I joined Werner as a student and went through the 2 day orientation.
The first trainer I had I learned from and I got over the Green phase of my training.
I spent about 5 weeks with him until he decided to go Team driving with his girlfriend.
He dropped me off a the terminal. I was unexpectedly told to go see the safety dept.
Before he dropped me off he told me I had done well as his student and that he was giving me good marks. When I got to the safety dept, I found out he had written another report about me which wasn't good. I had to endure a fun filled day of questions and tests to see weather I was fit to drive a truck (how degrading) They decided to get me set up with a new trainer and I was off again to finish my 275 hours.
My second trainer helped my fine tune my driving skills until the end of my hours.in my opinion it seemed to me to be less and less of student training and more and more of team driving. Finally my hours were up, time for me to get my own truck, yay! I was lucky to get to a terminal and complete my computer tests and test out.
On the over the road test I was put through a nice little obstical course. Exit off the interstate onto a ramp that was under construction (very narrow) I cleared it slowing down from 60 mph to 15, no exit lane either. The tester guy said I rubbed my tires on the concrete barrier, I didn't see that (I should have checked my tires afterwords for rub marks) I made two more very tight turns with my tandems set in the middle and headed back to the terminal. I wanted to ask the tester if many people have passed this road test. For the backing test I was giving 10 minutes to do a 45 degree back. No pressure.
I did it. The next day I was expecting to get my own truck and start making regular pay, I was sick of the meager student pay I had been living on for eight weeks.instead I was told that I was not going to get a truck, and my student hours were to be extended to 350 hours because my over the road test was not good enough. I was not pleased. I decided not to quit right there (bad move) If I quit I would forfeit my $500 bonus. Nothing like the old carrot on a stick. So I got hooked up with my third trainer.
I didn't learn much from him, nor could I understand his english very well. This guy was only interested in one thing, how much I could make him. No regular meals or showers, just drive, and I did. I was starting to feel more like an animal than a man. I decided to eat my meal inside one day and I got yelled at for taking too long. Very bad. I couldn't wait to get out of his truck.
Finally I got done with my hours and requested that they route me to the nearest terminal. My request went unheard. They gave me another trip to New Mexico and when we get there, the truck broke down. I sat for three days, paying for hotel rooms out of my own pocket (which I don't expect to see again) By this time I've had enough. I was on the verge of quiting. I called up the student driver manager and complain to him. I didn't get empathy and a "lets see if we can fix this" attitude. He didn't want to hear it.
The truck got fixed and I got the good news that we were going to a terminal.By this time I had spent an extra week after my hours were complete. Not a happy camper. We
get to our destination and I figured I'd get dropped off at the terminal nearby. Nope. I find out they have assigned us another load going back east and I was not authorized to leave the truck. I called the SDM and explained that I had been out here far too long not to be going to a terminal and that I've requested it several times. He was not listening to me. I was going to do more cheap driving for Werner and like it, or else..
That was pretty much it. I sent a message to the SDM "can't get off the truck? I just did"
I got a cab to a hotel and to the airport the next day. Before I left I got a call from the Student driver manager "What's going on?"
I told him I was obviously not a priority and that I believed they were not really serious about making me a solo driver. He tried to tell me something, but I wasn't listening this time. "Click"
What a disaster. I do not recommend starting your career as a truck driver with Werner.
I did learn how to drive a truck though. Off to better things, good riddance. Keep your $500 bonus, its not worth it. If they treat their students this bad, I'd imagine working for them wouldn't be very different.
Scott
Redmond, Washington
U.S.A.
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