Western Express

I leaning towards going with Western Express. Their flatbed division out of fort dodge Iowa. Does anyone have any feedback on western express regarding miles pay home time and equipment I will be attending the orientation at Nashville,TN

Eric one of our TT Forum Moderators, Old School worked for Western Express, flatbed division. I am sure he will chime in at some point...

In the mean time here is a link of past threads on the subject of Western Express: Western Express Past Discussion Threads on the Trucking Truth Forum

Ok thanks for the input.

Here ya go Eric....we have a ton of information on them here:

Western Express Company Review

Does anyone have any feedback on western express regarding miles pay home time and equipment I will be attending the orientation at Nashville,TN

Eric, I started my trucking career at Western Express as a flat bed driver. In my first 3 or 4 months as a solo driver I had been to 46 of the lower 48 states - they kept me very busy. My equipment was well maintained (trailers were a little aged, but well kept), My miles were consistently strong, and I got home once a month when I requested. If you go in there committed to being the best you can be they will respond and help you reach your goals as a new driver. If you go in there with an attitude that says you are going to give them a chance to prove themselves you will have a hard time just as many of their drivers did while I was there.

Understanding how this business works, and how a driver succeeds, will help you greatly when starting out as a rookie. That is just as true at Western Express as it is anywhere else you might get your start. Don't count on them treating you right, count on you treating them right while you are working there, and everything will fall into place for you.

Does anyone have any feedback on western express regarding miles pay home time and equipment I will be attending the orientation at Nashville,TN

Eric, I started my trucking career at Western Express as a flat bed driver. In my first 3 or 4 months as a solo driver I had been to 46 of the lower 48 states - they kept me very busy. My equipment was well maintained (trailers were a little aged, but well kept), My miles were consistently strong, and I got home once a month when I requested. If you go in there committed to being the best you can be they will respond and help you reach your goals as a new driver. If you go in there with an attitude that says you are going to give them a chance to prove themselves you will have a hard time just as many of their drivers did while I was there.

Understanding how this business works, and how a driver succeeds, will help you greatly when starting out as a rookie. That is just as true at Western Express as it is anywhere else you might get your start. Don't count on them treating you right, count on you treating them right while you are working there, and everything will fall into place for you.

Thanks for the feedback I was looking at their start pay which isn't really that bad it's sucks the first 3 months 32 cents but at 3 months they told me 36 and 6 months 37 cents a mile and 25 tarp pay. Iam doing the 5 on 2 off out of fort dodge Iowa Iam hoping that the pay is worth it.

Iam doing the 5 on 2 off out of fort dodge Iowa Iam hoping that the pay is worth it.

Hey Eric, does that 5 on 2 off job have a minimum pay amount associated with it? I'm not familiar with that particular job, but it sounds like it could be for a dedicated customer. I never did that stuff when I was there, but I met some drivers who were doing something similar with a minimum pay of 800 bucks per week. It's been more than two years ago when I was there, and I haven't kept current on the various things they are doing.

Just keep in mind that for a good four or five months you are going to be learning how to make it all work when you get started on this. You are going to be slow at tarping, you are going to be learning the customers, their procedures, their locations, the various routes you'll be running, and all the many things you'll need to know about how things work at Western. You cant just break into this career quickly and be making great money right off the bat. There is a prolonged learning curve that discourages most of the new comers. That is why you see so many Internet cry babies singing the blues about their trucking jobs.

Be prepared for a slow start as far as making really good money goes. Don't get the cart before the horse. Focus on developing yourself as a an efficient driver. Eventually you'll get it all figured out as far as managing your time.

On the day you go home you'll want to make sure you spent the night before at your receiver so that you can get unloaded early enough to get a load that you can take home with you so that when you leave the house you'll be able to be at your consignee first thing on the morning you get back to work. It's attention to, and execution of, the little details like that which will set you apart as a top driver, and assist you in the quest for making some good money at this.

Remember, the more you can get done, the more you can make. We all struggle with that, but the veterans can make it look easy while the rookies are beating their heads against the wall.