Need some questions answered about US Xpress

Discussion in 'US Xpress' started by Zephex, Jun 5, 2014.

  1. Zephex

    Zephex Light Load Member

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    Jul 8, 2013
    Blue Ridge GA
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    Ill keep it kind of short. I do appreciate honest replies in advance. I am not looking for a perfect company (we all know that doesn't exist) but I am looking for something that I can tolerate for a few years at least =)

    I have a year of experience under my belt. I actually have closer to 3 but that was more than 5 years ago. Spent 7 months pulling a flatbed for Maverick transportation. Loved the job and I was never lied to which was a nice change. Made pretty good too. I was making .36cpm to start which was about to jump to 42. Combine that with tarp pay and such and I was bringing home about 700-900 per week after taxes. The only down side was I was only getting home every other weekend. I have a wife and 2 kids so that was hard to deal with.

    Found a local job driving a hydroseeding truck which required a CDL and tanker endorsement. I am still there however I broke my ankle 2 months ago. I have a full doctors release. Since it was a small company I understood that they could not wait 2 months for me to recover so I understood they needed to hire someone to fill my spot.

    So I am looking for a OTR job again since local jobs are scarce where I live. I live about 90 minutes away from Chattanooga.


    So on to my questions (thorough answers will make me put your name on my app for a referral bonus if USxpress has that system)-


    1. Can this company get me home most weekends? I know #### comes up sometimes but home time is priority in my book due to having a family.

    2. What do solo drivers bring home per week on average? Not worried about CPM because it takes CPM + Miles to make a paycheck so I kinda want a ballpark figure of what you guys actually bring home.

    3. I believe you guys are in petes now, but what model and transmission do they have?

    4. Do they let you idle, or do they have sleeper A/C and Heat? One thing I wont do is roast or freeze in a truck at night. I dont do the whole sweating while you sleep thing because I get little rest and its dangerous. Do the trucks have climate control systems in the sleeper or do they let you idle to be comfortable?

    5. Prepass, Ezpass, and tolls such as Pikepass, Ipass, Txtag, and others. Are they covered automatically or how does all that work?

    6. Delivery and Pickup times? Do you guys go on a lot of 2AM pickup or deliveries? I dont really mind, but I would imagine that throws a wrench into your sleeping and driving schedule at times.

    7. Do they make you follow a specific route that you can not deviate from? What about fuel stops? Do you have to stop at assigned fuel stops or can you stop at any *insert whatever company US xpress uses here*
     
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  3. orangepicker

    orangepicker Road Train Member

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    routing and fuel come when you are dispatch not sure on idling...but they do lie alot
     
    drvrtech77 Thanks this.
  4. Cranky Yankee

    Cranky Yankee Cranky old ######

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    Green Bay Wi
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    you are going to be hard pressed to get home any better then Maverick
    everyone will lie to you then you will get stuck into the truck
     
    drvrtech77 and paul_4lp Thank this.
  5. drvrtech77

    drvrtech77 Road Train Member

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    You're best on going back to maverick... You won't make any where near that at usx...usx dispatch is absolutely the most clueless bunch of people around and I'm speaking from experience...which will cost you in your pocketbook...you will not be home when you think you will either...
     
    BigBluePeter Thanks this.
  6. blairandgretchen

    blairandgretchen Road Train Member

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    South west Missouri
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    I'd say better the devil you know - most here are pretty happy with Maverick.

    I can't see the home time being much better than every 2 weeks.
     
  7. 8thnote

    8thnote Road Train Member

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    Aug 12, 2013
    Chattanooga, TN
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    Don't know about US Express, but you should check out Big G Express. Corporate office is in Shelbyville TN. Main Terminal in Mt Juliet with smaller ones in Shelbyville and Russelville TN. Fleet size is ~400 trucks.

    1. I'm home every weekend unless I choose to run for extra $. 99% of our freight is east of the Mississippi.

    2. I average around 2600 miles per week at $0.40 cpm, you do the math (starting pay would obviously be a bit lower)

    3. We run KWs and Volvos with 9 speed transmissions.

    4. Every truck is equipped with a ThermoKing APU.

    5. We have prepass and EZ pass. Covers all tolls automatically in the Midwest and northeast. If you choose to run the Florida turnpike, you pay cash and get reimbursed.

    6. Most appointments are during the day, but there are exceptions (I'm lookin at you Wal Mart)

    7. You are expected to follow the most logical route, as determined by the driver. We fuel only at Pilot/Flying J or the Mt Juliet terminal.


    PM if you have any other questions and good luck to you
     
    paul_4lp Thanks this.
  8. camaro68

    camaro68 Medium Load Member

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    Dec 17, 2011
    Tennessee
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    If I were looking to be home weekends. I would be looking at McElroy. They have a terminal in South Pittsburgh,Tn. Which is not far from U.S. Expresses headquarters in Chattanooga. Just a few miles down I-24 west. http://www.mcelroytrucklines.com/ml_careers.shtml
    There are two McElroy drivers in my area. And sure enough, their trucks are parked in the same place every weekend.
     
  9. paul_4lp

    paul_4lp Road Train Member

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    Fort Myers, FL
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    That was short???
     
  10. Brandson

    Brandson Medium Load Member

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    1. They were actually pretty good on hometime with me. If you're looking at regional tho, you're looking at home for 34 hours and crap pay most likely.

    2. Less than a grand gross, that's for sure. You'd be on a sliding pay scale that tops at maybe 34CPM, down to 28, forget the scale for one year xp. You're looking around 30 CPM probably, and a weekends home gig would probably be lucky to get you 2500 miles any week.

    3. There's a handful of petes. Some of them are autos... All the 2015s are auto freightliners. There's some prostars. Other than being with my trainer in a prostar, I only had freightliners, pretty sure they're the vast majority of the fleet.

    4. No HVAC or APUs. You're allowed to idle between certain temps. Just figure out the trick to make the truck idle. I got one call about being over 50% idle. I didn't even think twice about it afterward.

    5. I believe they cover all of those, at least the major ones. They do have Prepass.

    6. I didn't have any when I was solo, but I'm sure they exist.

    7. They give you routing, in a seriously #### format with encoded local directions that may be correct after you figure out what they're saying. Ignore all that crap tho, just make sure you hit the fuel stops. I never got any grief for a route that I took, but I always made my fuel stops. If you need more fuel or to change a stop for some reason, just call the Fuel department and tell em where you want it. I've never been shot down, but they'll only approve Pilots or Flying Js. You are sometimes assigned to Loves or TAs, but you can't ask for them, even if it's one you know the company uses (that's what I was told by one Fuel person at least), unless you got yourself in a pickle or something.
     
  11. TruckDuo

    TruckDuo Road Train Member

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    Oct 21, 2012
    Chicago, IL
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    To keep it short.....US Xpress is more if a OTR company. Go with someone else if you want to be home weekends.
     
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