My husband went to work for Werner Enterprises as a company driver in December. He was told he would be a regional driver on a dedicated route in the SouthWest. This has not happened yet.
He was then told he had to drive with the company for a year, submit a request, and be put on a waiting list that is approximately 6-8 months long. He is now listed as a "over the road driver", which means all 48 states.
As a "OTR" driver, he has only run in a loop in the NorthEast area. There have been split loads with waiting times up to 16 hours, only to be cancelled at the last minute. Waiting times to load and unload are on average of 6-8 hours. ALL dead time, NO pay...
He made more money when he was on unemployment and in Werner training. He has recieved bogus directions to drop sites, and then is chewed out for being late. When he complained to his dipatcher about the wrong directions (over Quall-Com) the dispatcher admitted there is a problem with thier "computer generated directions" and to be patient.
Werner also requires you to fill out payslips and mail them at Fed-Ex drop boxes located at many MAJOR terminals. However not all truck stops have this service, and it can be up to 2-3 weeks before you can submit your payslips.
He asked his dispatcher if he was a 48 OTR driver, how come he has only been in 10 states in the NorthEast. He was told he was at the bottom of the ladder, and had to move on up the list to get more miles, time and money. Five months with a company is a long time to be able to "move up the ladder" and get decent miles.
Please get everything Werner tells you in writting. You will get a different story from each person you talk to, a different story in orientation, a different story from your trainers, a different story from the dispatchers, and a different story from your regional manager.
We are not happy at all with Werner, we were told all these wonderful stories, and then found out that 6 weeks on the road at a time with the majority of your time "dead" does not pay the bills.
Be VERY careful in dealing with this company. We weren't, and believed everything they told us. We are now looking for another company to work for. Perhaps if Werner cut back on the hair salons, weight rooms, arcades, motorcycles, company stores and restauarants, and concentrated MORE on their drivers pay, hours, directions and routes, they would keep good drivers.
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