*sigh* Western Express

That pay rate you mentioned sounds like a trainees pay or a team of newbies doing a refresher. What exactly are you doing over there. Are you with a trainer?

I'm quite sure the person in the office who answered your question either misunderstood the details or they themselves are new at this.

I retract. And allow me to clarify. First, I’m not the driver. I’m the rider, looking for info when we seemingly can’t get answers from the people who are supposed to have them.

He DID know what he was SUPPOSED to get paid. But he was SUPPOSED to be OTR and when he completed training they said “oops! No OTR trucks. But we have BRAND NEW regional trucks if you want to switch over!” Which he did. They told him what he should be making and this was his first paycheck AFTER training. Thus, the confusion about what happened.

Thankfully got a hold of a lovely lady in payroll, who explained what happened (she saw right away) and got it straightened out.

What happened was, he rode one run with another OTR driver to get to the terminal to get their trucks. So technically the run was a “team” run. If you run even just one load as a “team” it removes your “pay package” as a solo driver. So all his miles last week were paid at the team rate. Good to know. As far as knowing it was a “bad” company and still signing on with them, lots of reasons and an understanding that we were going to run our hineys off because you get what you put in. We ignored all of the “bad” press and went in with an open mind. There have been a LOT of other issues outside of this one but all were manageable. However, when you start messing with a man’s pay, that’s when things need to get straightened out. Which they were. Overall, we’ve had a good experience and have run decent this week. Trust me, no “whining” newbie stuff here. He’s an experienced driver who was out of the industry for a few years to be at home with his family and since got recertified and is now building up his recent experience time. The guy he rode down with had the same issues. All resolved and everything appears to be on track. Sorry if it sounded “whiney” or “complainey”. I was just looking for insight and experience, if anyone had any. So feel free to delete the thread if you think it’s inappropriate. Thanks for the feedback. Stay safe!

Sounds good!

I knew there had to be some confusion somewhere on that pay rate. I'm glad you got to the bottom of it. I started my trucking career at Western and did very well over there. They will keep you busy if you prove you can handle it. I wish you two all the best over there.

Sorry if it sounded “whiney” or “complainey”

I think Old School will elaborate further, but I just wanted to throw one thing in here. We try like crazy to get people out of the mindset that every little bump in the road means you should start pointing fingers and publicly criticizing the company. This industry is rife with that sort of thinking. 95% of the drivers out there have never done anything wrong, and no company they've worked for has ever done anything right. You don't even have to ask them about it, they'll gladly go out of their way to scream it to the world in every possible venue.

This mindset of "drivers against the company" is one of the main reasons the turnover is so high in this industry and so many drivers are miserable. If people would take the time to speak professionally with their company about any concerns they have, they'll find that 99% of the time everything works out great. Not only that, but you'll build strong relationships within your company built on mutual respect and solid communication. That is one of the big things that sets top tier drivers apart from the rest - they handle themselves like professionals and they treat others that way.

We're glad you brought up the issue. We're always happy to help people work through things. We just don't like to see people get all worked up and start criticizing and pointing fingers and raising hell. Just stay calm, understand that these things will come up from time to time, and speak professionally with the people at your company to get it sorted out.

Very glad it got sorted quickly.