truck driver

entry level truck driver

transport manager

truck driver trainer

logistics manager

Werner Enterprises

You get paid to travel the USA. I inspected my equipment to assure it was properly maintained and if it was in need of repairs I requested for the repairs to be completed. I would be assigned a location to take the equipment to to get it repaired and when it was complete would get underway loaded or empty. I would get to my destination walk into the shipping or receiving office and either drop my trailer and hook up to another or back into a designated dock to be loaded or unloaded. When finished at the dock I would then return to the office and retrieve the required paperwork. I would then inspect the equipment if hooking up to a new trailer or reinspect the one I was under to ensure there were no issues. Before I left my location I would then send the bills to the office via my phone to complete the process. I would then put in the co-ordinance of the next location into the Quallcom (the company communications device, to keep in touch with each driver) and begin the process over again.

You can also have animals on the truck and your family too. You can take your home time anywhere you like. But, you don't get to go home very often and it gets lonely out there with no one to share it all with. There is a company store at there Omaha, NE office and they have an exercise room and laundry facilities, showers and you get to make lots of acquaintances.

I love the management team. I became friends with most of them and softened up the grumpy ones. They have a very difficult tack on their end of the spectrum. Some of the drivers are real grumpy people and use very flower verb-age  that isn't appropriate(it makes me wonder how they talk to the clients). So some days could be very stressful for them. I was allowed to go into the office area one day with my dispatcher and witnessed the dispatchers end of the company and it was very intriguing. Thank you Ric Rivera for being such an awesome dispatcher. I miss you.

I summed up co-workers in with management because in this business they are one and the same. I got along with most of my co-workers but it doesn't mean I agree with all of them. I love people and tried not to judge them because I don't know them I only met them.

The hardest part of the job was being alone and lonely, not being able to stop and look at the places I have been. I love taking pictures and I wanted to stop and take pictures but company rules you can't stop on the side of the road except in emergencies. I very seldom had those. Another hard thing was being away from home and Church, a person really needs to be fed spiritually. The last but not least hardest thing was taking a leave of absence and FMLA. I love working for this company. They are a great company to work for.

The most enjoyable part of my job was meeting the clients and making their day by being my joyful self even when they were grumpy and getting them to smile and laugh. It's a good feeling when you know you put joy into someones day. Another enjoyable time was being allowed to walk into the dispatchers office and meet the faces at the other end of the phone(when you had to call in).

I have been at Werner for 4 years. 2 years dry van (Team) and 2 years (Solo) on the TCU account. I love Werner. I think all drivers should start their careers at Werner. They take care of their drivers. Safety is number one priority. If weather conditions are too severe, I can find a safe haven and shut down until weather improves. All the trucks I have been assigned have been either brand new or less then 200k miles. Starting new in trucking pay is always on the low side. It takes safe driving and patience to excell to a higher cpm. Werner is a great place to start because I think they set the standard for what all truck drivers can and should expect when transferring to another company. I have driven for two other companies and their standards are much lower and these other two companies micromanage excessively. Werner doesn't micromanage in my experience. If I have a tire blowout or an issue with the truck either a mobile service is sent out for repair or my truck repairs are handled swiftly. I usually get bumped to the front of the line at the repair shops. Werner does have lower cpm but they have long haul loads on the TCU account. Plus they have a plethora of fuel options. Unlike the last two companies I drove for only had two select fuel options. Plus we are governed at 68mph or 69 in the Peterbilt. Blue shield blue cross health insurance is a ++. They have lots of terminals, in case you can't find truck parking, terminals maybe nearby for parking, showers, laundry, and use of shuttles to walmart. Because they have so many company drivers that are capable of filling in on your absence taking excessive and or frequent home time is allowed. I have experienced being denied hometime from a different company due to shortage of drivers. Werner really does spoil their drivers in expectations. In addition, on the TCU account the planners give plenty of time to deliver on time. It's almost impossible to be late on any loads. They are really good at scheduling. And if if I am running late they usually just extend the time out. Most loads have a lot of time. Some loads have 30 days to be delivered. It's really just a matter of scheduling deadlines to maximize your weekly miles. Based upon your driving performance.  I enjoy how patient the driver managers can be. They even call and apologize sometimes. I have never experienced that at the other two companies, it was just the opposite. So, in closing Werner is a great place to start, it's a great place to build a career, and quite frankly the places they send drivers are nothing but experience building. Some places can be very challenging in backing maneuvers. Plus I can take a 34 hr reset anytime of the week if I feel I need a break or to reset my 70 hr clock. 

On my first year out, we had a load to Jacksonville, FL. We got there on a Friday. I had never been to Florida before. So, I told my fleet manager we are taking the weekend off. We would be back Monday for work. My manager said, "No problem. Just let me know when you are ready to roll." A driver can take time off anywhere with Werner. I was impressed. 

Seriously, working for Werner is better than nothing.
Its better to earn a meager paycheck than to be unemployed...however, your family time will also be reduced to nothing!
So if you don't have a family, or really really don't want to be around the one you do have, Werner can hook you up with a paycheck.
The problem is you only get paid when the wheels are spinning...not while you are waiting for a load, waiting to be unloaded, waiting to get a trailer fixed, waiting for a repair to be completed on your truck....there is lots of waiting in trucking!
Werner says they care. In fact, it is their motto: "We Care, Werner Cares!" Which sounds pleasant and is kind of catchy...but watching what they DO shows that whatever they care about, it isn't their drivers' quality of life! In fact, they value the time and effort their drivers contribute to the company commitment to deliver loads Safe and On Time as much as they value the fuel they put in the trucks...that's right...they value their drivers as much as they value gas...flatulence...farts! And while some drivers may resemble big gas-bags...they deserve more respect than Werner affords them.
Honestly, waiting is part of the business, so Werner can't be held responsible for that...but they should be held responsible for the way they handle it...particularly how they handle maintenance and repairs of their trailers and trucks.
Werner penalizes their drivers for doing the right thing. If you hook up to a trailer with a bald tire, light busted, or worn brake pads (which WILL get you a ticket if any highway patrol or DoT officer in EVERY state finds it before you fix it!!!!!) just count on loosing 6hrs to 4days waiting for the repair to be made!
I've had multiple trailers with bald tires, never less than 6 hrs waiting.
I've had trucks with Exhaust System faults (that shut down the truck), faulty coolant level safety switch (which shuts down the truck) pin-hole leak in the radiator, and suspension issues that all took 3-4 DAYS of down time (mostly waiting while other trucks were repaired) because their in-house maintenance is prioritized in Omaha (the home office). They show NO URGENCY to get you back on the road, yet they show NO REMORSE that your paycheck at the end of the week is less than half the expenses and bills you have to pay!
The fundamental relationship between employer and employee is an exchange. The employee is expected to show up and perform the duties assigned them to the best of their ability. In exchange, the employer is supposed to pay them for their time and expertise....WHAT WERNER FAILS TO DO IS RESPECT THE TIME THEIR DRIVERS ARE DONATING WHILE THEY LOLY-GAG AROUND KEEPING COMPANY EQUIPMENT IN ROAD WORTHY CONDITION!

Werner started off as a FANTASTIC company. I invested 4 years and in the beginning got 11 hours a day driving and fantastic miles. Since then into 2018 Werner has far exceeded their ability to provide driver support from Ohama Nebraska. Despite 2 billion in revenue it is the age old story that they expect the most amount of work from the least amount of people and get the most out of skeleton crews. I understand some drivers make Great money. I was down to less than $250 a week and its getting more common. Canada briefing is run by 1 person. Seriously it could be staffed by 5 minimum. Breakdown took a week to authorize my last repair. Payroll stopped reimbursing me . i faxed reciepts in that got lost. Safety stopped processing my DOT inspections. My dispatcher stopped giving preassigns. Night and weekends there is nobody to dispatch after a delivery.
My point is this. They have flooded the highways with new drivers but refuse to hire proper support. More drivers but less staff. Again some guys on dedicated accounts run and make money while others starve. Its a starter company. Do a year and get out. 

That said be very weary of overnight parking. By company policy you are to be in a truck stop or rest area in a parking space . Anything else is a violation of company policy . I received a parking ticket in a rest area in new york in December 2017. Safety put a hold on me in February 2018 and fired me for it in July. Thats how backed up they are. I suggest other starter companies and ask ahead of time about overnight parking. I can say that in 4 years i parked 90% of the time in rest areas with a 10% chance of an actual parking spot.

Werner has a very high rate now of vehicle abandonment. I had told my dispatcher i was taking a position at JB HUNT. I would have gladly brought the truck to a terminal. Unfortunately trucks get left anywhere from remote areas to the desert to the middle of Wyoming to dangerous areas. Thats why i got fired. Vehicle recovery. In all fairness to Werner, its childish for drivers to do that. If you feel that they might fire you to recover the vehicle i recommend leaving the truck at a truck stop and resign. If you go to a terminal they will fire you for any reason. No you dont need to take it to Mexico just to proove a point. 
That said, i thought Werner would be my last job. I was mistaken. They need to double staff support and keep hiring to match the ratio of new drivers they put in the street. At 2 billion in revenue they can afford it. 

Again for overnight parking thay actually tell you get in a parking spot or ask for a tow. That means end your day every day around 6 pm or get towed to a lot 3 days a week. Its silly.

There is an overall lack of consistency with regards to training.
There is no coaching for positive growth.
It is an environment of unprofessional people who lack the basics in appropriate workplace behavior. Employees are often found sleeping on the job and when evidence of such is provided to management, nothing is done. 
The company violates the law by requiring some hourly employees to work 84 hours in one week (with no overtime pay) in a "seven on, seven off" schedule where you must work seven 12-hour days in a row (again, no overtime is paid for this), and then have seven days off. For those employees, no time off is given, as the attitude is that you are only working "half the year", so anything you need to do outside of work should be able to be done on your week off. Even after a class-action suit was brought against the company (and awarded against them), this practice continues. 
There are no set goals communicated, no statistics of job performance provided to employees, and once a  year there is an annual review that vaguely, and without examples given, paints the employee in a negative light in order to avoid having to give earned merit increases. Additionally, when a merit increase is awarded, rather than annually, it's given at 14-month intervals without retroactive pay to the employee's anniversary date.
This company is only about keeping money in the family, and doesn't seem to care about work-life balance for their employees. 
Bullying in the workplace is common, and when reported, no action is taken. 
Gender harassment is rampant, with certain men constantly touching women in far-too-friendly ways, invading personal space with unwelcome hugs at their desks, neck and shoulder rubs, and overall unwelcome touching. Women are talked down to by many men, and it's common to be spoken to in a condescending manner such as, "Look, sweetheart..."
This company has a great reputation as a fine place to work, but it isn't until you work there that you realize how ugly it is on the inside, both for morale, and in leadership.

I think that the overall business aspect of this company is wonderful. if it had more good employees than awful people that take their positions for granted because they hire drivers that live far away. Too far for any outside resources for -HELP. It is basically impossible to do anything about the way they treat drivers. The treatment I witnessed and was subject to while employed here was horrific until I finally got my Fleet manager after going thru I believe four of them. I also wrote a complaint letter that got somebody's attention because I was able to get my two years OTR experience with low level drama. By this time the damage had been done beyond repair and the treatment became hilarious. It got to the point I awoke extra early everyday anxious in wonder as to what nonsense was in store for me. They exposed me to mold in their truck on company time. told me what it was, took the evidence via of starting a fight with my dog, and told me it was not a workers comp issue so if I was gone past thirty days seeking treatment I voluntarily quit and laughed about it. I didn't find it funny. I refused to quit and wrote a complaint letter, despite everything they threw at me. I do give them credit because after dealing with all the chaos I learned to become an excellent driver. Thank You Werner for this. Not that it's doing me any good now. They terminated me one month prior my two year goal for a completely bogus reason, no proof, no explanation, they can do what they want. Now they have labeled me in a way that will follow and hinder me forever and others are following their example. I did manage to have some enjoyment working here once I got my final Fleet Manager, he knows who he is. We ran the miles and made some money. So overall the concept of the company is good it just has too many bad employees. Every time I have a new breakout of these blisters I think of Werner.

Well a lot of people have bad things to say about werner when i finished training i went otr and my fleet manager was awesome she gave me great miles and i was going home 2 days every week sometimes not on weekends but hey some people barely get one after my fleet manager left i got on the target dedicated account in huntsville alabama it was a little different but it has to be one of the most easiest accounts werner has the problem is you only get one day off and sometimes its only half a day depending on your load but i live close to the dc so alot of times after running a load ill just go home the dispatch are the coolest they buy lunch from time to time they really care about safety and they work with you with any problems you have out on the road and their response time is almost immediate even with 26 other drivers on the fleet cant say the same about night dispatch they seem as they dont kno anything about the account and if you have any problems be prepared to wait a few hours but they do have flaws just like any compay they trying to encourage drivers to get their idle time under 15% which i think is bs thats almos impossible in the summertime my dle time has been the highest on the target account because i refuse to sweat in my truck and they dont allow inverters in their trucks which i think is another policy they should revoke i got a 500 watt that plugs in the cigarette lighter which they allow but it wont pull but 120 watts unless its wired to the battery i think they should allow drivers to have atleast a 1000 watt installed in their trucks i have a tv and xbox one in my truck and i cant play the xbox because my inverter only pull 120 with the cigarette lighter anything above it shuts off if they could change these they would be a better company

If you want to make money, then by all means come work for Werner.  I was averaging paychecks anywhere from $1100 to $1800 a week depending on where I was driving.  But you will work 70 hours a week, make no mistake and home time is very limited.  I thought I was safe because I was working a home daily account, but I was wrong.  The only difference between home daily and OTR are that you are either sleeping in your own bed or the truck bed.  You will still have almost 0 personal time.

When I was hired, I was told that we can take up to 30 personal days per year, no compensation of course, but that's fine with me.

After working on the Anheuser Busch (home daily) account for 4 months, I was informed that we are only given a max of 13 personal days per year and that they wanted us to make up those day eventually.

I was already working 5 and then 6 days a week.  Not even sure how that would be possible with the Federal hour regulations.

Then on January 3rd of 2020, they had us sign a form that acknowledged that we would only be getting 8 days of personal time from now on.  3 sick days and 5 personal, per year.  All the while working 6 days a week, 70 hours a week.  That's a recipe for disaster.

After that, I began the process of preparing for a new job.  Who can sustain a job where they work 70 hours a week, 6 days week, and get 8 days off a year.

Being in the process of moving, I had taken 11 different days off in 2020 to help my wife.  On day 11, I was threatened with my job and decided to quit the next day.


Shorter of drivers or not, if you want to keep your staff.  Give them the time off that they want.  Tightening the restraints on home time will only make more people leave.  Is that so hard for companies to understand?  Happy employees are employees that stick around for the long haul.

You are only a number. A truck number. Not even an employee number. All they care about is protecting their equipment. If there were no federal regulations, they would work you around the clock until you died. Then they would throw you on the used trucker pile and put another body in the seat you just died in.  They micro manage you technologically. You have little control over the truck. The truck actually controls you. This company is one of the lowest paying truck companies in the US. They have zero regard for their drivers. They implement infinite safety guidelines you MUST follow, but fleet managers will require you to break them without actually telling you to. The driver is 100 percent liable in EVERY scenario. Werner communicates with drivers primarily through a tablet messaging system. The driver cannot see the messages until the wheels stop rolling. They constantly send irrelevant messages and expect you to respond, but when you send messages they are extremely slow to respond. There is ALWAYS excessive Down times for manager miscalculations, equipment malfunctions, and communication issues.  There are Many disgruntled drivers in this company. Many of them do not inspect trailers and you will usually end up with a trailer that requires some kind of maintenance. Most drivers overlook the trailer maintenance needs and pass it on to the next driver until the honest/safe driver reports it and eats the down time. Most of the Werner fleet equipment is rolling with safety issues. Working with Werner  was one of my worst life experiences. I would not recommend driving for Werner. 

A typical day starts with you waking up after a rough sleep after your partner finished up their driving. Waking up in a rest area, terminal, gas station or facility. After gathering yourself with your needed duties, munchies, and WIRELESS BLUETOOTH devices you’re ready to start your drive… but not before reading a message from your dispatch that reminds the whole 100+ team member fleet to “remember to stay safe in bad weather” one of many common messages you’ll see and probably the only message you’ll receive from them. You start your drive for a couple hours until you arrive at a WERNER terminal, everyone seems to keep to themselves but that’s only because we’re all for the most part separated and forgotten how to engage a conversation… or just don’t feel like starting one. Even in a seemingly reserved bubble most truckers are friendly and if asked could be a start of a good friendship or good source of help. You’ve been at the Terminal for quite some time where your time has reset on you and you’ve been awake well past your time but since you have drive hours your dispatch is requiring you to finish your drive time, at this point you feel the need to not disappoint and not get scolded so you take the request. You continue your drive, your eyes keep closing on you and you nod off a couple of times but only for a second it’s the worst feeling ever. You do everything in your ability to stay awake, listening to music, random body movements, even having random conversations with yourself (after first calling everyone in your contacts). It gets to the point where you have no choice but to enter a rest stop, your time is also close to ending 1hr or so left. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Truck driver 423 salaries reported	$81,501 per year
Entry level truck driver 412 salaries reported	$82,500 per year
Transport manager 13 salaries reported	$62,669 per year
Truck driver trainer 1 salary reported	$59,500 per year
Logistics manager 24 salaries reported	$67,314 per year

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