Profile For Brian

I pull retail loads for target in MN, ND, IA & WI, Ruan is the carrier

What companies pull for target and Walmart so I can check them out.

I know Swift and Schneider.

Was at the Petro in Rochelle Illinois, dropped my trailer to put truck into the shop for oil change etc. Was dark when I pulled out and went back to hook up my trailer........jumped the kingpin over the skid plate.......no air drop switch in my suspension, 40,000 lbs in the box.....landing gear was not moving.....crawled in my truck, went to sleep....let it drop over night and pulled out with out anyone noticing!

Werner was 3-4 days of orientation, then out with a trainer for 275 hours of behind the wheel driving time, or when your trainer feels your ready. I had 233 hours behind the wheel, but it took from November 8th, until December 19th to achieve the hours. I sat in a hotel in California while my trainer took a home time break, I also switched trainers, and that took 3 days.

People always ask about choosing a company starting out, just wanted to post my experiences with Werner over the past 15 months

I chose Werner because of the opportunities they offered in the dedicated account division. I started on the Wal-Mart account and hated the multiple stop, multi-zone reefer. I told them I was unhappy, and days later I was able to transfer to the 3M account.

I have been on the 3M for a year, and have really enjoyed the experience. I get an average of 3000 miles per week, and my loads are 95% drop & hook. I would have a preassigned load set up before i was finished with my current load, very very rare to sit waiting for a load. Pay is very good starting out at .35cpm, and if you run over 10,000 miles a month, you get a .02 cpm bonus for all miles driven that month.

I was fortunate enough to receive 2 driver of the month awards during the year, which I was really surprised about. I didn't do anything special in my eyes, I went where I was told, got there on time, and never complained.

Home time was a couple days after being out 10-14 days at a time, any home time requests, were always honored. You also had the option of being home weekly, but of course your miles would be less

I am moving on to a local dedicated job, I will still drive an average of 500 miles per day, but will be able to sleep in my own bed, and eat home cooking!

Bottom line, I would go back if things don't work out with my new adventure.

Don't see any pic attached?

Enjoy, it only gets BETTER!

I just finished my 1st year with Werner, I run a dedicated account with consistent miles of over 10,000 per month, I have very very little down time. Right now I'm off to Office Depot distribution center in Alabama, and already have a pre-assigned load from Greenville So Carolina to DeKalb Illinois.

My gross for 12 months, and I was off 2 weeks in January, and 2 in July was $48,700 at .37cpm, I started at .37, today's check had an increase to 40.5 cpm

Bottom line is the pay is very good even starting out if you choose the right company and account to drive on. All of the big companies have multiple choices for drivers, regional, 48 states, dedicated, etc, and each account pays a different scale. I am making more than my trainer in cpm, but he grossed more due to his compensation from students.

All I have in my truck is the Qualcomm gps, I have used it for 15 months, dispatch sends a preloaded trip, If in doubt, I double check with my atlas, and also check Google maps.

It tends to send you on state highways For shorter distance on trips, but looking at your atlas will help you plan a route using interstate highways.

Truckers GPS units are nice, but fairly expensive 300-400 bucks

Good possibly he fell asleep

So I mentioned in a previous post I was accepting a local job, home every night, 15-20k more per year, etc

Was ready to put in my notice, when I get a call from Werner headquarters telling me my fleet manager nominated me for "solo driver of the month".....and I was chosen to receive this award for October.

Hard to put in my notice, told new employer I needed to wait a couple more weeks.......figured I'd run out the rest of this year, they were cool and understanding, want to get the certificate & $800 dollar bonus!