truck driver

recruiter

management trainee

planner

fleet manager

Western Express

Western Express is unique in the sense it gives most people a shot if they cannot get hired elsewhere.  
As the only company I have worked for I am biased inmy experience.  Just finishing my 10th week as a New England Regional dry van driver i am satisfied as to my expectations of an entey level job in this rough neck industry.
Pay is 750$ After taxes after 5 loads or 1700 miles that 5 day week and 100$ bonus for a 6th load as well as higher pay per mile.  Highest paycheck to date was 1064$ after 6 loads and 2439 miles at .36cpm thanksgiving week.  Lowest pay was after 2 loads 263$ and 800 miles at .36c.  Totally my fault for not submitting paperwork so will get loads on neext paycheck.  

Took me about 6 weeks before I found my groove and things went more smoothly.  The stress starting out solo is normal but will get less with experience.  My miles over these 10 weeks have been great and loads consistent.  If you mess up you may be put in detention for a bit until things catch up but will eventually so have patience and own up to your mistake if it was your fault.  As you get better and prove yourself to be consistent in your daily work you will get better loads and will continue to do so until you mess up.  After you will have to fix yourself and get consistent again and loads will improve based on trust.  Don’t sweat the small stuff as this company is used to newbies breaking stuff.  Just learn from it and move on as quickly as you are able.  The biggest thing to avoid is hitting things that can make an insurance claim.  
As a regional driver you will travel within Ohio to northern NC and Maine as your theatre of operation.  I95 from New Haven CT down to Washington DC during rush hour will be the band of your existence  so plan accordingly if you can.  You will get better at time management with experience aka practice and will be less stressed in your day.  Ideally you want to pick up and load and drop it off in your 11 hours of drive time if your able or drop and pick up.  When two hours left of clock start thinking about where to sleep if you havent planned that out already because you will learn quite quickly New England is not to  too truck friendly for overnight parking.  If truck mainstream truck stops are full go to rest areas and cram yourself in like a sardine.  Trucker path app has reviews and a map with truck sleep places and will let you know if that walmart will tow or kick you or kick you out. Overall it is not easy at first this occupation but you will learn alot about yourself along the way and what you are made off.  There will be days you,re almost in tears but there will be days when bliss is all you feel.  Stick with and keep learning and watching vids on youtube so you can progress throughout the  months and keep advancing forward...  If you get sick of sliding tandems you can aleays switch to flatbed so do the load securemment class its only three days and you get some pay after orientation.  Keep doing your thang and get yours because your in the land of oppurtunity and will be able to retire pretty quickly if you plan right.  Oh yea a weekend in trucking is a 34 hour reset so you may not get home until saturday 3 am and sleep till 1pm.  And finally remember sleep fast cause we got a load for ya :)

I should have stepped back the 1st day of orientation. The turn over rate so bad they were bringing them in by the bus loads. The classes forced down your neck was self gradifing to the instructors only. Each head would give his spill of how important their area was and that it should be the main goal and the aspect to adhere to the most. It wasn't long before I picked up on the lack of respect afforded to the drivers in the attention given to drivers concerns or needs. Filled with a since of less than equal, the opinion of a drivers mentality and intellegence so evident in the ease displayed of ignoring a driver so smuggly putting out their superior status they assume they are by rolling their eyes. Instructors wanting to proclaim the acomplishments their efforts have achieved...The new hires probably the only ones they could force to listen to them. They want you to take their route, stop at their fuel stop they pick, with no reguard to how the route,load,location,and driver availibility. With mule blinds on they think they know best because they can make a chart. Well if I can't plan a trip and consider all aspects including the weather, construction,time of year,weight of load,along with all and every contributing factor then I need not call myself a truck driver. The taste in my mouth getting worse by the minute and my opinion of what to expect affirmed by skimming the policy manual and noting that a driver would be back charged for his physical if he quit within the first 30 days. Now what kind of a company is it that has a issue of drivers quitting so much before he logs a month of employment that they have to make a policy to help recover some of their cost? Well the expected did not take long to show its ugly head. Having very good work ethics and not willing to give in to adversity set all preconcieved notions aside and give it a 100% any way. It only took the 1st weekend due home that I was lied to so badly that they had no choice but to assume the responsibility....yet not willing to absorb the repercutions. The driver managers either incompitent or unable to perform duties required by his position. The other drivers that they are hearding through and throwing in a truck, doesn't know the 1st thing about a professional drivers atributes that makes him a professional and not just someone driving a truck. Having picked up a trailer that needed repair every other one. I was charged out of route miles with no explanition as to when and where I was out of route. I finally ended my career falling victom to a work related injury. Even though I notified dispatch of injury when it occured, had a witness, complied with all asked of me, enduring the unprofessional conduct of my injury inconveyancing them, have been forced to take legal action to try and get the benifits owed to me. Now maybe I'm just telling a bunch of lies on them and scaring you. I wished I would have read the reviews and had the sence to listen to the truth. Then I wouldn't have this ugly spot on my resume. It is because of the damage this company inflicts that I have taken the pains to post this. Good Luck

Bloomington/Fontana CA Terminal. 
To be honest a job is a job and Western Express is no different then any other job. You have people who wants the easy route or have excuses about there work and performance. The truth is if you come to work with a positive attiutde focus and drive in an industry were you control your money you can make anything happen. I am a driver with Western Express and have been for almost two years. Like many other jobs I've had there are ups and downs. The thing is was I willing to take the time to wait and work things out and see if there would be a change. That is when I approached the upper management to see if things can be worked on or changed to help out our truck miles and money and communication with our truck. When approached in the proper manner management, dm's and anyone of an important nature will take the time to speak with you and help to work out your issues. I was a team driver for about a year in a half making 50 cents per mile all miles ran and when I changed to solo it changed to 34 cpm. Lovely checks... Balling" atleast from what I use to have and make to have those kind of checks legally. Life changing. It was more then I've made at any other employer I have worked for. The thing is you have to remeber it is your money you are out here driving for so at the end of the day you are in control of your paycheck. You as a driver can not expect to get home every single day or every single week and still make $1000 a week or more check on a consistant basis unless you have a local or dedicated route assigned to you. On an average me and my co-driver brought home between $800-1200 a week. When we requested time off in advance (respectfully a week or mon of week) we recieved it. When my co driver got pregnant they made sure she got to every last dr apt. and still get her weekly miles in. When maternity leave came around no questions she was allowed time off. If you havent caught on yet my codriver was also my wife. I also received the same treatment got to be at every dr apt. Got to see my daughter born got to make ALOT of money. So you see there are good family home values at Western Express. Respect Given is Respect Recieved. From the terminal manager all the way to the dms when approched right they are understanding make sure you and your family has what you need from miles to money to family time. This is the place for you. Let me ask you this how many of you have come to Western due to you making a mistake and your current company (dui, rollovers, accidents, etc)  and they fire you and no one else would stand by you but western express took you in for you to criticize downgrade other. There are thoae in the company dont get me wrong but when going throught the proper chains you can and will find someone who appeala to your needs.

Western Express Is A Terrible Company To Work For! I Was Lied To From The Start, About My Pay & So On And So Fourth... In The Beginning My Recruiter Gave Me The Run Around! Frist They Got My Start Date Wrong For My Orientation & They Frist Day I Had To Be There & Then I Had To Pay For My Own Airline Ticket Otherwise They Would Have Had To Bus Me To Nashville, Tennessee Were I Had To Do My Training. That Would Of Took An Extra 3 Days To Get There. My Recruiter Said The Company Would Reimbursed Me For The Airline Ticket On My First Pay Check If I Payed For My Own Ticket, & They Never Did! When You Get To Nashville, Tennessee The Motel Shuttle Picks You Up From The Airport, Then They Put You In A Bed Bug Motel Were All The Potential Drivers Stay, The Rooms Are Filthy And Dirty, No Fridge Or Microwave, Tv Goes In & Out & Murders Happened Across The Street From The Motel & You Have To Share A Room With Someone & Who Knows What Kind Of Person You Will Have To Deal With, So Me Being Smart & Not Wanting To Be In That Environment I Got My Own Hotel & Rental Car While I Was There Otherwise You Are Stuck & Can’t Go Anywhere If You Stay At The Driver Motel. Then Orientation Was “Only 2 Days If Your Doing Dry Van” However I Waiting Almost 2 Weeks Before I Got A Driver Trainer & I Had To Remind Them, If A Company Was Good Wouldn’t They Have Let Me Know? Plus There Is Like 50 Or More People Starting Every Week! How Is Everyone Going To Get A Driver Trainer? But Then Finally I Get A Trainer, My Trainer Was Cool, However Once My Driver Trainer Check Came That Was The Last Straw For Me! Your Driver Check Is Supposed To Be $400 A Week While Your In Training! Mine Was Only $190 & My Flight Reimbursement Was Not On There Either, Like My Recruiter Told It Would Be! That Was It For Me, If This Company Western Express Can’t Pay Me A Simple $400 What Happens When I Would Have Made More Money? I Did Not Want To Take That Risk! I Flew Back Home The Next Day! For All Of You Looking For A Job & Experience In This Field, DO NOT PICK WESTERN EXPRESS IT WILL BE A GREAT BIG MISTAKE ON YOUR PART, DON’T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID! Take It From Me You Deserve A Better Company To Put All Your Time & Effort In! Also Western Express Is A Second Chance Company Like If You Have A DUI Or Have Been To Jail They Will Take You! But Which Means If You Have A Clean Driving Record Like Me It’s Not The Place For You, & I Did Not Know All This When I Signed Up Cause Again Your Recruiter Does Not Mention Any Of This Info To You Especially About The Motel You Will Stay At In Nashville Tennessee! DON’T DO IT, DON’T PUT YOURSELF THROUGH THE NONSENSE THAT WESTERN EXPRESS WILL FEED YOU! 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Got to work with one of the best driver managers the company had employed at that time him and I had a great working relationship we maintained it and very little problems once employed for a period of months anyone just starting out as a new driver I would recommend they try them do not take what other people say about this company it is what you put into it and what you want out of it I guarantee you if you work at doing what they ask and doing it in a professional manner it will definitely pay off no matter what is being said or what has been told you by other drivers that are not trying to make it work for them they are the ones fighting the system not working with it I guarantee you this I have many years experience driving and I would not say this if it was not true one thing I will not lie about is what you need to do as far as over the road driving that is not a professional job to take lightly or make a joke about

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
I would have to say probably the only most stressful part about the job is making sure that can talk to keep your equipment it it does take time to get these things taken care of when it comes time to do them as far as time down in the shop if you deal with the shop to them and explain what it's got to be done or what you think might be that is part of keeping your equipment running and getting the job done safely day in and day out do not flight system of maintenance it will not work that is definitely a must good maintained equipment keeps a good driver moving and making money not time down and money lost

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Work environment is what you put into it or what you want out of it simply put is that and there's an overall company that has a lot of stress on them they are trying to keep you as safe as possible no matter what you hear or what you see from other people that don't take the time to do that or keep it that way these are the ones you need to stay away from the ones that complain about everything they are not the ones that are being professional about this job

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day consisted of getting in your truck making sure it's operating properly and safely that way you are a safe possible along other people on the highway

Where to start with this train wreck of a company. I worked northeast regional and did my training at the Allentown terminal. Training is extremely inadequate. For flatbed you have 1.5 days of load securement which teaches you the very minimum of what you will experience once you get out there. Hope that you get a good enough trainer to show you the ropes or you'll be out there learning on the fly. Management is in shambles. You will have a list of 10 different numbers to call if you have issues and majority of the time you will never be able to reach anyone to help you. Dispatch is often moody and will talk down to you if you let them. You have to demand your respect or they will try to walk all over you. Dispatchers will sometimes forget to send you a preplan or not be able to get you sensible a load for whatever reason and have you sitting burning your clock, especially if its after they leave the office for the day. Communication between driver and management is near impossible if you have an issue that needs to be handled above the chain of command. Terminals are a free for all on people's personal belongings. NEVER leave your stuff in the truck for a duration of time. My truck was towed back to the terminal from my house without any notification during a medical leave I was on after just one week out. Once I went to recover the truck I found all of my valuables missing. Management admitted they were wrong for taking my truck and not telling me so I could remove my stuff but then ultimately did not pay me back for anything that was stolen after they said they would. You will go thru a lot of headaches with management (if you ever actually get them on the phone) if you expect to be treated fairly and with respect in situations like this. Only decent part is that you will most certainly get hired and the pay is not that bad for a 2nd chance/startup company. All in all, Western Express is good for people with accidents and tickets on their driving history and/or felonies on their criminal history. But if you're a 1st time driver with nothing on your jacket, you can most certainly do better than Western. You've been warned.

I am an experienced driver and I foolishly went to orientation at the Nazareth, Pa terminal  which is a dirt parking lot with a two bay garage , trailer, and filthy driver lounge.   i decided to go to Western because of the sliding pay scale and I was told by my recruiter that Notheast regional is Monday-Friday weekends off.  Sounds appealing right? also benefits after 30 days. hmmm not bad. new equipment hey great.  O.k. now lets get to the truth.. I specifically told my recruiter that i do not share a hotel room with another driver. He told me for an extra $ 20.00 per night (which would be deducted from first pay check) I would be in a single room. Got to hotel, nope no way unless you pay out of pocket $ 85.00. and of course they put me with some nasty individual who didn't bathe,passed gas, and snored from the time he closed his eyes to the time he opened them. Anyway I went thru their so called orientaion, the trucks are all damaged and dirty. they do not change the matresses.or wash the inside or outside. they claim they do but they do not.  Northeast regional is not m-f, it could be m-f, m-s or when they can get you home. When you do go home it will only be for a 34 hour reset and the driver manger requires you to sign a commitment letter agreeing to this so they can well you know give it to you dry and hard.  In a nut shell like the majority of the reviews state..  Run!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I repeat RUN away if you have an ounce of pride,self respect,or dignity. If you are a felon, or have a few negatives on your psp and dac and cannot find work anywhere else then Western is the place for you. The Nazareth location is run by a bunch of un-professional young bucks who don't care about anyone.  Corporate needs to go there and clean house..  Also because their safety rating is going in the toilet ( as of writing this review they are on roll-over number 26 or 27 so far for 2014).  you can bet on getting picked apart at every scale and checkpoint.  and putting your good record at risk . So again,  clean record,clean dac,experience  STAY AWAY!              Messed up record,criminal backround,no self respect then you will fit right in.   If you don't believe me then go find out for yourself.  good luck fellow drivers   hope this helped

This is a 2nd/3rd chance company... So if you mess up someplace else, expect to come here... SO DONT MESS UP! Expect to get retrained with everything you need to know to drive SAFELY for about 5 weeks. AND if you mess up after that, YOU SHOULDNT BE DRIVING TRACTOR/TRAILERS! The pay is entry, so just suck it up... They make most drivers sign a year contract. So just do you time, learn what you can... And then decide what's next. I drive the hrs I want to, and getting hometime is easy... Ive never been turned down for anything I've asked for... Payroll is going to mess up your pay... Your truck and trailer will breakdown... The breakdown department is 24/7 and they have an app that helps you report any issues immediately.  They respond fairly quickly. If you violate your HOS time expect a call for the Logs Dept. The service departments at the terminals are usually backed up, so you will be down 2 to 3 days if you bring your tractor in for work... Atlanta is a repair shop ONLY, and in my opinion, THE BEST! Plainfield and Nashville are the fastest to get you truck serviced.  The safety dept. is always available and very helpful to drivers with any questions or concerns you might have... I've had many great conversations with them about DOT regulations and what we need to do as drivers to keep our equipment in good shape... The DMs (Drive Managers) are suppose to be your liaison between you and the company... But that depends on your DM... Most are rude, disrespectful, arrogant, condescending, and impatient with their drivers. However after firing my first DM,  (yes as a driver you can switch DMs) my second DM IS AMAZING! He keeps me moving on loads, he makes sure I have preplanned loads ready to go, and he communicates right away if I run into any issues.  TOTAL NIGHT AND DAY FROM PREVIOUS! My terminal manage is also Great! He is available at the terminal and has an open door policy to all drivers. I know I can come to my terminal and see both my DM and Terminal Manager if I needed to.  Alot of what you do at Western is on YOU... Make sure you do what you're suppose to do as a driver and just roll with everything else tossed at you and you should do just fine.

I’ll start with some positivity if you are a beginner driver and this is your first company it will give you the experience you need to get started however the pay will be terrible no where near what you believe or have been told about a “truck drivers salary”. I had so many bad experiences with this as my first company from the poor training down to the rude driver managers. My first week of training I didn’t learn anything the guy just slept and when I finally had enough of just driving and not learning anything else I asked to switch trainers. Western express told the guy to drop me off in Atlanta at a roach motel and I’m not exaggerating I had to switch rooms twice because of the huge country roaches running around . Later that night a guy ( a border of the hotels who did not actually work there but had master key access to all the rooms because he traded room and board for maintenance  ) tried to break into my room I believe with the intent to assault me especially because he helped me to change rooms and was especially curious about me being alone ,luckily I had my door secured with a chair. I was terrified and refused to leave the room until Western express sent someone to come and get me. They do not care about your safety. I would not trust any hotel they are willing to put you in. The two trainers I had were both dope fiends the second one was just more functional than the other and at-least he tried to hide it. I do not recommend this company for women to be honest. But if you need a place to get started and make your mistakes sure but just know your safety is not priority and carry protection  because you never know what situation you may face. The pay is terrible I NEVER saw a 1,000$ check with them they cheat you for your miles and they will leave you stranded if you don’t comply with any and every load they give you even if you tell them you don’t feel safe completing the job  I experienced this alone and while in training.  Like I said work for this company at your own risk. I’ve heard horror stories about the women and these male trainers so ladies beware

Driving dry van up and down eastern US. Delivering in NYC, Long Island, Atlanta, alot of PA. Truck was an automatic that had so many problems almost abandoned my truck it was to unsafe to drive. Called dispatcher about the problems nothing just blew me off. Can not get night dispatch ever on the phone when there is a problem. Had bad trailer tires, equipment is cheap and brakes alot, Had a trailer that off tracked so bad to the right came out of a tunnel going around the shoulder slowed down and the trailer threw my truck on the shoulder. Had Tires blow out in my trailer in Georgia on 95S at 0530 and was still there on the shoulder at 1820 took them over 12 hours to get it fixed. Weather was bad during winter with winds gusting over 50 mph was getting blown all over the road decided it was to unsafe to continue pulled off the road. Get a phone call telling me to keep going truck almost go blown over twice in one month had a nice V shape going empty leaving NYC towards the GW bridge. If thats not enough my pay was horrible was still surviving off food stamps making basically nothing would had made more flipping Burgers. Actually had a 42 and 43 dollar paycheck back to back, I called them and they said I was confused strike 3. I was delivering a load from PA to NC, i stopped once at a rest area nature calls and got a message to keep going made it there the first day for an appointment to unload while my next load pick up was for an hour earlier at the next place, I get unloaded been up since midnight prefer driving at night make more miles. Now i go to next place with bad routing you have to follow can't go your own route which is BS. The can not load until later because i missed my appointment i was getting unloaded an 2 hours from there. I had to wait now up for 20 hours no drive time no routing they want to charge a dollar a mile out of route sent message on qualcomm for routing nothing, tried calling nothing drove to a truck stop sat for 12 hours before i get message i need to get moving, yet no route so i drive to Emporia Terminal Clean truck have my sister come pick me up. I will never even go near this company.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Truck driver 8 salaries reported	$46,250 per year
Recruiter 5 salaries reported	$51,400 per year
Management trainee 1 salary reported	$52,000 per year
Planner 1 salary reported	$21.50 per hour
Fleet manager 1 salary reported	$85,000 per year

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