Western Express OTR Home Time & Other Questions

Just out of curiosity, what will your starting pay be according to the recruiter?

According to the Recruiter:

$650 a week after orientation which is supposed to cover three meals and lodging.

Once I'm solo, $.40 per mile. After three months, $.47 per mile.

If I decided to do flatbed it would be higher but I decided to start with van to get a feel for it.

I take everything a recruiter says with a grain of salt.

Yes, the hair follicle test was another reason I considered the company. You suggested in the last thread I should consider companies that only do UA. Western Express and Prime were two such companies I found. They also allow pets. Prime would have been my first choice. Unfortunately they aren't an option.

I'm pretty confident I could pass a follicle test but I don't want to take a chance so I'm going to wait. Plus I'm getting my own test done.

I've said a lot in these forums and in doing so opened myself up for criticism. I'm fine with that. I could do a better job streamlining my posts. But, it would be nice if someone who knows the company could answer some of the questions I have regarding Western Express..

Did you read the links? Did you search on Western Express?

Just out of curiosity, what will your starting pay be according to the recruiter?

According to the Recruiter:

$650 a week after orientation which is supposed to cover three meals and lodging.

Once I'm solo, $.40 per mile. After three months, $.47 per mile.

If I decided to do flatbed it would be higher but I decided to start with van to get a feel for it.

I take everything a recruiter says with a grain of salt.

Yes, the hair follicle test was another reason I considered the company. You suggested in the last thread I should consider companies that only do UA. Western Express and Prime were two such companies I found. They also allow pets. Prime would have been my first choice. Unfortunately they aren't an option.

I'm pretty confident I could pass a follicle test but I don't want to take a chance so I'm going to wait. Plus I'm getting my own test done.

I've said a lot in these forums and in doing so opened myself up for criticism. I'm fine with that. I could do a better job streamlining my posts. But, it would be nice if someone who knows the company could answer some of the questions I have regarding Western Express..

G-Town,

I did check out those links! They're very informative.

Old School's posts are some of the most interesting reads on here. I didn't even realize he drove for Western Express until I did some research on Prime.

Honestly, it was Old School's comment mentioning his experience with Western Express that made me even consider the company.

I've heard mostly negative things about Western Express but honestly I think it has a lot to do with the fact that they are willing to hire just about anyone which means a higher percentage of new recruits don't make the cut and go on to bash the company.

The instructiors at my school.. all of whom had long careers in the industry, never had anything negative to say about a single company. I thought that was odd at first but I realized the consensus among them was that it all comes down to the driver.

So I've been doing a good bit of research on the web and at some point this week I'm going to head down to the Love's in Clifton Forge to try to talk to some drivers face to face.

Hopefully I might be able to get some good pointers and insights into what I can expect while I'm training and when I go solo. I know there's a lot of negativity about the company circulating around the internet and I might encounter the same attitudes in person. But I'm also expecting to find people with entirely different attitudes about the company than all the incoherent rants I've seen.

Western Express is the company that will give me a chance and I'm grateful to have it. I'm not going to find the ideal company. Instead I'm going to have make this one work and give it all I've got. It's not going to be easy. I'm going to make a lot of mistakes. Hopefully I'll get through my first year with my dog at my side.

If I can't get back to my house in PR as soon as I'd like, or I'm stuck in the Northeast for the first three months, I'm just going to have to make make the most of what I'm given. I'm optimistic that with a lot of hard work, dedication, and patience, it will pay off.