US Xpress reviews

US Xpress raise?

Q: https://www.usxjobs.com/otr-drivers/. Are they any good?

A: They are the best. Only the elite drivers are hired. Good luck trying to work for them

US Xpress Review OTR Perspective

Summary:

Drove for US Xpress for 18 months following acquisition of Arnold. At first they seemed like a company that had their act together. Great miles, new lanes, decent pay increase. Slowly things changed. Eventually they started constantly sending me to Hagerstown MD for Tractor Supply loads and then it was straight up north to MA/VT. This continued for about 6 months, where I was running mostly OH and PA and then right back to Hagerstown. Occasionally they'd get me to TX, KS, OK but that's as far south and west as I ever got, then it was right back to Hagerstown. This is an OTR company? NOT! 

So I switched terminals, hoping to get away from MD. Things improved for several months, and the Hagerstown loads stopped. Then the other "magnet" started. Now instead of staying in the MD region, not straying far from the shipper, they started keeping me close to Tunkhannock PA to serve P & G. Over and over and over again. And this is why I spent an entire 6 weeks going no further west than OH, no further south than SC, east was MD, and north was upstate NY. Again I found myself locked into a region. I live in NC, and never did find out whether it's because of the state I live in, or they do this to all their OTR drivers.

Impressions:

- As an OTR driver, you will not do all 48. You will be kept in a region for the most part, and you WILL spend a great deal of time in the northeast (yes, even the FL drivers I knew did), where they have the most important customers, and you will be fighting traffic, have decreased miles, few truck stops, all for no extra pay. And you will stay in the northeast until you are blue in the face.

- Good luck finding trailers. The majority they have are over 10 years old and rust buckets, falling apart. New ones coming in, but they waited too long to buy new trailers. Too little, too late. At least they finally started fixing the old trailers after so many were leaking they started losing customers. So when it comes to trailers they are reactive, not proactive.

- If you run hard, and have a decent FM, you can usually get decent to good miles, 2500-3000 a week, although they are very inconsistent. And get used to losing as much as 10-12 % on loads because of them using Household Movers pay. So on an 800 mile load, know you'll probably be driving 880-900 miles.

- Too many short loads. Seems this company specializes in loads 400-525 miles. Occasionally you will see a load where you actually will need 2 overnights to deliver, but that is the exception.

- Trucks are well maintained, although a PIA to get out of the terminal in less than 5 days since they are closing terminals to save money. And if you like automatics, this is the company for you!

- I get the impression that this company really doesn't give a rats ### about it's drivers. They are big on training newbies, and getting 10K from Uncle Sam for every meat in the seat that they place. So with the high turnover, they have a constant revolving door and you can easily be replaced, having the newbie burn out on the northeast until that driver decides to quit as well. Sure, they pretend a good game with lip service about how much they care, but when you look at all their actual polices you'll see that is not the case. They care about themselves, and the almighty dollar at the expense of retaining good drivers.

- You will get the "srap" loads if you are OTR. This company is big on Dedicated, Teams, Training, Owner Operators. Step to the back of the line if you are OTR for your loads. Believe it. It seems like they use OTR drivers just to support the other operations. This is probably why they have so many short loads.

- Hometime policy is just plain cruel. 1 day off for 6 out, which is standard, but if you don't use them, you lose the days you've earned. And you're allowed 5 days max, otherwise you have to clean out your truck for some other meat in the seat needing your truck. So forget trying to make plans (like attending a wedding) with this "reset" policy. It's near impossible, needing to be planned out months ahead of time.

- This company looks for ways NOT to pay you! They give you a bonus of an extra 3 cents for every mile you run after 30 days out. That's good. BUT, they don't tell you that if you run within 50 miles of your home, your FM needs to so some magic on his end to fix the computer from saying that you were HOME. And of course if the computer thinks you went home, you went home, and you'll forfeit your bonus pay. All this is easily fixed, but the point is, WHY SHOULD YOU HAVE TO? Because they are looking for ways to not pay the driver, that's why. And they are always looking for more ways to take pay out of the drivers pocket. When I first started, they made you wait 24 hours before you're whopping $50 breakdown pay kicked in. Then they changed it to 36 hours. So any pay incentives/bonuses they have now will probably change and it won't be for your benefit, believe me.

- Good luck idling in hot and cold weather. Time was, I could idle my truck at 72 and above, 27 and below. Well that all changed when I took my truck in for a BPM at the terminal. Other drivers in Springfield also were complaining about the fact that they could no longer idle. Seems US Xpress did what they always do, and that's change the rules of the game without notifying the drivers, because it suits them and their greedy pockets.

- Weekend dispatch is a joke. They like to watch football on all their big screen TV's hanging around Chattanooga, and they really don't care about getting you a good load. You will probably do 500 miles for the weekend if you don't get something on Friday from your FM. Yet they seem to not like you to do your 34 instead.

- Breakdown. What a nightmare. "Yes, we know, but Breakdown is understaffed." Been hearing this for over 3 years. They don't care to fix it. So you typically wait 35-50 minutes before they pick up the phone. You can send a macro through your EOBR, but that takes a lot of time as well. So considering how difficult it is to reach them, then wait to find out where to go or have roadside come out to you, it's no wonder that the trailers you hook to are in need of some repair. It's too much hassle for the driver to be fixing their trailers for free (maybe you might get some cpm for the 30 minute drive to the repair shop, maybe). And with them closing terminals right and left, you can bet they can't keep up with all the needed repairs.

Summary:

What a mess. They are unorganized, don't communicate well, don't seem to care about their OTR drivers. If you are a beginner driver, you can do a lot worse, they are not that bad. But why any seasoned driver would go/stay with them is beyond me. If you want dedicated, or team, you may just like this company. They take care of them. All I can say about O/O's is that I know they get better miles than OTR, and they can refuse loads. But I'm not sure how well they are making out.

Overall, they are safety conscious and their equipment for the most part is well maintained. What they fail to realize however, is that keeping drivers in the northeast for 6 weeks straight stresses a driver out, and when a driver is stressed out it doesn't help with safety. As a seasoned OTR driver, you can do a lot better than driving for US Xpress.

I waited until I was having a good day to chip in my two cents so that I was providing an objective stance instead of just venting.

US Xpress could be a good company. They have some awesome people here in every department (as well as some real sour apples of course) and as long as you are being safe they can't force you to do anything. The safety department is your biggest ally in this but you rarely have to get them involved. I have had staff lie and/or bs me on things but that wasn't often and I saw through it. They have good trucks and their new trailers are great. I get along with my fm and his boss just fine.

My biggest problems are two fold: low miles and high amounts of repairs. I am solo otr so it often seems like I'm only good for short loads. Don't get me wrong, I'll do short runs with no complaint provided that the miles all add up in the end but they never do.

Then there's the repairs. I spend an exorbitant amount of my time getting their trailers repaired. I can't tell if it's just the age of the trailers or the other drivers here either don't know how to do pre trips or don't care to do them. I have a feeling it's more the latter. The other night a driver brought his load to me and dropped it in the truck stop parking lot and when I hooked up to it in the morning one of the air chambers was leaking pretty bad. I want to give my fellow drivers and USX the benefit of doubt but at a certain point you can't anymore. I can't tell you how much time has been eaten up doing such repairs, how many loads have been taken from me, repowered or cancelled because I have to pick up the slack for everyone else. It would be better if USX compensated me for the time I've lost, if they started holding other drivers accountable for this kind of stuff, but they don't. And I don't expect that to change any time soon.

The only way to make money here seems to be on a dedicated account, as a team, or become a trainer.

As I said this could be a godd company, they do have staff that cares and work to take care of the drivers, but as it stands I'm looking for another company. If someone came to me and told me they were thinking of coming here I think all I could say is "you could do worse. You could do a lot better, but you could do worse."

In really not sure what happened to USX. I started with them, done my 150 hours in a truck with a trainer....was very well trained, my trainer was very respective and made sure I was properly trained. After testing out, I received my first tractor which for being used was in very good shape. It was checked out by the shop and cleared to roll. I was also told by my recruiter that solos do NOT run 48 states, depending where you live, you either run east or west of I35. I never had an issue with the company when I was there. The pay was great, I was ALWAYS home when I requested and as long as I was willing to roll, I stayed loaded. But, not every company is for every driver. After my experience with them for 10 yrs, id GLADLY go back

Q: Hello All,

 Looking for anyone doing the Lease with US Xpress.

Not interested in how bad a lease is or isn't!

What I'd like to know is;

Does US Xpress preplan your loads or do you have the option to self dispatch?

What kind of miles are you seeing?

Are you able to run a regional area so you can plan yourself home?

If US Xpress plans your trips what is your Utilization Rate?

Feel free to provide any information you may find pertinent.

Thanks

A: us xpress does the per planning

company AVG. is 2,200-2,700 a week.... that's a weekly avg. based on yearly AVG miles.... yours could be more or less based on how much time you spend at home.

yes and no....you can turn down any load any time if you don't like were it goes someplace (area) you don't want to go and you can go home anytime you want and stay home as long as you want, your lease payment will still be due even when your at home.

that I can't help with because of what I do... my avg week millage is under 2,000 but my pay isn't the same as lease- o/o's

I was a company driver (solo/team) for 7 years and a o/o (solo/team) for 4.5 years with usx

there is no avg. discount they can quote, ta/petro (not in network) .05-.10 off pump price, loves (most aren't in network) .10-.40 off pump price pilot/flying j .20-.80 off pump price. we get the best discount at pilot/flying j BUT it's not the same discount at every one.

2 pilots 50 miles apart may have the same pump price but the discount at 1 maybe .27 and the other maybe .45,...... the discount is a cost plus % discount not a flat cents off per gl. discount. so how can they tell you that your discount will be x cents off per gl.

buy smart and get a good discount, buy stupid and get a bad discount.... it's up to YOU what kind of discount you get... they have a web site that only L/O-L/P-O/O can used to see what our PUMP price is at any in network fuel stop but the discount (cents off) will change from day to day....

right now pilot/flying pump price

Knoxville, Tn. (I-40) 2.29-2.39 my price is 2.07-1.99

Memphis, In. pump 2.43 my price 2.07

Princeton, Il. pump 2.45 my price 2.22

Utica, Il. (loves) pump 2.44 my price 2.27

Waco, Tx. pump 2.43 my price 2.03

I did LP with ATS and I got robbed, back to CP driver, since I have brother in law who is now doing LP in USX and he's doing extremely good, so I guess it's time to give LP another try. Beside the dollar account I've heard good stuff about USX, because I can't do this much with my back everything seems to be okay.

If they have any other account or other stuff where I don't have to use my back I think I might be there for a while.

I what is the max hometime US Xpress will allow?

Q: Need to know max hometime US xpress drivers are eligible for

A: 1 day off for each week out, 5 days max or you need to turn in the truck if it's going to be longer... if you take more than 30 days off for any reason you will need to do a rehire so yes you could turn in the truck and take 3 weeks off then get a truck when you come back

A: if your a team staying out 8 weeks at a time I was told 8 days would not be a problem ..just depends on how long you stay out at a time.. its much cheaper for them if your not coming home every 2-4 weeks.. plus they add .05 a mile if you stay out more than 45 days .. so my theory is they will work with those willing to stay out for longer periods of time..

So to break it down, US XPRESS now has camara lloollll

APU in US Express trucks?

Q: Im pretty sure I heard US Express trucks don't have apu's but my buddy who got hired on recently there says he has one of 6 Petes that has the battery APU that runs the a/c until the batteries drain. He says it's a test truck. Maybe y'all are about to start getting them?

A: I was at Markham last week for a PM. They installed an inverter (no APU) that I didn't ask for and definitely didn't pay for. I didn't ask questions. Maybe something new they're doing? Or just screwed up & gave me someone else's inverter!

A: Actually. ... They don't make U buy them anymore. .. They place themy in the truck for free.. If anyone need one for their truck ... just tell the shop and they will install U one ...that's if they have any on hand ... IT'S FIRST COME... FIRST SERVE BASIS. ..

Relocate to Indiana?

Q: I've seen this ad posted in different places and wondered if anyone else has tried this. Does USX assist at all in finding a residence there?

As for the job, I think it's dedicated for Walmart or Sam's Club, but I'm not sure on that.

I currently live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and there just isn't much going on up here, so I feel open to the idea of moving out of here.

A: Seriously though, about USX. I don't know if they still do it, but at least at one point they were offering $5000 relocation for the account that ran out of the Wal Mart DC in Gas City. I don't know much else about the deal or why they were so desperate for drivers. My nephew is a USX dispatcher on another account. I can ask him about it if you'd like.