Team Driver

Should have been more specific - it was your comment about owner operator teams and income difference over solo drivers.

I bring home 2-3 times what Central solo drivers do, and we make twice what their teams do. Forget the lease drivers, you won't see me filing bankruptcy to make truck payments for an employer.

I didn't have an opinion after 4 months driving, I had questions and tired ears.

 

If you want to make more money, get better equipment, get better loads and be treated like you actually matter to your dispatch and FM, teaming is the way to go. The only time I ever made anything close to a decent paycheck was when I teamed with Swift. I went through five team drivers in six months, not counting the month I did solo, so granted there are problems that come up. But taking home 600-700 a week as opposed to two or three, it's a no brainer. Plus running solo your risk of backing accidents increases because you're stopping at crowded rest areas and truck stops on a daily basis. And if you're stuck, you're stuck. Funny story; My teammate and I were dropping a paper load in San Luis Obispo. They had one (tiny) dock elevated above a platform, and their yard was a narrow, uneven surface filled with potholes. Having only a couple months experience at that time, it was tough to navigate. I asked my teammate (who was fresh off a 10) if he'd help guide me in, he refused. "Not my job" he said. "You should have learned to back." I asked him to just do me a favor and guide me, the whole process would take less than five minutes and ensure I didn't hit anything and get an unnecessary preventable. Again, he said no. So I stopped the truck, went inside the warehouse, explained my situation and brought a dock worked out to guide me. He was actually really cool about it (mentioning that he was glad I was being safe and didn't want his dock messed up either), although I could tell he was busy with something else. Well, I guess at some point while we were being unloaded he saw that we were a team and was like wtf? His boss ended up calling Swift and complaining. Swift suspended him and got me a new driver.

 

My Brother in Law and I are signing up for teams with US XPress, report for Orientation 08 Jan in Dallas. Why Teams, simple for us: We are new to the business and did our research. We need QUALITY miles our first year or two and I got a kid with a Brain Tumor at home. We aint got time to dilly-dally around, we gotta learn what we need to learn and need to make as much as we can to send home. So we will watch each others back and the miles-to-money seems to be there. I'm happy some of these guys can make it on their own, but being retired military I've learned that if your gonna be away from Mamma, every second had better count. That means that truck needs to roll, not sit.

As far as tight quarters and stinky bunkmates ... I did that for 21 years for Uncle Sam. Guys are doing it now for us for much less pay and more on the line. I think that little inconvenience can be overcome.

Watch out, US Xpress Driver's .... If you see a driver with a High and tight who looks lost, feel free to throw in your two cents worth, I wont mind.

 

Saunders, welcome to the USX family. More importantly, thanks for serving our country.

If you have any questions....we're here to help.

 

Do u still want to run team I'm looking for a team partner

 

Interesting thread. I have been researching USX for a team position for myself and my grandson. I have been driving for 20+ years. My grandson has been out of Trucking school for 10 months and drove solo for 4 months. I want to see him succeed and become a true professional as well as hand down my experience and knowledge. USX has available team slots, and all sounds great.....but what am I not seeing?....what is not being said? I am looking for all input....both pro's and con's, to help with my decision. We are not sold on any company so recommendations of other companies are welcome. Thanks.

 

The office people at US Xpress are not the brightest. You only get four days off a month. They will fight you on resets. Those are the negatives about US Xpress.

The good is that they are a large company with plenty of loads. Teams will get most likely a 2014 Cascadia. Get on a dedicated team account, that will get you the miles.

 

Not ready to pass judgement on the whole company, but be prepared for training and the whole process of getting yourself set up with your grandson to suck.

 

My wife and I had trouble meeting up. They had me and my trainer on an endless hunt for a empty. After a full day of searching, I called training to get me to Tunnel Hill to upgrade.

Just make sure to stay on top of everything. When he has around 80/90 hours of training done, have his trainer inform the training department that they need to route him back to the terminal he is doing the upgrade at soon.

 

Don't rely on the company to know what they're doing. It's a mistake. You're going to need to stay on top of them through the whole process of training and getting into the truck together.