As someone who has been creeping on this board to learn about different carriers, I love that Western Express is the 1 company where the consensus is negative. Not mixed or hit and miss. Just run like hell. Every. Damn. Time.
I see Western Express has not turned in their douchnozzle credentials, here's my advice to you and anyone else working for these assholes: Get your 6 months or year and then GTFO. Never do ANYTHING that jepordizes you CDL or driving record on their behalf because they DO NOT GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THEIR DRIVERS! They will leave you hanging, every fucking time. Their entire business model is simply cycling through newbie drivers, your nothing but chewing gum to them and I'm quite flabbergasted these people are still in business.
I'm on my last week right now. So fucking excited to be free and doing CDL B Local work. Had to go Western after Werner threw me out. Leaving with 6-7 months experience... I couldn't do a year.
My complaint mainly is their trucks are locked down so hard it isn't even fun to drive. Also. I'm sweating as I'm typing this because there's no real A/C. Thank fuck I'm northeast.
Werner is probably fine if you don't go Dollar General account. That account was the only thing I was able to do with them.
No only is it absolutely rough during the winter, but you risk your MVR way too much for it to be worth it. You'll be backing from the road sometimes, then once you're in the parking lot, you've got to make a 90° backwards turn to get to the unloading area. Best hope people don't run behind your trailer in their car, or worse, themselves.
I got booted after 2 legitimate minor accidents. Literally the first day solo I bent a wheel rim, and on my last day I scraped someone else's trailer, which mainly was because I was in a bad mood and the turn was tight (it was a °90 backward turn to the unloading area).
The "accident" between those two was some kingpin bullshit where it somehow went over the fifth wheel and got stuck. No idea how it happened cause I always check where the kingpin is right before I hook. Either way, no damage, took 10 minutes to fix thanks to a yard jockey.
Their trucks are pretty good. The heater was soooo nice during the winter, never woke up cold. And there's a weather report system that'll tell you upcoming weather conditions in your area. Governed at 65 on pedal, 68 on cruise.
It's a second chance carrier. They're all about grabbing people that have fucked up somehow and grinding everything they can out of them because they know they're one of the only options open to a good deal of the drivers that hire on with them.
They also love brand new drivers for pretty much the same reason. They know their reputation gets lost in all the other "Hurr durr Swift dumb, Swift bad" "Megas dumb go local immediately" bullshit that rookie drivers get smacked in the face with when trying to figure out who to hire on with when fresh out of school.
If you are a w2 employee and not a 1099 employee they can't take anything from your check without a court order or written permission from the employee if they do you call the Tennessee labor department and they will fuck we
i’ve towed probably hundreds of western express trucks at this point. i always tell people exactly the same thing. while i tow you, go in indeed and apply to another job. you can get another job with little to no experience or even a bad record. fuck western express, the only worse places are amazon or super ego
They legally can not charge you, however they can inform you that they could be charged and if they are it could be disciplinary action against you. They will say that the charge back was your warning.
Charge backs are real carriers get chargebacks from brokers all the time, those get passed on to the one taking the risk carrier if company driver and owner ops get charged if applicable.
Check your orientation paperwork to see if you gave them permission to claw chargebacks from your pay. If you are a w2 employee, this is illegal unless you gave them permission.
Im from ct and they have a depot in CT. They never did this to me but no way the CT DOL would let this fly with a company operating out of and licensed by their state.
I drove for western a while back. They gave me a load from the yard to maybe an hour away. Made my appointment time and thought it was all good. Turns out the guy that drove it from pick up to the yard was late. They got a new appointment time for my drop off but the delivery was already late. They charged me the fee but I was able to fight it.
thats dodgy as hell mate. western express has been doing this stuff for ages and people keep acting shocked. the thing is even if its technically legal in some states they dont tell you upfront properly, you find out when youre already committed to the load. ive seen drivers get nailed on stuff that wasnt even their fault like traffic or shipper delays and suddenly theyre out two hundred bucks. just refuse it and let them get upset, theres plenty of other work out there that doesnt come with surprise penalties attached to your paycheck.
Illegal. Also there are many factors that are out of our hands that could render delivery late.
It would set a terrible precedent. A driver worrying about being late and having to pay imaginary $400, will not be a safe driver.
> illegal
Very legal on a Tennessee (where Western is based) employment contract. I guarantee Western put that on the contract as well.
Also before the downvote babies hit me, I don't agree with it and think w2 employees shouldn't have financial liability. But our feelings don't matter much do they?
As a owner I assume it is on me the company. If I read that on a confirmation I typically call back and tell them “never mind” as everyone knows. Things happen. And since it is a brokered load. Risk vs reward is probably not scaled right to make it worth it
Plenty of guys really don't have a choice and will go with whatever company will give them a CDL the fastest. On the other hand, there are guys with years of experience with a clean record that nose dive into companies like Western. I have no clue why
If the driver isn't from TN, would they still be on a TN contract? Wouldn't the contract take precedence on where the driver is from?
It's their responsibility to make sure freight isn't running late, why not just reject the load or find a driver who can make it? This BS just means I don't want the load.
It varies. A guy in here said he has success twice filing in his home state. I know a few guys from states that protect w2 deductions that failed.
I can say for certain though if OP is from a state that's similar to TN, he'd be screwed. He simply needs to work toward a better employer.
What state do you live in? Unless you sign for the deduction (specifically the dollar amount and instance) it’s illegal for them to take it in most states and you can file a complaint with your state’s labor department and they’ll recover it with interest.
Western is based in Tennessee and it's very legal there. He'd have to file with TN labor.
If Western put it in his contract that he can be billed in instances like this, he really has no better option but to find a better employer. Which is the best option considering his current employer.
Where you're located is what matters not where the employer is. The state you're a resident in gives you your protections. I worked at Western when I first started and they had to follow all sorts of interesting CA only laws.
For a desk job, maybe. OTR is different.
An out of state DOL would have limited reach. So if that DOL sues Western, it would have to do so within a TN court (choice of venue in his contract). He's also limited to a choice of law clause in the contract, which I guarantee is TN. Tennessee isn't big on workers rights.
Is it possible? Maybe, but if I was a betting man my money would be on Western.
I’ve literally done it twice against companies that are out of state. It’s where the wages are earned, which is the complaint’s home state. Contracts don’t negate a state’s laws on earned and promised wages.
Yeah, I’m not working for a company that charges the driver for service failures. Not every one of them can be attributed to the driver. Weather, traffic, shitty shipper… all that is 100% outside of your control. If your ‘goofing around’ time is excessive (easy to figure out between HOS (off-duty time)/breakdowns/GPS) I could see jamming you up a little, but it shouldn’t cost you actual money.
Depends on your arrangement, I’m a leased owner op and such a stipulation is pretty common for me. Sometimes I’ll decline a load for that sometimes I’ll take it it depends
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