Werner Enterprises.

I started with werner on may 2nd 2015. Was with a trainer for a little under 2 months got off his truck in Indianapolis. Got a assigned a temporary truck that they had sold in omaha and was too use it and get it to omaha. 2 weeks later i was in omaha where they sold off the truck and had me do a truck recovery down in Missouri, then got routed back to omaha where i sat for a week waiting for a load. Finally got me a 170 mile-ish load to grand island NE then was told to dead head to Cheyenne Wy. No specific spot just get to cheyenne. Then told me to go to the drop yard which i had to ask where it was. Then sent down to st George Utah then down to the vegas drop yard to pick up and take back to SLC where they let me head up to Boise for home time. got back to work on july 14 and have had a load to denver and back to slc then did a split in carlin and back to slc now ive been sitting in slc for the past 26 hours waiting for a load. With eleven of the fourteen trailers here loaded.

Hey Robert. Well it sounds like a pretty typical first month out there for a solo rookie driver. You had to do a vehicle recovery which everyone hates doing. I've done a few myself over the years. You didn't mention anyone pooping on the bed, tearing the cabinets out of the truck, or finding a dead bird inside the cab so your recovery went better than mine have! And I wish I was kidding, but I'm not! Those are true stories.

You've also done a good bit of sitting. That's not uncommon in the beginning either.

Now let me say this about the loaded trailers. It's not uncommon for a customer to use a company's trailers as overflow storage for their warehouse. It's also not uncommon for companies to load trailers many days or even weeks before the load can ship. So don't get the impression that there are a ton of loads available but they won't give you any. Werner has truck payments to make. They don't want you sitting any more than you want to be sitting. If you're not making money, they're not making money either and you know they didn't buy that truck to give you a place to sleep. It's just that you're the low man on the totem pole right now and that's how it goes sometimes. You're also in a very weak area for freight.

What division are you in? Are you running OTR or regional or what? The fact that they're keeping you out in that Midwest/Mountain region makes me think you're in some sort of a regional division. Regardless, find some other Werner drivers and ask them how things are going. You might find everyone is slow right now. You might find you're in a division that doesn't get quite the miles that some other divisions might get. You might find you're on with a dispatcher who notoriously doesn't get very good miles for his/her drivers the way other dispatchers can. There's a lot of factors that go into how much freight a driver gets. After you've been in the industry for a bit you learn how to do some investigative digging around to find out what the cause of the slow freight might be. Talk around and see what you can find out.

But most importantly right now just be patient and speak to everyone professionally. I know it's aggravating and you'd love to call a few people and chew em out. But you'll certainly make things worse, especially as a rookie who hasn't had the chance to prove himself yet. Just stay calm, talk politely, and ask around. Let the company know you're really looking for more miles and make sure you're 100% on time for every appointment they give you.

We're getting ready for the back to school and holiday seasons. Things are certainly going to pick up and they'll stay strong all the way into December. So you'll get your miles in. Everyone has to pay their dues in the beginning in some way. Some people get really nasty trainers. Others get horrible trucks (some with poop on the bed!) Others sit around watching John Wayne movies at the truck stops for a while. Just hang in there and keep a great attitude. Remember, when you're not making money your company is actually losing money paying for a truck that isn't running. This slow freight won't last.

I too just started at Werner several months ago. I've been out training for about two months now. I've also done my fair share of sitting. Though some of the reasons have been a little different. First truck was an older truck they needed moved to be used for a dedicated account. I had it 3 1/2 weeks and it was in the shop 4 times in that period, the 4th was for a whole week. I got the truck to Dallas, got a brand new 2016 Peterbilt with only 89 miles on it. First trip out and I was broke down on the side if the road with only 352 miles on it. Turned out to be a sensor and a simple fix once it was looked at, but it was over July 4th weekend so it took a well to get looked at. Other than that, the longest I have had to wait for a load was a few hours because they couldn't find a load in my area. I ended up deadheading almost 700 miles to get to an area with loads. So, unfortunately there does seem to be a fair bit of sitting in the beginning. As I have been on time for every load with the exception of 2 breakdowns, and I made sure to let them know they needed to get someone else to come get them, I seem to be doing a little less sitting now. The only reason I am sitting at the moment is I'm doing a 34 hour rest at a terminal since I had to come get to pick up something anyway.

I too just started at Werner several months ago. I've been out training for about two months now. I've also done my fair share of sitting. Though some of the reasons have been a little different. First truck was an older truck they needed moved to be used for a dedicated account. I had it 3 1/2 weeks and it was in the shop 4 times in that period, the 4th was for a whole week. I got the truck to Dallas, got a brand new 2016 Peterbilt with only 89 miles on it. First trip out and I was broke down on the side if the road with only 352 miles on it. Turned out to be a sensor and a simple fix once it was looked at, but it was over July 4th weekend so it took a well to get looked at. Other than that, the longest I have had to wait for a load was a few hours because they couldn't find a load in my area. I ended up deadheading almost 700 miles to get to an area with loads. So, unfortunately there does seem to be a fair bit of sitting in the beginning. As I have been on time for every load with the exception of 2 breakdowns, and I made sure to let them know they needed to get someone else to come get them, I seem to be doing a little less sitting now. The only reason I am sitting at the moment is I'm doing a 34 hour rest at a terminal since I had to come get to pick up something anyway.

Hi Miracle! I see your home is Bradenton. How often does Werner say they'll get you home?

Every 3 or 4 weeks is what I'm supposed to get. My first home time came after 2 months, but part of that was me deciding to stay out a little longer so I could make some more money and part of it was due to breakdowns. Neither was the fault of the company. We'll see what happens for future home time requests. The biggest problem with getting home time is they don't have a lot of freight going into Florida and they don't want you deadheading that far for home time.

2nd week solo with prime got 3000 miles. Never have to wait for a load assignment and never have had to complain about miles and I'm going on 8 months. There is so much freight with their walmart dedicated routes Ive been paid bonuses twice now as long as I was available for dispatch during a 2 week holiday period.

As you all might know from my previous posts, had a little bump up in a truck stop lot on my 2nd week solo and unfortunately was terminated. I went to work last week with a very small, 9 truck fleet out of Siler city NC just down the road from me. Figured if it wasn't enough, at least a few months would put distance between me and the bump up. And would serve to fill some experience time much needed for better positions. So, last Saturday I went to pick up my first load for them. Chicken. Frozen. No problem. Well, this guy does his own maintenance, which is no problem for me. I know about being a small business. I was one for 25 years. Well, the 2005 Freightliner Columbia(light purple...yuck) had obviously been rode hard and put up wet. I found that with the empty 48 ft. trailer, I could barely reach 55 mph on level ground. Tractor had no power. And loaded with 43000 lbs of frozen yard buzzard, forget it. And the thing steered like grandpa's old 41 ford pickup. Well, I posted earlier about the problem with the reefer. So, when I took it back to the yard for the reefer service, I informed the owner that there was no way I could drive this thing front NC to NY. Informed him of the no power thing and the steering thing. Informed him that this truck is itself a road hazard and it isn't safe. Well, he had me take it to freightliner and have it hooked up to coputer. 2 bad sensors. I brought the parts back to the shop and he proceeded to replace them. Said I could roll out. 10 the next morning. We'll I went down the next morning. He test drove it bobtail. Seems alright except the steering. Then we hooked up the trailer and he tried it iut. Still no power. Had to give another driver my load to deliver. Chicken is time sensitive. I agreed. No OK problem. I was to pick up and deliver that drivers load that evening. Went home and got rest Was informed that evening the load was cancelled and they would get me a load the next day. Well, next day came and no load. No truck yet either. Next day I went to the yard, turned in my last weekend logs, and a daily diary of my service theee, my fuel card, and told them thanks for the opportunity but this looks like a part time job at best. And that I'm resuming my search for full time employment. To call me if they need me but I'm looking. The owner really didn't want me to go, or look elsewhere for a job. Said if I'll stick around until my truck was finished, he'd pay me weekly for just being on call. He then had me take the truck to freightliner and leave it there to fix all problems with the truck. By professionals. I agreed to these terms because I feel like if I do this, and wait it out, I'll gain some credibility with this owner, and possibly some leverage down the road. I've been on my but for a week now, but I am told the truck will be completed in a day or so. So I'm gonna wait it out and make myself available to do whatever. Shop work, service work or whatever. Who knows, this might work out to everybody's advantage. Meanwhile, I'm listed as an OTR driver so this time counts as experience to a perspective employer in the future. And I think I can learn about the business from this guy meanwhile.

As you all might know from my previous posts, had a little bump up in a truck stop lot on my 2nd week solo and unfortunately was terminated. I went to work last week with a very small, 9 truck fleet out of Siler city NC just down the road from me. Figured if it wasn't enough, at least a few months would put distance between me and the bump up. And would serve to fill some experience time much needed for better positions. So, last Saturday I went to pick up my first load for them. Chicken. Frozen. No problem. Well, this guy does his own maintenance, which is no problem for me. I know about being a small business. I was one for 25 years. Well, the 2005 Freightliner Columbia(light purple...yuck) had obviously been rode hard and put up wet. I found that with the empty 48 ft. trailer, I could barely reach 55 mph on level ground. Tractor had no power. And loaded with 43000 lbs of frozen yard buzzard, forget it. And the thing steered like grandpa's old 41 ford pickup. Well, I posted earlier about the problem with the reefer. So, when I took it back to the yard for the reefer service, I informed the owner that there was no way I could drive this thing front NC to NY. Informed him of the no power thing and the steering thing. Informed him that this truck is itself a road hazard and it isn't safe. Well, he had me take it to freightliner and have it hooked up to coputer. 2 bad sensors. I brought the parts back to the shop and he proceeded to replace them. Said I could roll out. 10 the next morning. We'll I went down the next morning. He test drove it bobtail. Seems alright except the steering. Then we hooked up the trailer and he tried it iut. Still no power. Had to give another driver my load to deliver. Chicken is time sensitive. I agreed. No OK problem. I was to pick up and deliver that drivers load that evening. Went home and got rest Was informed that evening the load was cancelled and they would get me a load the next day. Well, next day came and no load. No truck yet either. Next day I went to the yard, turned in my last weekend logs, and a daily diary of my service theee, my fuel card, and told them thanks for the opportunity but this looks like a part time job at best. And that I'm resuming my search for full time employment. To call me if they need me but I'm looking. The owner really didn't want me to go, or look elsewhere for a job. Said if I'll stick around until my truck was finished, he'd pay me weekly for just being on call. He then had me take the truck to freightliner and leave it there to fix all problems with the truck. By professionals. I agreed to these terms because I feel like if I do this, and wait it out, I'll gain some credibility with this owner, and possibly some leverage down the road. I've been on my but for a week now, but I am told the truck will be completed in a day or so. So I'm gonna wait it out and make myself available to do whatever. Shop work, service work or whatever. Who knows, this might work out to everybody's advantage. Meanwhile, I'm listed as an OTR driver so this time counts as experience to a perspective employer in the future. And I think I can learn about the business from this guy meanwhile.

Hey well good luck to you. Hope it all works out

Well, just thought the whole down time, no driving time, crappy vehicle time, way do do with this time thing might be relatable to this thread. Sorry if it seemed off subject.