truck driver

student trainee

recruiter

office administrator

director of human resources

R. E. West Transportation

The recruiters are great at recruiting. They tell you all about how much money you will make and how much of the US you will get to see.

I came in on the flatbed side, because I was told there were no dry van positions in Baltimore. Which was pretty much a lie because every time I was at the Baltimore yard someone in the dry van was picking up tractors (which is illegal mind you).

I made more money as a trainee than I did actually driving for the company.

$0.40 cents per mile (up from the $0.36 per mile as a dry van driver), was what I made. There were weeks that I drove for over 2500 miles and received a $300 pay check. There was one week I made about $800 and I drove about 3200 miles that week. Numbers sound funny to you? Yeah, it did for me too.

I was oversized most of the time, which means (for the newcomers), you can only drive from sun up to sundown, if the speed limit is 70, you can only drive 55. You cannot drive during an active snow emergency plan, heavy rain, fog or high wind. I was in West Virginia, I had snow, fog and 37MPH winds and was pretty much told to drive. I chose not too,but that's just a little bit of how bad dispatch is at this place.

Speaking of dispatch, they have no clue. They give you bad routes, bad customer information (whether or not there is overnight parking), and I've gotten wrong addresses about 6 times in my 5 months at the company.

Detention pays suck, you make about $20 per hour, and layover pays only pay out $50 per day.

They send you out unprepared. As a new CDL holder and coming in with no money, I was sent to North Dakota, where I was not given gloves, thermal clothing, exhaust covers, a jacket, boots or any other winter gear, and was told to do a pickup in -19 degree weather, and then caught frostbite, because since they didn't give me an exhaust cover I had to take of my gloves (that a driver from another company gave me after seeing I didn't have any) and duct take the exhaust cover.

My nephew was murdered about 2 weeks before the writing of this review. I was en-route to Illinois, and called R.E. West to let them know I had a family emergency. They made arrangements to have me drop the load in Lewisville, Ohio. I didn't have much time on my clock so I ended up staying the night at a Pilot in Western Maryland. I get back to the Baltimore Yard and I get a Qualcomm message from the company saying to call. I call, then I'm told I would not be compensated for the 400 plus miles I drove from Ohio to Baltimore, MD because I was deadheading on a family emergency. I get off the phone, they immediately call me back asking when I was going to come back to work.

While home, I was called numerous times about, coming back to work. I went to grab some stuff from my truck so that I could clean all of the dirt off of it before I went back to work (because I worked flatbed and always had mud and dirt in the truck), and I was texted by R.E. West that my pay was being put on hold because I cleaned my truck out, was never asked why, just had a hold put on my pay. That for me was the last straw, I put in my resignation.

Run while you still can.

LIKES:

I enjoyed my time at R.E. West. Folks are incredibly generous and compassionate, and I felt that I was treated very well. They encourage drivers to keep in contact and look out for each other. Everyone is always willing to help.

They will train you with no experience, even for flatbed and oversized loads. If you join the flatbed division you should expect around 50% of the loads to be oversized (wide, tall, heavy, or long, or any combination of those).

They operate in all of the lower 48 states and Canada. You will spend most of the time in the eastern half of the country (east of MT, WY, CO and NM). Occasionally you will go into those states and maybe further to the west coast but it's rare. I only went into Canada (Ontario) a few times, but other drivers I know have been up there more often, and into other provinces as well. It is mostly circumstantial. A passport is required to enter Canada, and they will assist you in obtaining one once you are hired.

On the flatbed division you are required to be out for at least 3 weeks (it may have been reduced to 2 by now, but it was 3 when I started). 1 week out = 1 day home time. Of course you can stay out as long as you want and the home time will accumulate with no limit. 

I never had any issues with scheduling or going on home time. They would always get me home on time, and on a few occasions even a day early.

DISLIKES:

There were a lot of disagreements between dispatch and maintenance. If your truck or trailer needs repairs, depending on how severe it is, you will most likely be told by dispatch to keep running and they will get you fixed up later, while the maintenance team wants you to get back to TN asap to get repairs done.

It would be difficult to get information from dispatch about a customer. They might leave out useful information from a load assignment, and/or not know anything when you try to call and ask. Sometimes they truly seemed clueless.

A few people are only interested in spreading gossip and nonsense. They are easy to identify, and once you have, stay away from them.

Most of these issues, however, manifest themselves throughout most companies in the trucking industry, not just at R.E. West. Do your research regardless of where you choose to work.


During my time with the company i've found that what they say is true: The customer is the boss and the drivers are the most important people there.   The Wests always have their door open to the drivers and office staff and are right there working along side everyday.  The trucking industry is fast-paced and very competitive, drivers are at a premium and there's always either too much freight or not enough, its never just right.  This makes for a high-stress atmosphere at times; fortunately, most of the people in the office are fun to be around and a pleasure to work with.  One of my favorite times of the year is Driver Appreciation Week.  The company really goes all out to show their drivers how much they appreciate them.

It's a tight knit community, there's not too many people working here. You are on a first name basis pretty quick. If you do your job, make delivery times, and don't do anything stupid 99% of the time dispatch will never bother you. Pay is a little inconsistent. Most weeks I averaged $1300 but other weeks you get screwed doing short little dinky runs. I NEVER sat waiting for a dispatch I was always running and it's always something different. Pretty good at getting you home on the day you want but sometimes have to be firm on getting all your deserved days off.

Good place to work. Nice people. Good atmosphere in the shop and office. Just do good by them and they'll do good by you. If you've never driven a truck before and want to get your CDL they'll train you and help you get it, and they won't charge you an arm and a leg for it. If you want an over the road job, it doesn't get much better than RE West. 

If you do your job and are careful, you will never hear anything negative.  From management to the owner of the company, you can call any of them at anytime and they will listen to you. Honestly, the best job I have ever had. I plan to be with them as long as I drive a truck.

Excellent training, nice equipment, amazing service. Trucks well maintained, any issues were promptly taken care of.  Majority driving in NE. Water heaters are the main cargo and tractors from the yard in Dundalk, MD.

I like the driving through the country and seeing different places. The job is demanding and you have to stay on top of it and be really aware of your surroundings.

Pretty good company. The problem is that your pay check fluctuates too much.  One week, you take home over $1000, the next you take home $300!! That's the only drawback.  

Was a great company to work for. Often had the same customers each week and pay was great. Always encouraged input to improve daily duties. Benefits are a major++ and everyone at headquarters knew you by name. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Truck driver 385 salaries reported	$31.46 per hour
Student trainee 266 salaries reported	$600 per week
Recruiter 1 salary reported	$45,000 per year
Office administrator 1 salary reported	$16.50 per hour
Director of human resources 1 salary reported	$55,000 per year

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