Question:
Sitting here inat the T/A in Ann Arbor waiting on a reset....I drove 3458 miles the last week(that's coming off the qualcom). Good miles for a 'newbee' ?
Ya'all cant call me a wannabee anymore lol.

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Are you with a trainer or on your own now?

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Yup,good miles too bad the wage ain't.
Good luck in you Newbee stage.
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With a trainer-names Richard Bishop. I hit the jackpot- hes a natural teacher,15 yrs driving including 9 months as yard jockey...3 yrs training. He haspushed me since the first day and I love it. Even Atlanta @ 3:30 Pm rushhour,rain accidents. Being Werner considers training done after 275 logged hours(driving) and a successfull road test- I have been plotting how to get more miles lol.Rick tells me I should expect to be called in early though- more like 255 hrs. BTW- Do I like paperless logs ? HELL NO.

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Ohh yea- you are sure right there....I have talked with 3 drivers with Interstate and a reqruiter- willgo either with them or USXpress after 3-6 months. Both have excellent(entrey level) team packages. The next thing is finding a good team mate.

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Some "thinking" may be in order. Personally I'd stay with Werner
for the first year. A stable work history will land better jobs. I would reconsider the "team" thinking.
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Since you are just getting in with Werner, how does the following info mesh with your experiences?
I got some literature from one of their recruiters. They are talking about an "average" of $.352 per mile for less than 1 yr solo, $.372 for between 1 and 2 years, and $.393 for over 2 years. I put the word average in quotes because I dont know why they would have people making more or less. Its on the list of Q's to ask the recruiter. I would like to know exactly how much they would pay me if I were to opt to join them.
They also apparently have bonuses for fuel efficiency, monthly mileage, achievement (they dont say what). And they say they pay all miles, full or empty, but they dont say if the pay is the same full or empty. Another recruiter Q.
$40 to fingerprint a load alone, $20 with help. Multiple stops other than the pickup and drop is $25 for the first, $35 for the second, $50 for the third, and $75 for the fourth.
100 miles or less trips get a $20 "shag" pay. For flatbeds get $20 for each original pickup and delivery, plus $10 per each re-tarp stop.
Layover pay is $20 after 24 hours, then $40 each day after.

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Good job, keeso. That's quite an accomplishment for your third week.
Is your trainer having you do lots of backing? That's what you've really got to work on as a new driver. The statistics according to Schneider National say that roughly 6/10 new drivers will be involved in some sort low-speed backing accident within their first year. According to Roehl, the largest share of their claims are from backing accidents which account for only 5% of total driving time.

I put in just over a year in this biz and still consider myself a 100%, Grade-A, newbie.
I think you'll do great. You've got a positive attitude which in my humble opinion is the #1 key to success. If I were still in the biz, I'd defintely consider teaming with a guy like you.
The main thing is, though, are you having fun? Sounds like you are. Best of luck to ya.
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Yea-I can even 'think' a little bit too

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YEA- i love trucking

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Well- I wrapped up training Saturday morning- its been a good 5 weeks. I sure hope I get close to the miles I have been running-3237 4th week and 3423 the final week. I go for 'processing' tomorrow. I couldn't have had a better trainer evaluation- all 4's. Rick says my backing is good- but 'too slow'- but thats from a former yard jockey.
One thing I would like to comment on is the fact that despite the people in the office having the required bachelor degrees I havent been impressed. A couple weeks ago we blew a trailer tire on 88 in NY. Made it to a no name truck stop and called it in. 3 hrs later I said- whats up ? Rick calls them again- was told sorry- we lost the repair order...3 hrs later the T/A tire man shows and we were on our way with the warning to be on time with our JIT load. $%#@
A few days ago I ran the last leg into Kansas City with another JIT load- delivered @ 7:00 sharp(ON TIME)- Next pick-up is scheduled for 7:00 as well-on the OTHER side of KC. We waited an hour for them to get the load info to us. Then they said this was a time critical load- keep her rolling- be in Phoenix in 24 hrs. Which wouldn't have been bad if we could have gotten unloaded and over to the other side of town in 15 minutes lol.

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After being enlightened about some Werner practices I will leave them after 6 months before they screw me up. My second trainer will be getting a class action lawsuit against them for basically screwing up his chances of employment anywhere else. He had applyed to USX press and they called Werner saftey dept. My trainer had 2 non-preventable accidents and 3 incidents in 5 yrs- Werner safety said NINE accidents. This has occurred with several of his former students as well... What Im not going to do is leave after 3 months because the company I want to go with requires 6 months experiance with the same company to be considered.

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college degree,if they had real brains they wouldn't be at a trucking company,almost anyone can get a college degree nowadays.
don't worry about nothing,it's just freight your hauling,nobody dies if things are screwed up,do your part and don't give a crap about the rest of it. It's not really important if that crap arrives on time. Just cover your butt so you don't get hanged for the service failure.
It pays the same weather you get all bent out of shape and worry about crap or don't care. like big deal if some bottling plant closes down because the freight is late,as long as you did your job and do it within the rules,not your problem
trucking doesn't attract the best and brightest from the finest colleges in the country. Transportation is a dumping ground for peoples relatives and the barely capable office help.
your not going to change nothing,so just go with the flow,kick back and enjoy the show
just forget about JIT,it's not important to you weather they apply that silly name to a load,they put it on loads of diapers going to grocery warehouses
you get paid to steer the truck,don't worry about nothing else,not your problem.
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Don't worry about those "keep the load moving utilizing your legal hours..." messages. The computer churns those out whenver it shows you running behind schedule.
Just document EVERYTHING that's delay related and let them decide what to do. You'll NEVER be charged a late load if you move the load in good faith as best you can legally and safely. Never speed. Never run over your hours. Just document what's going on and update your eta when you see it slipping away.
Dispatchers don't like late loads -- but their pay isn't docked for them if you've documented a truthful tale of breakdown or other unavoidable delay. Documenting this and keeping them informed is the key. If they can't change the appointment or repower (swap) the load, everyone's done everything possible and it's no skin off your nose. Our customer contracts excuse us from any late liability due to situations beyond Werner's control. Trucks break down, God throws nasty weather at us and accidents block highways....
Again -- NEVER take any safety risk to to meet an appointment. Just keep movng it best you can and update with a macro-7 as soon as you've determined you last eta is no longer valid.
Your trainer sounds like one of our better ones. But he's probably pretty gung-ho about production. That's fine -- just remember he's using his experience to walk a fine line between production and safety. You may want to slow down the pace just a little. Don't run around cranking landing gear and slamming fuel hoses (etc). Take each step carefully and deliberately, keep the load moving best you can, update your eta regularly....that's what they want....you'll do fine. Congrats and good luck!