Western Express Contract

Hi everyone so I messed up. Recently signed a one year employment agreement with western express. Anybody have any ideas of how to get out of it early. The company is horrible and I’d rather be anywhere but here. Please help!!!!

Please explain your comments to us in detail

Slow down there Darryl; take a deep breath and apply the brakes...

None of us on the forum will give credence to your statement that WE is a horrible company.

How about telling us how long you’ve been with them, and the stage you are in...

then...

...describe why you think they are horrible. Please realize we’ve heard it all...and we expect there will b difficulties the first few months of any trucking job with any company.

So 5 weeks ago you were asking who would hire you... so my guess is you've been there 1 month or less.

What kinds of difficulty are you having? Let us know and we could offer specific advice to help you get it worked out.

Sorry I’ve been angry lately. Came here for orientation and realized I’ve been lied to about almost everything. I’ve been stuck in a hotel in a horrible part of Nashville for 2 weeks. I was told I would have weekly home time now it’s every 10-14 days for 2 days. I was also persuaded into signing a one year agreement for “extended training”, even though I haven’t had any extended training. Literally everyone in my orientation class has gone through the same training and people who have to go out with a trainer for the same amount as me didn’t have to sign an agreement. I feel like I’ve been bamboozled and I want out.

Please explain your comments to us in detail

Sorry I’ve been angry lately. Came here for orientation and realized I’ve been lied to about almost everything. I’ve been stuck in a hotel in a horrible part of Nashville for 2 weeks. I was told I would have weekly home time now it’s every 10-14 days for 2 days. I was also persuaded into signing a one year agreement for “extended training”, even though I haven’t had any extended training. Literally everyone in my orientation class has gone through the same training and people who have to go out with a trainer for the same amount as me didn’t have to sign an agreement. I feel like I’ve been bamboozled and I want out.

Please explain your comments to us in detail

Well after all of this,, other than a bad hotel that you are in for free is the hometime thing the only complaint? Still dont know what all you have issue with. Being "lied to" could be anything up to and including you not remembering something they said. What is extended training? Was it a contract to cover cdl school or a bonus for signing? No trucking company trains you for a year. Clarity please.

Darryl said he talked to a lawyer and got out of his contract, which seems pretty amazing considering he was still under contract this morning. Then called us a bunch of names and said we were no help. He has been escorted to the door. We wish him luck.

I probably should have responded to this character, but after carefully reading his first post I interpreted it as a person who had already fallen into the trap laid by the terminal rats. When he said this...

The company is horrible and I’d rather be anywhere but here.

I figured he hadn't even started solo yet, but had been "hanging" with everyone at the hotel and the terminal. That's not what you want to do as a new driver in orientation. He had heard all the lies and exaggerations and it scared him to death. He was convinced he was about to be indentured and tortured. How in the world can he know how horrible the company is when he hasn't even gotten his first paycheck yet? It makes no sense to a person who understands the trucking world, but the newbies eat this garbage up like it's candy.

He really didn't want our help. What he wanted was an escape route. He's like the guy who thinks he wants to ride a bull. Everything is good until he sits down on the beast and realizes he doesn't have the sand to face what's about to happen. He just wants off. When it was obvious we weren't going to help him get off the bull, but show him how to face and overcome his fears, then we were sorry no good slaves to our industry - useless mouthpieces for "big trucking."

It's really sad to me. I mean that sincerely. It's the whole reason I've been associated in here with you guys for all these years. Every great once in a while we really help people through our efforts, and that is very rewarding. This is a great career for the right people, but many folks never even roll through their first 50,000 miles before they've started believing the foolish lies. This career is so misunderstood that even some of the industry insiders prop up some of the nonsense.

I think it's really messed up when a person can't enjoy their career. Geeez, if people think trucking is really bad I'd like to see them move on to something more to their liking. Go sell cupcakes on the street corner, get into farming, start a pizzeria - do anything that you think is fun and rewarding, but leave trucking to the folks who love doing it well. Instead, the low performing non producers hang around and try their best to make sure everyone else is just as miserable as they are.

I don't get it, but I keep fighting it!

I don't get it, but I keep fighting it!

Keep fighting the "good fight", Old School.

Your efforts are appreciated by those who "get it". And the rest? Sometimes we get lucky and they get so out of line Brett has no choice but to do his duty.

Anyone remember The Gong Show?

(Just had a flashback there!)

Anyone remember The Gong Show?

Haha! That's funny!

Somedays it's like the Gong Show in here.