Background info.
New driver, acquired CDL June last year and have been with Werner Since July.
Solo Company Driver OTR – 42CPM.
Im sitting here in Phoenix right now with a day cab load on me and none of my dispatch team responding as to why. I’ve been out of commission for the last month between winter storms and two trucks breaking down on me, it’s given me a bit of time to reflect and share my story time at Werner as it were.
When i first was hired on, i was assigned a kelloggs dedicate route in minnesota and canada region 5… every experienced driver i talked to warned me to get off that route before i even start it as it was not a route for new drivers, apparently having many narrow downhills with 18% slopes. so i followed advice and hopped over to OTR at 42CPM, I needed experience and Werner was the only place that was hiring at the time that i found after FMCSA regulation chanees earlier in the year.
So, do my time at Werner and move on, it can’t be that bad right? wrong…
My first truck they assign me is a 2018 T680 with 360k miles on it, it’s battered, beaten, filthy, and smells like old piss and antigel on the inside, but it turns over and they have “nothing else” for me to take… well, how bad can this truck be?
Day 1 on my way to get my first empty trailer for this truck, the radiator splits. 8 hours waiting for a tow to the shop. one week out of service waiting for repairs.
three weeks after that, Power steering Pump loses pressure despite having a full reservoir, taken to the shop and im down for 2 and a half weeks as the shop tried to source a replacement pump.
Two weeks after this, my 5th wheel decides it no longer wants to latch unless i beat it with a hammer for a few minutes. werner shop took 5 days to replace it.
Two weeks after this, Truck decides to suddenly not want to shift out of neutral(automatic) for random sporadic periods at random times, beeping at me and then changing display back to neutral with no error codes. taken to werner shop for 4 days where im told im crazy as it shifted just fine for them in the yard… a week later it goes out for 30 minutes and i take it to kenworth shop. turns out the clutch was in desperate need of replacement. so there went another 1.5 weeks for that. CQM denies replacement truck request
One month after this, my truck derates with 1st warning. taken to werner shop. where after 5 days of waiting they say it’s fine as theres no engine codes alerting them of an issue. at this point ive learned to take photos of the dash displayed errors with my smartphone because they are calling me a liar.
The second i begin to pull out of yard from this, second engine derate alert comes up and i roll it right back into shop. truck is taken to non werner shop where it is determined that the Event data recorder(what records error codes) along with some other sensors on the engine are all burned out from some sort of electrical short. another two weeks in the shop for this one. CQM denies second replacement request.
more time passes until we get to the beginning of February… im taking I80 WB through Wyoming when my check engine light comes on again with a derate to 50mph. i limp it 50 miles to a shop in rock springs and get told it’ll be a week before they can look at it. CQM finally approves me a replacement truck that i need to travel to billings MN for… Dispatch instructs me to load my belongings in rental car and fetch truck. Werner rents me (6’5″) a Chevy Spark for this… i basically fit my cooler and a duffelbag of clothing with no more room for anything else. dispatch relents and says i can come back with new truck to get my belongings. i arrive in billings friday around 6pm to the dealership to get my truck, i meet the last man out who tells me i have to wait until monday to get the truck as service desk isnt in on weekends. I wait the weekend and return to dealership only to be told the truck had been towed weeks ago… after some back and forth ebtween me, the shop, and dispatch, the truck is found at another dealership shop about 20 miles away. finally find truck with stone dead battery and it doesnt look bad, 2022 international with 99k miles… get it charged and started and roll back to rock springs with it while being aware that a winter storm is brewing. i return to my old truck and begin moving all my stuff over when i notice a tow truck coming into the yard. tow driver tells me he was sent for my old truck and that he needed to get moving back to denver before the winter storm hit with it. My old truck needs a good cleanout as freezing temperatures popped most of my canned goods… i begin the rush process of tossing the worst of the trash and mving over my belonging to new truck. after two hours though the truck is still a mess and i begrudgingly release it to tow driver. dispatch informs me they were unaware that a tow had been dispatched to take it already and apologizes… whatever…
I end up getting stuck in Wyoming as dispatch had no loads to get me out and would not give relocation job to move me out. im stuck for a little over two weeks in the winter storm weather, lo and behold after i can finally move again i get an engine code on the new truck for engine misfiring. im instructed to take it to a shop in utah as it will still drive. fine, i get two more miles down the road when a critcal stop code comes up for DPF service. im told they’ll arrange a tow for me to shop in salt lake city, no to trucks are running as winter weather is stirring up again. it’s friday night again at this point and i end up having to wait until wednesday to actually get towed. saturday night during this time frame my dispatch gets back to me with another truck to swap to. they want to get me another rental to drive 700 miles through winter storms to south dakota to pick up a truck with twice the mileage and a year older than mine. i refuse, citing weather, time, and the absolute PITA it would be to move trucks again. i am told thats fine, but that they can no longer pay me detention/breakdown pay ($75/day) because i refused their offer. FINE, WHATEVER I’LL DEAL WITH IT…
finally get truck towed to repair shop in salt lake, wait another few days until monday for them to look at it, they send DPF off to be cleaned and get it back wednesday and then fix the misfire code afterwards. back in truck and discover ELD tablet wont connect to truck… fantastic… truck apparently has not communicated out to Werner in over 20 days as well so this is an ASAP fix type issue… shop im at wont touch it which means it needs to be taken to Phoenix shop for repair.
I go through several teams to diagnose and troubleshoot, Logs, Field Engineering, and Apps Team who all conclude that the CVD (communications vehicle device) unit in truck needs to be replaced. swap over to paper logs and get to told theyre assigning me a load to get me to phoenix ASAP… get load assignment and find that the load wont be ready for two more days. come last sunday afternoon i get my load and make my way to phoenix with it. CVD gets replaced and all is good in the world for now…
Here i sit now, waiting on a load assignment in the werner yard, after being starved for money the last few weeks they first load they give me is a 6 hour live load with 0 miles rated on it that i split back at the yard here thats reserved for someone else to take to GA… grand total payment for this would be $30 for live load.
This is after repeated talks with my dispatch about how low my weekly mileage is (1250 average with breakdowns and bad loads) and that my idle time is too high… I’m trying real hard to leave this company right now. I’m asking for a load that will actually pay me and getting radio silence back currently.
on the subject of bad loads, I’m talking these short loads that take me 100-250 miles with a promise of another load waiting for me after delivery, these additional loads never come and i get stuck waiting 16+ hours for a new assignment.
Werner has burned me on pay as well multiple times for long waits. Multiple times for delays at shipper/receiver where ive wasted whole days on unloads and been told “we just expect you to have to wait. you arent paid to wait.” and one instance of being told to wait 24hrs for a warm hand off of a critical delivery on a tight window. then being told that the promised payment for waiting was never discussed with management so i wont get it.
as of right now, im arguing back and forth with my dispatch for this shag load because i don’t want to sit for over 6 hours for a grand total of $30 with them dangling another job over my head to el paso if i “do this favor for them.” if they’ll pay me $150 to do it then i will, but im not moving for $30 and the “promise” of a load to texas afterwards.
Ive got apps in with a few other companies and im basically just waiting to hear back from one of them at this point.
sorry if this went on a bit long, i really just wanted to vent my frustrations and it became mostly about my truck woes with Werner. i appreciate anyone who reads through this mess of text.
