Turbo- that's one great post. I'm saving it for my driver file. Thanks.

I agree with you guys who drive to orientations in your own personal wheels. I did that to most of my orientations, but I should have driven to ALL of them. A couple of times I had to take long bus rides home after finding out recruiters' fib-stories and gatekeepers demands didn't quite square.

Some of my own tales from orientations that went from bad to worse to worst:

1. After quitting Swift in 1995, I decided to go to a Southern Transport orientation. The recruiter gave me a story about how great the company was, but she forgot to tell me I'd have to go out with a trainer again, although I had completed a one-month training period with Swift only three months before. On top of this, Southern's trucks were all flat-tops. Imagine being in a training truck that requires one driver to sleep on the floor between the seats. Sometimes I would have been doing that, sure. I drove my car to the company's terminal early on a cold orientation Monday in February '96 in order to get started. I think I spent 30 minutes on the the lot looking around at the equipment and the orientation class (it was pretty big) before fleeing the scene. I wanted no part of that nonsense.

2. In November 1995, I drove from my home in Charlottesville, Virginia, to a BT Transport orientation in Lugoff, South Carolina. This is at least a 300-mile drive one-way, but it turned out to be a quick 600-mile round trip. I was promised a "dedicated" account by a BT recruiter about two weeks before going. He even promised me a Freightliner Classic to drive. When I got to BT, the insiders told me I'd be driving a cab-over, and they also told me my dedicated run was going to be a tire account with five deliveries a week. I also noticed lots of empty, cleaned-out rigs sitting around, and the orientation class was huge compared to how big the company was. I don't have to say it, but I was back in my car driving away before my Celica's engine even had time to cool off.

3. In April 1998, I went to a Trism Transport orientation by bus, which was a mistake. Shoulda drove to that one, too. With Trism, the problem was the type of load I was gonna be handling. It was ALL Haz-Mat, and I was going to be the lumper on all the runs. Not only this, but I had to wear special chemical suits and huff heavy-********* barrels. When the insiders told me I'd get back home to Salt Lake about every three months and my pay was going to be 22 cents per mile, I headed back to the bus station. Of course, I had to foot that bill. This one was my own fault, as I didn't ask the questions I should have, and I also failed to ask the right questions when I did ask. I wish I could have read a post like Turbo's back then. But then again, that post would have been on a website like this, meaning I probably would have never been at the orienation to begin with. Chalk it up to experience.

The US Express fiasco was an easy one to get out of compared to these three. I went to the terminal, which was already near my home, by personal car (my Celica again). When the insiders there denied me, I simply went out and drove back to my lazy boy in only ten minutes or so. What really pissed me off about USX, though, is what I already mentioned...those guys kept me hanging for a few days when I could have been looking for another job.

__________________
--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

JB offered me transportation to E. Brunswick, NJ for their orientation before they pulled their little bait-and-switch stunt, which I declined.

__________________
Z-Lady's devoted hubby.

i worked for useless express for 3 years the first 2 i made good money on a dedicated account.i was injured and had to leave this account and went to the otr divison what a disaster.the problem was a divison called express direct this is expidited freight divison that wants drivers to bend over backwards for them but doesn't want to give anything in return.another problem was they started putting more and more freight on the rail,and not just west coast freight i picked up loads in pa going to tx and had to put on rail in atlanta.the last time i was in mass i emptyed out and had to drop my trl at the rail yard and then spend several hours looking for an mty so i could pu my load to get me home.i still can't figure that one out and that was over a year ago

WHAT A NIGHTMARE! I can speak (from personal experience) to the mess that is verify-on-site. I started driving for Covenant, and I remember seeing so many people leave orientation for those most ridiculuos things. Great post Turbo- I guess Caveat Emptor is more important than ever.

Seeing as how this is mostly about orientations I will add this.I have went thru 2 orientations with the old MS Carriers,one for company drivers,and one for O/Os.Not bad experiences but they could have been much shorter.next one was good ole Swift.3 1/2 days of pure BS,(we are the biggest and the best,and blah,blah,blah)Just recently went thru orientation with Roehl.Two days which included driving test and physical.Everything pretty much to the point and no BS,I enjoyed it.The closest thing to BS was a couple times we were told if we flunked out here we will give you an orange truck,because there was a Sn term.across the street.Motel accomadations OK,all meals furnished,I was provided with a rental car to go there and come back home.A pretty laid back experience.Roehl is very high on safety,and so far they have been very friendly and helpful.

I've worked at US Xpress for a Little While now i am on the Wal-Mart Dedicated Account and i am Latching on to it with all i have i Doubt i could handle it back in OTR World with USXpress espically with all that Rail Crap.. As for the origional poster i know what u mean i remember the 2nd day i was in Tunnel Hill Drove Down From Harriman TN, for Orentation was when they announced that they Mass Recruit and only 10-20% of us will be hired on Wednesday, which was Exceptionally Stuipted and has Got to be Unlawful somehow somewhere, because there was 45 of us and only 10 or so hired and I account my hire to being a Vetteran thank god i possess a DD214 that had to be my blue chip to being hired on here,

but as for the company being Unorganized it is but that is Partially due to Max Fuller Reorganizing the Company to Rail to Line his pockets and stock holder pockets...
he Claims he doesnt know why Us Xpress has such a high turnover rate in news confrences but only Focuses on Growth of the company maby if he stopped for 5 seconds and looked at the situation and improved our lifestyle Directly insted of Cosmetically by Giving us Every Brand truck to pick from and nice Driver lounges (which i admit are nice and free laundry is a plus) but thats just cosmetics and doesnt address the real problem.. maby if he tried to improve Quality of life Cant argue with hometime its guarenteed, but maby survey drivers figure out what most of us want because we all want something and Basically focus on us he Will only focus on Growth and Impressing Stock holders,

Also i believe with all my heart what i was hearing on Landline now about that Foreign worker amnisty thing i have a feeling that Trucking just got Shipped over Seas and these Publically Traded Companies are Making a Mad Dash South of the border and pay Raises will soon be unheard of..

__________________


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

Truckin Juggalo- that post said a lot. BTW, I have been to the tunnel hill term, it was the site of one of the longest nights of my life with a nightmare load (going to Kent WA).

It's funny you mention Fuller trying to focus on something other than growing business, when US Exp supposedly just bought Arnold Transport and Total Transportation.

Good luck to anyone trying to work there...

usxpress midway is a mess and will allways be if your new to trucking get used to it its going to take you 12 to 18 months of bs like you never sean befor hang in there i worked for usx. 4 i/2 years never had a problem but i have over 20 years and was a husban an wife team so we got a new trk each year but we ran hard look for a local trking co around your home area ,all union trk co. are looking for drivers just hang in there

Im a senior driver with 31 years experince. I went to US orentation in thier new terminal ( Lexington Nc) Thanksgiveing week. Everyone was real nice. My app was all in order but came to a problem with my drug test. Seams that thier real strict on thier blood sugar. And at the time mine was around 100. Also i thought when they take ur sugar check they prick u in ur finger not pee in a cup ? mmmm
Also i heard that the OTR drivers wernt nothing but rail haulers. Whew that was a close one. Thanks to my BS i almost made a BIG mistake.
Oh well, it was a good experince(NOT) But im sure glad my ol boss lady loves me and wants me back at my old job.

Thanks for alll the input guys