Western Express Pay Cycle Etc

A few more questions about Western Express:

1) how soon will they reimburse me if I choose to fly to orientation?

2) when will I receive my first check and then how often do they pay?

3) who do they primarily use for fuel and do they have accounts where I log in at the pump?

Thank you all for the continued help.

I drove for Swift, but the pay system is about the same. Companies do try to get your pay to you very fast. At Swift, if I got my bills in by Tuesday at noon, I was paid for them Friday. (getting the bills sent in is a scanning operation with either a phone app or a special scanner at most truck stops).

Can't answer about your first check, but they do make direct deposits weekly.

At Swift, we all got a ComData card. You'll probably be assigned a fuel stop on a route, you use the company card there. These truck stops are usually one of the Big Five: Petro/TA, Pilot/Flying J, or Loves.

The ComData card may also be used to send you money, even your paycheck. Not to worry, your money will never get mixed up with the truck fuel account.

1) how soon will they reimburse me if I choose to fly to orientation?

That's something I can't answer. That's the kind of thing you need to discuss with a recruiter. When I was at Western, I never heard of anyone flying in. Everybody took the bus. I took the bus and they reimbursed me for my cab fare. If I remember correctly, it was roughly three weeks until I got my first paycheck, and the reimbursement was included in that check.

2) when will I receive my first check and then how often do they pay?

When I was there they held your first paycheck back. They would have so many people come in for one week, get a check, and quit, that they came up with a strategy to stop people from scamming them like that. It was roughly three weeks before I got my first check, but then they came (direct deposit) regularly every week. I think we got our checks on Mondays, but I honestly don't remember for sure. Again, you should confirm this information with a recruiter. It's been five years since I worked there - things can change.

3) who do they primarily use for fuel and do they have accounts where I log in at the pump?

Errol is correct. They use all the major truck stop companies. Back then they seemed to use Pilot/Flying J more frequently, but al l.j of them were used. You'll be issued a fleet fuel card that you use at the pump. You'll enter a menu list of other information - things like truck mileage, load number, driver code, etc. Each time you get a load assignment you'll also get assigned fuel stops for that trip. Those stops are designed to help you with your trip plan, and save the company money on fuel and fuel tax expenses.

Keep in mind that they will probably only reimburse you a dollar amount equal to the bus fare. The difference for the air fare is probably on you.

I don't know about WE, but with Werner, if you got your paperwork (BOL's, receipts, etc) in by 2 pm on Tuesday, you would get paid for those miles on Friday. If you had special pay, such as unload pay, or anything that your DM/FM/LP or someone manually put in/approved that didn't require receipts, it automatically gave you a check on Friday.

I worked with a kid, 21 (22 at most) on an account that had a minimum paycheck every week, so he didn't turn in his paperwork. Then, he transferred to another account, that I ended up going to shortly after he left, and was only getting his stop pay and unload pay, but not mileage. He finally mentioned it to the FM , and the boss did digging, and found out that he didn't turn in the paperwork for 5 or 6 weeks. He finally sent it in, and got a decent paycheck, but from what I hear, he got dinged in taxes because of the amount. I also heard that he ended getting bounced around from account to account because he was also one of thes people that wanted to stop at every truck stop and terminal as often as he can with his g/f.