which one of these companies would you try for you first truck driving job? is there any one on here that has worked for either one of these companies that has any input.

I work for central....


I have said in the past I think I am 75% happy with them.....

Good hometime, and it is guaranteed, if you ask for days off 9 days in advance, and they dont get you home you get $40/day till you get home....Only been home late 2 times in a year, and I go home every 3 weeks.

Hit and miss on trainers, I had a good one, but many others did not.....probably similar to usx.

Usx, has higher speed, but as a fan of speed, I am glad I have a 65mpg governor , as you are less able to try to catch up in 65 states, keeps you out of the tickets...

Equipment is basically same, but USX is ALL AUTO-SHIFT.

Central is 99% refrigerated, loads, and 85%, one p/u one delivery.

I have had good fleet managers, but some have not, I am pretty good I think and pretty much can keep on them to keep me rolling and preset before I deliver.

1 week vaca after 1 year, based on a average pay for the year.

Terminals or dropyards in many cities....
Terms
Fontana CA(la)
Conley Ga(atl)
Irving TX(dallas)
Salt Lake city
Denver

drop yards you could park truck at...
Rochester NY
Lancaster Pa
Solon OH(cleveland)
Colombus OH
Chicago
Las Vegas
Phoenix
Albuquerque
Probably others, that was offhand....

You can and will take truck home, unless you are within 100 miles of the terminals.

Pretty good company, I have been happy, and it is a good starter company.


K

Just curios, what is their pay scale like and are they paying practical or short miles?

Cetral Refrigerations pays so much a mile were USX pays on a sliding scale.

I do agree with "Earthbrown" when it was said that Central Refrig is a good starter company. That was my first company I had my first truck & ran solo. For a beginner I had a dedicated run & did very well but the only thing was I got a taste of Auto- Shift & feel in love with them & that was with Central Refrig until 2 months later and they gave me a 2006 Freightliner, so for a newbie I thought I was doing well & was.

Central is on my list of training companies I might go with...I'm considering,

Maverick
Roehl
Schneider
Central...

In that order right now. The reefer aspect appeals to me for some reason.

I drive for US Xpress and have been for a While, its a good company, i like it... Freight is slow on the general freight side but is for all the other dry van companies its just that time of year but with march underway its soon to pick up....

If your comming to start out as a Trainee we have a Few locations you can attend orentation at...

Midway, OH
Memphis, TN
Tunnel Hill, GA
Dallas, TX
Colton, CA
Linclon, NE

i might have missed one or 2 places....

We have a large network of Terminals last i counted was 24 but i know that there are 12 more scheduled to be bult in the next couple of years....


Any way orentation lasts for 3 days your NOT Hired until after your orentation is over on the 3rd day, you get hotel accomidations but u will have another driver as a roomate..

they pay you for orentation i cant remember how much, theres a sign on bonus as well... umm

our Fleet is less than 18 months old and if you go out with a trainer your going to be in a volvo most likely...

if you attend orentation at medway ohio then you will have bunks to sleep in inside of the terminal, and breakfest and lunch are free at all locations..

You will not be treated like a coDriver the rules are very clear you will be doing all of the driving and he has to stay up in the jump seat behind you.. the closest you can get to being treated like a codriver is if he does a super solo where he drives for 3-4 hours then you get behind the wheel for your 11 hr shift....

all of the terminals have free laundry and 2 TV rooms,

Just recently our fleet has started the process of having the DriverTech units installed its probably a gamble if you get a trainer with one, but if he/she has one that should help you out tremendously with the CoPilot GPS Program and its mounted on the dash and all the directions are automatic you dont have to put in addresses as soon as u get a dispatch it updates with your new shipper receiver and fuel stops... its really neat... i like it

umm i have a previous post on this forum about all the stuff USX has like dedicated wise and equipment wise think we have Volvo, Freightliner Century, Peterbuilt, and Kenworth's,

Heres my old post i just copied and pasted it

Looks like Everyone that posted knows someone driving for Roehl.. i'll add my 2cents for US Xpress They are a Good Company Over All.. I Have never once had a Problem with Pay just a problem with the Randy McNally Milage System i think thats what they use from zipcode to zipcode.. any heres what US Xpress Offers

**Dedicated**
Wal-Mart (only 120 drivers max for that acct) .34cpm for 1st 6mths on account then .01cpm raise, after 18mths .01cpm rais Toping off at .36cpm and every Quarter possiable bonus of .01cpm if u can maintain a 2500mi per week average for the entire quarter.. basically if u qualify they add up all your miles for the Quarter which for me would be arround 45,000 X .01cm = $450.00 bonus
Home Depo
Doller General (u go store to Store Unloading)
Doller Tree (same as Doller General)
Reckeitt Benckiser / Excell Diago .34cpm all Miles (i left this account for Wal-Mart account b/c of bad dispatching and poor miles but i hear that Since they Aquired all of Excell Diago Business that the miles picked up to above 2500 average..
**Xpress Direct**
all i know about this account is that one of my friends is on it and Basically its a FEMA account so there best freight season is Hurricane Season as for the rest of the year i dont know what they haul
**Xpress Rail**
that is a BS division in my opinion only applies if u live in the right area Basically near a Rail Yard and they Cut your Pay Way Down arround 30cpm and you Take off from home monday go to Rail Yard pu go to next rail yard.. repeat till Friday go back home for the weekend and start over again..
**Day Cab**
Think they start out at 10 bucks a hour hauling Xpress Global Freight.. im assuming u need to live near a Terminal which are in California somewhere, Kearny NJ, Medway OH, Oklahoma City ok, Dallas TX, Linclon NE, Tunnel Hill GA, i may have missed 1 but u get the jist..
**Regional**
depending on where u live i think they may have done away with this but they divide the country by I-35 depending on weather u live East or West of it is your Region, but that may have changed to Full Fleged OTR again dont know.. also Regional Drivers are Eligable for Christmas/new years bonus $500.00 and Annual Pay Raises

Also keep in mind that US Xpress has a Sliding Pay Scale for Regional and OTR That Goes for Both Teams and Solo's.. the Easiest way i can explane it for teams is Basically your a Team so your Truck Earns the Miles and u split the income so if u get 50cpm = 25cpm split I persionally think they use that 50cpm split thing to attract people but its no different than splitting Miles and paying a base pay its just a Bigger Number that pays a little less i think and relates closer to Money than miles to Attract unknowing people

heres a link that u can click to view there Pay Scale
[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.

umm let me think there is a Great Stock option plan U have to be driving for them for 1 year and can enroll only on January 1st or June 1st of each year.. 401k is nice they match 6% of your Annual Gross for the 1st 50% contributed each yeat.. they use Diversified Investment Group to handel that.. perty cut and dry theres a packet lol explans all the 401k stuff it was mind boggling the 1st time i saw it..

Very Nice Terminals that most include Free Truck Wash as many times as u want, Free Laundry, and 1 or 2 have Wi Fi Access but i have been complaining about that to get all of them equiped.. good Security all the terminals have security guards and.. US Xpress as far as i know is the only company to have a Driver Liason department and a Whistle Blower hot line ran by a 3rd party company which i have used once..

Driver Liason Department is basically filled with Million Miller Drivers that answer questions from USX drivers and help them out with problems u can Complain to them with out complaining to dispatch and Ticking them off at u reducing your miles.. where as u can explain to Driver Liason and they will fix the problem if need be...

Whistle Blower Program i think is Great with the aid of the satcom recorded messages u can file a Ligiatment complaint back it up with the qualcomm and possiably get a dispatcher or account manager or anyone in corperate fired anymously because they proably shouldnt be there in the first place..


**Available Equipment**
2004-2007 Peterbuilt's not sure what model number it looks like the T2000
2004-2007 Freightliner Century
2004-2006 Freightliner Columbia's
2004-2007 Volvo's (Finally Got One)
2007 KW Very Small
2006-2007 Freightliner Columbia Super Single as well think thats about it..
2004-2007 Freightliner Century


**PAY**
We Get Paid every Friday at the Start of the business day and statments are mailed and also posted at the USX website
You also get a 1 week vacation per year with lol WITH THE WORST PAY I HAVE EVER SEEEN!!!!!!!!!!!! you only receive $250.00 for the entire Week off YAY!!!! wow u can really splurge on that Cruse u wanted to take or lol anything proably afford gas for a trip but lol you'll be broke when get there

I Hope this post helps shed some insite to driving for US Xpress

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There are Old Truckers and there are Bold Truckers, But there are no Old Bold Truckers.

hi all i will say is my husband and i have been with central for 5 years and are happy with them

Thank you for your insight to US Xpress, I have only just passed my CDL and plan to and work for them. I realize that not everyone will "Fit in" and get treated right but it is my intention to knuckle down and do my job and get paid accordingly. Once I have at least 1 years OTR and I'm considered experienced, I may look elsewhere for employment but only if I have had any issues that were unable to be resolved in a civilised manner with US Xpress.

At this point in time I am looking forward to orientation with the company in Medway, Ohio and then doing my trial by fire on the road for three weeks with a "Mentor" and ultimately going sols.

Thanks again for your candid views on US Xpress.

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