Driving OTR with US Xpress

Hi all,

I have some questions that may have been covered already.
My questions: (from those who have lived it)
How long is orientation?
What is the orientation pay?
How long would I run with a trainer?
What is the pay while with a trainer?
I understand I would have to team for 6 months.
What is the team pay rate?
What is the solo rate.
I know website say's as far as the "up to" pay, what is realistic?
How many miles can I expect? (I know this is a difficult question to answer accurately, ball park figure is OK).
I'm a recent CDL school graduate.
I have my T and X endorsements.
I hope to change my status from student to driver 0-1 sometime this month.
Sorry for so many questions, I am down to the wire on 3 different company offers.
Thank you all for taking time to read and respond.

 

1.orientation is 3 days long.
2. Orientation pay is $58 a day and you will get the same while your out with a trainer
3. Figure on 3 weeks with a trainer. Could be a little less or even a little longer. No set length of time. It just goes by when you get to 120 or 150 hrs of BTW drive training.
4. Who told you it was 6 months of teaming???? They were dead wrong. It's only 8 weeks. So 2 months not 6. And that's only if you want to be a OTR driver. If you want to run a dedicated acct you do 150hrs of training and go solo after that. 5. Team rate after all training including the 8 weeks is .48 cpm WITH Hazmat. I think it's .44 cpm without. Solo rate I believe is .36 cpm? .38 cpm with hazmat? Someone chime in and correct me if I'm wrong there cause I think I might be
6. You can expect anywhere from 3000 to 7000 miles a week as a team. Some weeks are killer some not so much. Solo will be anywhere from 1500 to 3000. I think solos average 2300. And teams average 5000.


I think I answered everything. I tired at least lol. Good luck driver.

 

Thank you for the info adkhunter.
Much appreciated.
My mistake on the 6 months teaming, that's with Covenant.
Down to the wire between Schneider, Covenant, and USX.
I have to decide this week.

 

Solo otr pay is going to be lower than .36-.38, its going to be more in the .30-.32 range. Dedicated will be different depending on the account, plus unload pay.

 

I have not started driving yet with USX, but was told by two separate recruiters that after your training your start pay (recent graduates) for solo is .34 cpm + .01 cpm if you have Hazmat. I spoke with the last recruiter just a month ago so I assume that is the current per mile rate. I'm sure someone who just went solo after training will be able to confirm this.

The Diceman

 

Solo is a sliding pay scale, you will probably NOT average .34

 

More like .25 a mile!

So, got into my new truck. 2012 pete extremely small truck. The bunk is as small as the upper bunk in my cascadia. Midrise. No, my husband will NOT be able to ride with me in this one. I asked outbound in Lexington wtf? Was told just because you have a rider doesn't mean you can have a truck that they can actually ride with you in. Ok, so why am I paying $ 27 a month if I can't even fit what little I have into this truck?

 

I would go to covenant only if the other two wouldn't hire you. Covenant is a pretty shady outfit.

 

Schneider is actually my first choice.
They have me scheduled for tanker orientation on the 23rd of this month.
I'm here checking other options and getting the opinions of those with knowledge of the business.
Two of my instructors recommended tankers but others suggested that just learning the ropes of day to day driving was tough enough without the added headaches of pulling a can.

 

What is the 27 for?