**Location + Orientation:**
Western Express (Bethlehem, PA) – Orientation lasted two days. You take a drug test and watch a bunch of videos with some questions you have to answer at the end. After orientation, you’re in the motel waiting for a trainer. You fill out a form that asks if you’re a smoker or non smoker. This will place you with a trainer who is the same. If you request a non smoker, your wait time may be longer (but is worth it trust me). Breakfast is free in orientation (granola bar, water, apple, and blueberry muffins everyday). A lunch truck pulls up to orientation at 12 pm or the same time at the motel. Usually sandwiches, wings, choice of drink and chips or cookies. The shuttle bus pulls up to the motel at 5pm for dinner and it’s an $8 subway giftcard everyday.
**Motel, Roommates:**
You stay at the Red Roof Inn which is 6 mins away from the terminal if you drive. It’s dirty and no locks for bathrooms. There are three floors and you will most likely stay in the second or third with a roommate who is also with Western. First floor is home to escorts who are in and out of their cars every hour of the day. They’re not even discreet about it. If you walk the nights (which you probably will) because there’s nothing to do, you will most likely get called into a room. Goes without saying they’re sketchy and should be avoided at all costs. Western is a second chance company. They hire felons and drivers who have been in accidents and are refused by other companies. Then there are people with no experience like me.
For the most part, I’ve had cool roommates and neighbors who I still talk to to this day. Everyone’s just trying to make an honest living and they’re the only good thing about Western.
Note: Any time you’re waiting at the motel whether for a trainer or getting your own truck, never let Western know that you’re not in the motel. If you’re going home, tell your roommate to tell the maintenance guys that you’ve just stepped out to get food and DON’T CHECK OUT. They’re most likely more than happy to help you cause they get a free room to themselves. If Western is paying for your room, they will make it their priority to get you on training or on a truck ASAP. If they know you’re home they will put you at the bottom of the wait list.
**Recruiters:**
Recruiters all lie. Goes without saying for all companies. I was told $650 a week and my travel/fuel will be reimbursed. It hasn’t and we make $92 a day. You drive 11 hours and all the miles goes to your trainer. I had a friend that told me he drove 45mph and when the trainer told him to speed up, he would say he’s new just to cheat the system. You start with .40cpm when you get your own truck.
**Trainer Personalities and stories:**
I’m with my first trainer, Michael W. We will leave last names out to avoid any conflict but for anyone joining to get an idea of who I may be talking about (and to avoid) if they get these unfortunate people. I was with him for a week, heavy smoker, extreme road rage, talks and watches movies while driving. Didn’t teach me anything. Your logbooks, HOS, etc are all digital and done on a tablet. Trainers are suppose to show you what to press but he does it all for me. He only made me drive nights and he would be sleeping while I drove so I was on my own. First night, a deer runs out and I was not taught to use the engine brake so I was flying 80mph on a downhill. Luckily, I have 7 years experience driving in general and have really good control and understand spacing around vehicles. He’s based in CT and I’m based in NY. It’s a Monday the day after Father’s day and he’s pissed about not being home for the weekend. So instead of dropping me off in PA terminal where my car is, he drops me off in CT terminal where a motel was booked without my knowledge. I asked if I would be going home as well and he said no, we’re going to CT cause he has an eye appointment in the morning. If i had driven first, we would’ve made it to PA and he could’ve drove the rest of the way to CT. But he basically wanted me to stay in CT cause it would be easier for him to get me. But drive time from NY to PA is 1:40-2hours. NY to CT is 3+ hours. Even with that knowledge in mind, he didn’t care and brought me to CT. So now I’m stranded with no car and no home time. I requested a new trainer waited nearly a week and this is where my loneliness kicks in. At least in PA, there were other Westerners to talk to. Nobody is here in CT. My introverted self is slowly leaving me…
I called my DM asking if a driver can come get me and drop me off in PA. He says no one is in route. After constantly waiting an additional couple days I finally give up and have my dad drive 3 hours to come get me. We drove another 4 hours in traffic back to NY. I was not getting any updates and this is when I realized that if I stayed in the motel which they pay for they’ll make me a priority. So I call a bunch of numbers to get them to book me a room with no luck. Even the benefits email/phone they provide to sign up for insurance, NOBODY picks up! HR as well. This company is nonexistent. I drove to PA to talk to them directly and got a room. So now I had to jump start my car that’s been sitting there for two weeks and say farewell to my family that drove hours to bring me to PA. What do you know? Before I even check in to the room my new trainer is ready to come get me. Jason W. He taught me everything there is to know about the tablet, sliding tandems, cat scales, you name it. But person-wise, he’s somehow worse compared to the first trainer. He’s racist, sexist, homophobic, you name it and he checks all the boxes. He told me his previous trainee is Muslim and needed to pray. He told him he “ain’t got time for that. We need to move.” What the fuck? Trainers are trainers because they obviously get paid more and take advantage of us driving their miles. But holy shit, how inconsiderate do you have to be to the person you’re practically living with? He says some random shit sometimes too like there’s a black guy on the shoulder changing a tire and he goes and says “you see how long his hair is? how much of it do you think is real?” Then he’ll say he’s not racist cause he has black friends…..
Anyways, I’m driving a straight downhill that’s ending soon and going back to an uphill. A 68 on a 65mph speed limit and he yells so loud my ear nearly goes deaf to use the engine brake. The next morning when he calmed down and I explained the situation and how braking wasn’t necessary cause going uphill slows the truck and he agrees I was right. No apology, and my ear still half deaf. Another time, I stopped at a rest area to take my 30 minutes (I had two hours left on the clock) and he wakes up screaming at me for stopping. I said I’m taking my break. I drove all day and it’s 10pm and haven’t eaten. I didn’t have the privilege of having a fridge full of food like he did and I said he’s selfish. I went out to take a piss and come back and his mood all changed and says he was joking. Yeah, right asshoe. There were so many other incidents where it took everything in me to hold myself back but the funniest part and kinda like my way of getting him back for being a dick was when we were dropping off a load and picking up an empty, the guard shack told us where to get the empty which was located on the other side of where we were. And so my trainer is outside of the truck behind a trailer somewhere and I go and unhook the trailer and bobtail out waiting for him which I assume he was peeing or something. He finally shows up and tosses a rock at my window to get my attention and he points his fingers pointing the opposite direction. Okay, he’s telling me to pick up the empty so I drive off and leave his ass. I come out the cab and see his fat ass chasing after me and screaming “WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE ME IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE! GET BACK IN THE TRUCK!” I’m like, didn’t you signal me to get the empty and he’s like no we’re not getting that we’re getting another trailer, I was telling you pick up this one. I was like, well you don’t give me any context, use your words lmao. This was the day before I finished training. On the final day, I didn’t even get out of bed and just had him drive me back to the terminal, fuck him. He also mentioned how WE gets bad reviews but he hasn’t experienced it himself, well yeah you’re part of the problem.
**Trucks:**
Trucks are new. 2023-2024 Freightliners and Internationals. Some Volvos. I’ve only been in the FL. Company maxed out the speed limit at 61 on the pedal and 66 on cruise control. If you’re new, safety wise this is the way to go. CC has auto steering and buzzes when you go out of lane and corrects itself. Beeps really loud if you’re switching lanes and a car is nearby. For the oldschool folks this may be a annoying. If the tablet detects a low bridge or you’re at a shipper where the speed limit is 10mph, the truck goes on creep mode and goes 3mph. You’re holding up traffic with flashers on until you cross the bridge. Dangerous and BS.
**What I Think of Trucking and Why I quit:**
With my location and my lack of experience, I took what I got. I had to start somewhere and I knew what I was getting into. They only teach you how to drive in CDL school. Drop and hooks, tandems, etc are all learned after. In my state 90 degree backs weren’t on the test so it made it harder for me to learn backing into tight spots. So when you’re at shipping and receiving checking in and you do things slow because you’re inexperienced they give you an attitude. Even if you don’t do anything wrong I noticed that everyone seems miserable and rude. It’s a lot of waiting. You really have to learn how to manage your time. Truck stops are a scam charging about a dollar for one piece of banana. $15 for showers until you get points for fuel then they become free. Everyone is watching and judging you when you get out of the truck but especially when parking. No doubt there is money to be made. Easily 50k a year. 60-70k for dryvan with experience. I’m 25 single and motivated to work. Traveling and exploring was a big part of getting into trucking. But for the most part every state looks the same. Same highways and trees. A lot of time and money spent on getting a CDL. In the end, I feel miserable doing all the hours and miles. I’d rather settle for less money and go home, shower and eat when I want. Trucking screwed up my schedule and surprisingly made me lose weight. Being alone made me realize I want to spend more time with friends and family and I’m an introvert so it says A LOT. My 20s went by so fast and being young was what made me want to grind but the lifestyle just doesn’t fit. I’m active and do tons of cardio. At least I tried. I won’t give it up but it’s not something I want to do at the moment. Thanks for reading.
Oh, and nobody brushes their teeth. No even in the motel…watched a guy down an iced coffee packed with sugar and sleep just to do the same the next day…dentistry costs more than what you make…
