DS/C-1/USA Truck. let the adventure begin.

Don't believe all you read on the web regarding a subject. BG your now another "witness" to the fact that companies make decisions and compensate those left in the wake of such decisions. USA has never left me broken down (cuz I have been broke down), outta money, or outta touch. Things are not perfect but they try to do the right thing, as I do the right thing by them each time I draw a line on the log book under their authority.

I truly hope you find your spot in the industry. Im glad my company is upstanding and honorable, as you are for telling both sides.

 

Hey guys, thought I'd pop in here and offer my thanks for the thread. I am heading into my third week of training at C1/Ft. Wayne, and know well the nature of the training methods; still, having never been in a truck before last week, it's something, and this "something" has got to be better than nothing. I passed all the tests the first time, like BG, but had brain farts the day I was supposed to be passing my range and road. I will knock those out Monday or Tuesday and go over the fence. I am one of only three people in my class still heading for USA, and I am really glad to have read Harry's stuff about his experience out there. I've always been a hard worker, and have wished for a job that will reward me for my work, not just for showing up day after day. Definitely encouraged. Thanks!

 

It helps to have a pragmatic attitude. You'll find that there is a lot of crap to put up with; funny thing is, not all of it is USA's fault. These guys haven't really done me wrong yet in the big scheme of things. Most of the stuff that has happened to me so far were things I brought on myself. Just do what you're supposed to do and try to get along with your dispatcher; those two pieces of advice have made my time here so much easier than many of the horror stories you may have heard about these guys.

 

When my 10hour break is up I go, I do that everyday! I dont wait for 1 minute to pass. After 600 minutes, GONE! It works for me. I know it does because my fleet manager called me the other day to let me know I could get early somewhere and during the conversation he told me that when my truck number and name appear on the dispatch board in Van Buren, waiting for a load or whatever, the word "runner" appears next to my name. Thats a good thing. They may not know who Harry is, however, they know that he "gets gone" in a hurry. And no matter what you hear about "first in first out dispatch of loads", the people moving the freight get the loads. I get good miles every week, but I make myself available.

As for the rumors and other stuff you hear, if your wise you will not subscribe to any of it. The USA Truck "experience" is different for every individual, custom fit for exactly how your attitude and work ethic are. Our terminals are full of knuckle heads who will tell what their problems are, who caused them and why you should be afraid, all the while forgetting to look at what is most likely the root cause...THEMSELVES!

Is it perfect here? Hell NO! But is anywhere? Anyone can make it here because USA Truck actually wants people to be successful. They invest lots of dough in development of folks so it stands to reason that they would like some ROI (return on investment). Make your own way, dont allow someone else to "pre determine" your fate by influencing you in a negative way.

 

I would hate to see what comes up beside my name lol I have a feeling its not printable in this forum.

 

I agree with you when you said about the people in the terminals telling you their complaints and etc... Some people just don't want to run (aka make money) then later they complain that they aren't getting loads and not making money... Hmm...

But not all loads you can take a 10hr break and deliver early though

 

My log always says I am legal, I have had (3) DOT inspections in as many months and no problems. Any driver will tell you, you must "squeeze" the log a little harder somedays in order to get the freight there. My log is always legal, just somedays the difference between black and purple is the tightness of the grip.

I have never been late, due to any fault of my own, weather and mechanical failure is out of a persons control. I just get there, where ever that is, as early a possible. If they take me, great. if not I am there. I went from Ft Worth to Newburgh NY in 58 hours, in a 63mph truck, 1700 miles, my log was legal and I delivered one hour early on the first drop, 1 1/2 hours early on the final drop, and it was 94 miles away in NJ. Its possible, you just have to be creative.....

 

Yeah, but when USA tells you that they get fined if you deliver early, you usually don't deliver early lol. Maybe 30-60 minutes early and thats about it.

 

Getting fined if you deliver early I have never been told that. My FM tells me all the time to get in there if I can and if they take it, great if not, wait it out. We speak on the phone routinely and he has yet to steer me wrong. The only ones that usually never take it are the Walmart/Dollar General DC loads that are live /loadunload, appointments are firm and even then 60-90 minutes is cool. All the D/H loads, even with an appointment are set up within a "window" of time so that you can get there whenever. It never hurts to try, usually you can get in there 85% of the time. To date I have hauled 57 loads for USA Truck, none late, 77% early. I track my weekly miles, loads, miles per day, gross income per week all via an excel spreadsheet I created. I know how much down time I have per day at the shipper or receiver, mechanical failures (waiting on BD or # a T/A) and time spent waiting on a new load assignment. Early on dispatch tried to tell me how great I was doing, when at first I was not, and I simply e-mailed a copy of the spreadsheet to them (my FM). Numbers do not lie so when they try to spoon feed you BS, shoot them the facts (in figures) and there is no more discussion.

Its not even the fact that I am trying to be disruptive, I just want to know exactly if this a profitable venture for me or not and the only way I know to do that is by tracking the data. Once the spreadsheet was done, its as simple as dropping the number in every couple of days and its updated, year to date. I would be glad to shoot you a copy of it if you like, it helps.


I think the deliver early and be fined thing is terminal folk lore. If someone told you that via the QC, that would be interesting to show someone in operations.