Finished orientation with US Express about 10 days go and still no trainer. Sitting at home is not paying the bills. Just wondering what is the normal time you should have to wait to get a trainer.

It depends, based on the number of trainees, the number of trainers, and the location of the 2.

I cannot speak to US Xpress specifically but if I were you, I would be on the phone each day to try and get matched up asap.

Other things to consider are smoking preferences and gender matching as well as (sorry to say) race matching in some cases. Companies try to accomodate the preferences of both the trainee and the trainer but ultimately it is the trainer who decides wether to accept a trainee.

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Knowledge is Power

I was a trainer with a different company and jlkklj777 hit the subject right on the head. Call USX and ask how many ACTIVE trainers they have currently running.
If you ask how many trainers not all are active.
If the trainer takes out an trainee (depending) it may take 4-6 weeks to train a new driver before they upgrade (complete training) to the next step.
Word of caution:
1.) Not all trainers are there to train you they just what the money the truck is turning. Ask a lot of questions, if you get a good trainer they will be more than willing to answer the questions, in fact asking questions shows the trainer that you are willing to learn the business of driving. If you don't ask questions then the trainer will feel that you might think as a know it all.
2.) If your trainer is getting impatience with you and you two start butting heads, do yourself and the trainer a favor...ask for a change.
3.) Be patience with yourself, just because you have a license doesn't mean you automatically know how to drive. It is a lot different pulling a loaded trailer than an empty one.
4.) Be patient with your trainer, this is not an easy position to have.

It is not easy to go back to the bunk and have someone else to the driving while you try to sleep (this goes both ways).
Good Luck

depending on trainer to trainee ratio - it might take three to six weeks before you get a trainer. Call daily or every other day (not on the weekends) and check the stats of the trainers. This is also depending on how many trainees are ahead of you.

Call them every day and see WTF is going on. If they dont have you in a truck in two weeks I would look at another company to hire on with.

Did you sign a contract at orientation? Did it have any details on training? Maybe there is something in there that you can use to light a fire under them?

Just a thought.........

Btw...

Welcome!

TST

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The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. — Albert Einstein

When I finished my orientation with another company, I only had to wait 2 days. Hope you get one soon.

If you are female it can take substantically longer, especially if you requested a female only trainer.

I had requested a female only, non smoking trainer, and according to my SDM at Werner (this was a while ago) they had only TWO female nonsmoking trainers in the entire company. Nonsmoking males certified female training were equally hard to find.

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I am a Camaro Girl because IROC!

You have unlimited chances to go too slow, but only one to go too fast.

After 3 weeks of waiting for a trainer with USXpress, and I was a bit picky about who I had, I left and went with Swift..

USX is really bad about making people wait for trainers... when I went threw there many people was in the same boat as you are... Need to watch out for training because I have heard of companies placing things on peoples DAC for leaving.... I know Hartland is one company that will put something on your DAC if you leave orientation... Although I thought that's what orientation is for, to find out if that is really the company you want to work for... So, keep that in mind if you leave to check your DAC a few months later...