Usa truck a joke......stayaway

I suppose you'll catch each and every defect on your vehicle every day your over the road

And you'll also have the luxury and time to slide around under your trailer each and every day on a creeper for an hour.

BTW - DOT inspections are not PTI's ...

Probably get a little real world experience under your belt before criticizing a fellow newbie or student.

 

You're right, I may have overstepped my bounds a little here seeing as I haven't driven yet. I understand that there are times you can not get under the trailer to look at everything, but this is what bothered me:

A driver is supposed to be trained to know what to look for on brakes to ensure they are operating in a safe manner, correct?

The fact that she is a female and not a mechanic should have no relevance. She should know what she is looking at if there are cracked brake linings.

Ron

 

Even with my past experience in trucking watching newbies in class they got a good education at what they needed to check. And they whys and wherefores.

I didn't go to a CDL mill. Quality of the schooling is spotty. I was talking to another member here on the phone. Doing the test drive for his company one of the newbies just knew how to float the gears. He wasn't taught how to double clutch. The guy also said when he took his state test in Ohio the school sent him in an auto shift. The state will flunk you if you float the gears.

 

I'm not gonna bust on TragicMagic for not finding a cracked liner. If I picked up a trailer in the mud at 2am, in the rain I'm not gonna crawl under their either. Why? Because USA's incompetent breakdown department (espcially on night shift) is only going to tell you to pull the trailer anyway, unless you make a big fuss. It takes an act of god to get them to send a roadside call out.

Besides, Tragic was only put Out Of Serivce. The real problem started when she tried to drive from the scalehouse to the Terminal. The cop said she could, breakdown probably told her to also, but that's when she REALLY got in trouble. Violating an OSS reg. She could have probably put on another 2000 miles on that cracked brake, but since the cop spotted it and cited it, it was game over.

As for Telcobilly, just how broke is broke? Becuase frankly I've seen way to many rookies go to Orientation with only the clothes on their back, if you ain't got a few weeks pay socked away to float you untill the paychecks start comming in you're in trouble. Food on the road ain't cheap. It's easier to buy stuff for your truck once you get it then to lug it all on greyhound for 2 days. (get somebody to buy you a Walmart gift card for $100, then you can get a sleeping bag, toiletries, a case of water, some snacks, roll of paper towels and some cleaning stuff once you get your own ride).

Actually USA ain't all bad, but you have to know what you're getting into when you start. Most likely you'll be away from home. It will take a month to get your truck "right" (and that's just in terms of personal preference, not if the #### thing even works proper), and the pay will be kinda slow for a while.

USA's a big company and the customers are there, but the milage isn't. You may get stuck in a part of the country where things are slow, or VERY busy but only short miles. I live in the NorthEast and I run a lot of 100-200 mile runs that nobody else wants. (at least I can stop by the house more often then I should)

Anyway, I don't always get on this board when I'm out OTR. So I hope that answers your quetions untill I return.

 

Female or Male Not being asked to be an Mechanic, but know what wrong. After you or who ever get the experience you'll know something is wrong. You'll notice little things even while going down the road just by a vibration or a strange noise. Times you will even blow out a tire on the trailer and never notice it until someone yell at you going down the road. But if your not listening to the CB you will not hear it, and USA Truck Drivers rarely listening to the CB...

Most experience Driver will miss something time to time.

 

While I was with USA I never did have problems with Break Down or Night and Weekend Dispatch for the Most part. Guess it how you talk to them and explain the problems.

.

OK, now let me try to understand this, If the Cop said she could go to the terminal and she went, how is that a violation of the Out of Service? I've gotten shut down before due to a light out in NM, Yet I was told go to the Truck Stop and get it fix. I went to the Truck Stop and got it fixed. No problem.

I agree USA Truck is not that bad of a Company. If you can stay out of trouble with the Log Department you should have no problem with the DOT log book wise. Heck I burned a bridge with them cause I was more fearful of USA Log Dept than I was of the DOT, went 1 month with out doing my logs..

 

Coastie, If you don't mind me asking, what were you pulling in with USA? I'm just asking for real ballpark numbers to help me decide if I want to go forward or not. I'm looking for executive compensation, just something above sweatshop slave labor pay.

 

See the experience above and to the right^^^^^^? I know exactly what I'm about to say and rip on a few of you!

PTI= Following the FMCSA guidelines! If you do it the SAME WAY everyday you WILL catch what the DOT looks at! EVEN in a muddy lot! You do not have to use a creeper and "get under" the trailer! Or the tractor! An O/O, that's a different story as it's HIS equipment and a good O/O will to ensure that his truck is in top condition as it's HIS money that DOT would try to take!

You start at the front left of the truck and work your way back. At the side of the truck, squat down and look at the OPPOSITE front brake drum (same for the right side to the truck) and what you can see of the shoe below the cover you will see any cracks and the thickness of the shoe, especially after you've been in the truck for a while you'll notice any problem.(trailers are a lot easier). then squat down under the trailer behind the tractor and look at the rear drives and also check the lights and king pin and listen for air leaks at each location.

The trailer is easier than the drives. Just squat down and go under the trailer to the center in front of the tandems and look at both drums and brakes, look at the crossmembers all the way to the front and rear, check the air lines and drain the front tank if you can and listen for leaks and do the same for the rear of the trailer. How can you miss anything? And you only got under the trailer 3 whole times! It's a no brainer even for those who are mechanically challenged!

If your school didn't train you properly in PTI's then ask that trainer you are with. If he doesn't know how then you really need a better trainer! He/she does NOT need to be training and that school needs to loose their license! When I was an Instructor I knew everyone of my students could do a PTI because they if failed the test they failed the whole freaking course. PERIOD!

That BS excuse that every driver misses something is because they #1Did not do it the same way everytime.#2 Did NOT do a PTI #3 Was just lazy and #4 Didn't give a crapola and is taking yours, mine, and our families, and as if he cared his families and his life at risk!

And that idiot earlier that came up with the "who has time to waste or has the time to PTI" line, please go back to Burger King! I don't need or want your worthless and lazy arse driving next to me or my family! If you don't have the time to do a proper PTI you don't have the time to drive. It's morons like that that make it harder on the rest of us when something they could have caught on that oh so hard and time consuming PTI breaks and it's in the news when they close a road, or kill someone!

Yes, learning to do a good and proper PTI will take you 30 minutes until you get your "rhythm" down then you can do them in 15-20 minutes! And if you ARE driving for a bottom feeder that doesn't care about their equipment, having it on that Qualcomm and an inspection sheet is better that the "I don't care" crapola I hear more and more of.

A REAL driver knows his equipments status as it's his livelihood.

Where are the REAL drivers at these days?

And if I hurt anyone's feelings in this post...GOOD! Excuses for not doing your job is not an answer! There is no excuse!

Go back to flipping burgers or delivering pizzas in you unchecked car as if you can't do a truck I bet you can't do your car!

 

Amen.. I figure that if you can't do a proper pre trip, than you shouldnt drive. At the least, thump the tires, check lights and blinkers. Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. Good thing to remember.

 

As a company driver was poor pay I will give you that, but it a job in todays bad times. I was making Deposits of 1000.00 a month. So as a company driver yes a little above Slave Sweatshop pay. But as I said, it's a job...

As an O/O I started off bring in after fuel and expenses $2036.00 to 1300.00 per week. As time went on my miles dropped and and pay went down to an average 700.00, but a few checks over 1000.00. At the very end I was getting around 500.00 and 600.00. To many short trips. I needed 600 miles to make a fair profit on a load. More and more loads was 600 or less.