 cpm when they've got people like you willing to haul for cheap?

The fact that they're even open is proof enough in the pudding for me.
Such a supposed great job would have guys with many years seniority on that run.
Home everynight jobs like that are a rarity in this biz.

You work for $0.23 cpm .... What more can I say. You would have been better off going to UPS, sure it would have taken some time to get back in the truck but well worth it. Now your working for peanuts for a company that is notorious for mistreating drivers.


But you would have to get doubles/triples and hazmat to work for UPS. So I guess it wouldnt have worked out. You cant expect to go into a LTL shop, Union or non union , and move right into a nice daytime linehaul run.

1. Maybe you should have told them you were Jonny Bigrigger and they would have put you to the top of the list. I

2.Gm seems to be getting out of their hole. They have paid back the bailout loan. Besides they weren't selling cars.... is that the workers fault?

3. Why could you care less about LTL? Everyone in trucking knows that's where the money is. $20+ an hr when not driving and $0.50 + cpm when driving. Sure it takes some work and you break a sweat but the checks are nice.

I feel sorry for you, anyone who post about making $0.23 cpm and tries to defend it in 2010 is a fool.

If this (.23 cpm) is the best that's available to him in his area at this time what's the big deal? Don't hand me the usual crap about drivers keeping the pay scale low. I found a good job with pretty good pay and I'm home daily all with a whopping 1 year or so exp.! BUT it was just the luck of the draw. The OP just might be waiting for his chance! I don't understand what some people are so upset about, would you be happier if he collected unemployment? Maybe he should sit at home till the bank kicks him out, that just might make your day!
Until your in his shoes ........

The checks are nice....until they stop coming. OR stop being nice.


ABF, Teamsters Agree to 15% Wage Cut | Transport Topics Online | Trucking, Freight Transportation and Logistics News

These big union trucking companies are in serious trouble. They will be lucky to survive. The workers and unions will need to either compromise with lower wages and benefits or find a new company, because their current carrier will not be able to make it.

That's exactly the point I was trying to make. Even the biggest firms have a breaking point. And from the article linked above it seems that the Already Broken Freight Company may be getting closer to theirs than they'd like.

Yeah, I was laid off from my last job and was on unemployment for 3 months, practically beating down doors doing anything and everything to stay OUT of trucking. You have no idea how depressing it is when even McDonald's is not hiring.
So, as the bills started coming in I knew I had only one choice, so I returned to the game 18 months after swearing off this accursed industry forever. I applied at several companies (including the recruiting service offered on this website.) Werner was the only outfit to offer me a job that didn't include a mandatory 1 month OTR refresher, and the only reason I got that was because of my local ops experience being my most recent. So troll all you want guys, this is my slice of this twisted pie we call trucking. Is it the best job ever? No. But it sure beats the ever-living hell out of an unemployment check.

It says they agreed to a 15% wage reduction.... But I was talking more along the lines of Con-Way.

GM DID NOT PAY THE GOVERMENT BACK. They SAY THEY DID HOWEVER THEY REPAID THE GOVERMENT WITH MONEY FROM THE GOVERMENT. All GM Did was use part of the 16 BILLION dolar line of CREDIT they had FROM TARP TO REPAY THE LOANS THEY HAD THEY NEVER REPAID THE GOVERMENT. ON PAPER IT LOOKS LIKE THEY DID BUT IN REAL LIFE WHICH NONE OF YOU UNION IDIOTS ARE IN THEY DID NO SUCH THING. THEY IN FACT OWE US THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY WE GAVE THEM FROM THE BEGINING. ALL GM DID WAs use it for PR SINCE TOYOTA WAS GETING HAMMERED AT HE TIME.