Griffin CDL Diary- Wilson Logistics
Topic 27568 | Page 4
Long time no talk everybody! It’s 4/1 and I’m about two weeks away from getting my own Wilson truck! My co-driver and I have covered almost 17,000 miles in less than a month which is over half of the programs requirements before you get your shot at a solo week and your own rig so time flies once you enter Wilson’s program. I’ve seen a bunch of different cities, a bunch of crazy docks, and am having a bunch of fun out on the road despite all the corona crap happening these days. I cannot tell anyone who is considering a career in truck driving enough how important this job is and how needed we all are especially at a time like this where the rest of the states seem to be at sort of a stand still. I know one thing is for sure, someone must of been looking out for me upstairs when I decided to jump out of my corporate desk job into this new career at the last minute! All my fellow drivers take care out there, until next post!
Great thread. Enjoy reading about your experiences. How are things going at Wilson? What type of miles are you seeing weekly? I’m starting with them on the 25th in MT. One other question I have, how are the health benefits? Trying to estimate what my weekly deductions would be for health insurance for my family. Any input would be helpful. Stay safe!
Great thread. Enjoy reading about your experiences. How are things going at Wilson? What type of miles are you seeing weekly? I’m starting with them on the 25th in MT. One other question I have, how are the health benefits? Trying to estimate what my weekly deductions would be for health insurance for my family. Any input would be helpful. Stay safe!
Spartan,
First off welcome to the Weagle family! Wilson Logistics is a great company and I am having a very good experience as I finish with my A seat/last program upgrade this upcoming Thursday. This week (which was my solo week on my own in my own truck) I saw about 2,200 miles and I did two local loads down in Spokane Washington which pays some type of flat rate just for moving a few trailers to our yard there so not bad. Considering you'll be getting .46cpm once you reach your solo week, you should see at least a grand for a hard week's work despite how things are kind of slow for us right now due to this virus crap that has stuff shut down. Missoula terminal is great, training guys are eager to help and the constant support truly makes picking up all there is to know worth your time and effort so that's always good. I haven't gotten back to the terminal yet to learn more about what kind of benefits package we are offered but i'll be sure to hop back on here later in the week when I return and drop a segment on it so people are aware. Once you get to the Days Inn out there, make sure you try the sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast one day.. good stuff!
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
CPM:
Cents Per Mile
Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.
5/11 Long time no talk! What's going on everyone reading, I know i've been kind of absent from posting about Wilson but I am finally at the finish line of the program and am in possession of my very own 2018 Freightliner Cascadia Wilson Logistics Company Truck! I've gotta admit, if I were to be asked about how the entire experience went, I would have absolutely zero complaints (everything from onboarding day one down to me spreading my wings and flying to receivers and parking with 4 min left on my DOT clock like I had to do earlier in the week lol). I truly believe that the Wilson's have each and every drivers best interest in mind as they move you through the program at an accelerated pace and the time you get to share with the trainers out on the road is divided up into very informative helpful tips that I felt in my experience lead me to being the success I am today operating this beast all on my own. I'm currently sitting in our Portland Oregon yard due to my truck having a coolant leak issue, but even with the small hiccup I am still proud to be apart of a company that is close nit like this one is. I plan on being more active on this thing now that I have my own rig setup the way I like it, so if anyone were to have any questions about the whole process or just Wilson in general i'm always game to respond. Tomorrow I have a window pane load that I am picking up and dragging up to Billings MT and at this point, as long as it isnt like my last Monday (3 drop and hooks and a live firewood unload at the Safeway DC in the pouring rain/mud in Spokane Washington) I really don't mind lol. Since I am wrapping up my solo week here, I am now technically an official graduate of Wilson's CDL training program and to be starting off at .46 cpm with a close nit group of drivers that stay in contact via facebook regarding any topic known to man, I couldn't feel any better than I do about my decision to DO MY RESEARCH on companies and for choosing this one in the end. Seriously, I can't stress enough how important it is to do your homework and select the place that fits your own personal values, in the long run this will save you alot of self induced stress when people don't treat you the way you know you deserve to be treated. Cheers everyone, I'll keep in touch.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.CPM:
Cents Per Mile
Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.
Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.
OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
Seriously, I can't stress enough how important it is to do your homework and select the place that fits your own personal values, in the long run this will save you alot of self induced stress when people don't treat you the way you know you deserve to be treated.
Griffin we are all very happy things are working out with Wilson. Seriously that is fantastic.
I want to address your point in the above paragraph. The homework aspect of researching this should not include reading company reviews on the internet without knowing the source of the information. It’s a well known fact that the vast majority of reviews are written by former drivers that were fired for lack of performance or other issues related to lack of personal accountability.
Focus on performance first and foremost, worry less about how you think you will be treated. The name on the side of the truck is far less important than the driver in the first seat. Great drivers can be and are successful for every company found in these two links:
It’s all about performance; thus every company has multiple million-mile drivers who are treated like gold. They earned it by consistently performing. It’s the only way...
Good luck, safe travels and please...watch your wagon.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
Seriously, I can't stress enough how important it is to do your homework and select the place that fits your own personal values, in the long run this will save you alot of self induced stress when people don't treat you the way you know you deserve to be treated.
Griffin we are all very happy things are working out with Wilson. Seriously that is fantastic.
I want to address your point in the above paragraph. The homework aspect of researching this should not include reading company reviews on the internet without knowing the source of the information. It’s a well known fact that the vast majority of reviews are written by former drivers that were fired for lack of performance or other issues related to lack of personal accountability.
Focus on performance first and foremost, worry less about how you think you will be treated. The name on the side of the truck is far less important than the driver in the first seat. Great drivers can be and are successful for every company found in these two links:
It’s all about performance; thus every company has multiple million-mile drivers who are treated like gold. They earned it by consistently performing. It’s the only way...
Good luck, safe travels and please...watch your wagon.
GTown, I agree with you 100%, I actually began writing about Wilson Logistics here on trucking truth because I myself came to this site when I was starting out but found it difficult to find any newer info about them as a company. This site has been nothing but a godsend for me and I hope anyone else interested in a truck driving career utilizes all the links for life-saving information. Stay safe out there!
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
Great thread. Enjoy reading about your experiences. How are things going at Wilson? What type of miles are you seeing weekly? I’m starting with them on the 25th in MT. One other question I have, how are the health benefits? Trying to estimate what my weekly deductions would be for health insurance for my family. Any input would be helpful. Stay safe!
Spartan, Like I promised.. the benefits package was released to me today after my upgrade paperwork and it’s really not that bad in terms of pricing. Vision will run you about $5 for a family plan, dental will run you about $20-30 depending on which option you choose (basic or premium), and medical will vary but we have three plans (core, value, and the buy up plan). Pricing is between $190-$285 for families. All of these are billed weekly, they also have 30,000 AD&D insurance amongst other options like legal representation, FSA, 3% 401K match. Hope this helps
OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
Griffin- Thank you for the updated information. I greatly appreciate it. Glad to see that you’re on your own. They moved my training up to this past Monday since a spot opened up in Springfield, MO. There are three of us in our class. The fourth person had to leave Monday due to medical reasons. Definitely getting lots of reps on the pad and getting this training knocked out. Keep in touch and be safe!
Spartan, Hope all is well, just now getting around to getting back on here as I’ve been pedal to the metal since going solo. If you’re still around how’s training treating you? I’d love to read along or help in anyway I can.
Griffin- Thank you for the updated information. I greatly appreciate it. Glad to see that you’re on your own. They moved my training up to this past Monday since a spot opened up in Springfield, MO. There are three of us in our class. The fourth person had to leave Monday due to medical reasons. Definitely getting lots of reps on the pad and getting this training knocked out. Keep in touch and be safe!
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So we got the opportunity to drive donner pass FINALLY without snow chains but only after dancing the tango with California DOT placing the chain law into effect and out of effect various times during our little drive before reaching Fremont, CA. Since California wants you to chain 6 and my co-driver didn’t wanna go through the hassle, we sat for about a day and a half clutching to our phones hoping for the chain laws to be lifted long enough for us to leave the Reno TA and hike through Donner before they put the restriction back on (we got close one time and low and behold were sent back to the TA at the top of the hill where they setup a makeshift checkpoint in the midst of everything). We finally yesterday caught some good weather and ended up getting through donner and leaving our flour load at Wilson drop yard in Frenchcamp, CA instead of taking it to Sysco (which I’m glad for, they take forever to unload you there). We are now driving a short hop over to Boise Idaho to deliver some cereal from General Mills to a Winco DC and then grabbing sugar and heading back down the 80 to Frenchcamp again. Let’s hope this time when we drive back down there we don’t have to sit for a day and a half loosing money and mileage over some snow, but safety first!
DOT:
Department Of Transportation
A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.
State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.
OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.