U.S. Express Orientation be prepared

I am thinking about getting back out there on the road since my kids are all grown now. I was thinking about going with USX am I making a good choice?

 

I worked for USX until i Retired may 2009. I also have thought about going back to Driving. I would go back with USX again if I decide to get back in the seat. Hope that helps you. They aren't perfict but not many are.

 

BY and large I am happy at USX. There has been a little issue that has popped up. some of my fellow USXrs may have also noticed. When the company bought Arnold, they integrated their load planners into the USX load planning dept and it seems at the same time shifted more control away from the FMs and into the LPs. This has resulted in some issues most notably in home time. My last three HT have been a battle. 10 weeks ago I was due HT for court. At the last minute I was dispatched away, and thsi resulted in being late (2 hrs) for a court date. I was charged with contempt and fined $150.00. I won the case but.... then this last week I was within 80 miles of home, due HT and yes you guessed it. LP sent me a load that would have made mew late again. I absolutely could not be late (hard won visitation with my 13 year old). The ex would have canceled it if I was one minute late. I turned off the Driver Tech and dead headed home. Load planners care about moving freight. Period. I have a great FM. He does a great job for me, but the FMs can no longer even work with the LP's to get a driver home. The LP's could care less. I hope this is just a temporary teething issue with the LP's, but HT is suffering. Oh, BTW I got charged a dollar a mile for my little DH home stunt. Worth every dollar, but I shouldn't have been put in that position.
Regards, Max

 

I would still recommend USX to someone getting back into trucking after an absence, but be aware of a couple of things: The "New England Vortex" that I mentioned in my previous post, and secondly: Lease drivers, Owner-Operators, and teams get priority. Company drivers get the leftovers (most of which are in the Northeast). Unless you can lease or team or bring your own truck, USX is not an especially good deal, especially in those oversized Peterbilts they're using now, which are far less maneuverable than the good ol' Volvos and Freightliners they used to use.

 

My husband and I just started driving for USX, and would agree with most points about them. They're a large company, their orientation isn't the most organized, and the Arnold acquisition has caused a bit of chaos.

It's true that the pecking order for loads goes Lease/Owner-op, Team, Solo. We've found this out being team, and it really stinks for my hubby since I hurt my shoulder and am on light duty at a terminal right now.

The load planners and fleet managers are NOT communicating hardly at all (if at all) at the moment. We were in PA with a load (a crappy load, but a load nonetheless) and our FM had got us there so we could start heading home to VT (we were in CA and ran to VA then PA) but then the load planners at night decided we were supposed to go to Texas...luckily for us there was a communication failure with the night guys and we ended up having to park at a drop yard for the night, otherwise they wanted us to keep running everywhere. Our FM took care of it all in the morning and had us pickup the load and repower it. Yay.

Most cases, as a solo driver you're unfortunately going to be stuck with a used vehicle, although the oldest truck we've seen was 5 or 6 years...and they were only at the terminal to get switched to a new truck. They're weeding out the Volvo's and Century class FL's right now and going to almost all Peterbuilt's and Cascadia's. Thankfully, my height makes it so that my hubby and I had to get a Cascadia as they tend to give teams brand new trucks (and we're NOT complaining about our 2012 Cascadia!)

 

No solo with over 1 year of experience should ever work for USX. Why? You are there to help the lease and teams make money and run rail freight to and from rail yards. I worked for this outfit for almost 7 years and when the went to using the rails my 2800 mile runs turned into 500 mile runs if I was lucky. When you did get a run that could not go on the rail they would let you run it out of the city and then want you to swap it out to a team and go deliver their load.I went from doing 8-10 loads a month to 18-22 a month for less miles. My last year I ran local out of Kent Wa only because I was on my way to SLC to quit. But then they closed the SLC term and pink slipped my load plnr and Colton fired me for pattern of confrontation with mng.

Prospective solo drivers also may want to know that there is no vacation at USX. You get paid like 60 bucks a day for vacation pay but have to turn in your truck and take a leave of absence to take vacation time off. And the truck has to be dropped at a term and not a yard. So if you are from the west coast you have Colton and thats it. If you get hurt lumping their dollar general loads they force you onto light duty at a term or get canned, which means you get to live out of a hotel if you live to far away.

They also have forced dp which means as a solo driver you will become well versed in driving in New England doing short runs. They also have these loads where they want you on standby at the shipper all day in case they get a airfreight load in. They always over book which means you could spend from 0900 to midnight on standby and then told no load.

They fired me on a Mon I was in orientation for IDC on wed and made a grand getting 2 USX teams that I knew to come over to IDC 3 months later. They went from a stripped out Volvo 780 to brand new Volvo 780's that are O/O spec. I told IDC why USX canned me after 7 years safe driving awards and 1 driver of the quarter and they where not concerned and knew USX's rep in the industry.

USX also runs one of the highest debt to income ratio's in the industry. Which is why they are always looking for ways to cut costs by getting drivers to rent trucks and calling them O/O- running a driver training mill and opening and closing yards all the time and using rail whenever possible.

 

I agree with solos being used as a shuttle runner for teams! They have always been like that. As far as new England, you couldn't be anymore right, they get you up there & run in circles up there. They have always seemed very disorganized in Chattanooga.

 

I just want to recomend checking your DAC report once a year, besides it is free and it will serve you good to keep everything in order and if you find any discrepancies you have the right to challenge it, just in case a Trucking Co post some negative stuff about you and at least you'll know for your next trucking job what's in your DAC report.- For some of you this may be of interest, USIS Commercial services, Inc. was the company handling DAC reports, now the name is change to HireRight Solutions, Inc. and you can do a web search using this name, also you can call them for more info. 800-322-9651, I always check on mine if I quit a trucking company, just to verify the information.- this is my 2 cnts.

 

This is the Report a Bad Section for Companies, Fortunately there will always be companies like Covenant and US Express ( Cousins ) that will always need Drivers. It is easier finding work with a Mega Carrier than you would think. No Experience seems to be a Plus, for the Obvious reasons. My overal impression with the Quality of the Equipment is 5 out of 5 because they turn in trucks back to the Leasing Company every 3 to 4 years. Since the Pay is Scaled to length of haul, it all depends on how you like to run, Shorter runs pay more but require more stops. They only use Teams on Coast to Coast and Solo's for East and Mid West. The Drivers I have seen are freindly and seem content driving for them. I am sure there are a few whiners who boast some terrific Horror Story.

I picked up a little book at the TA Truck Stop in Coachella, Ca today and it had all the same companies advertising as they did 4 years ago. What does that tell you? The Economy is picking up and freight is steady, and the Mega Fleets are over-booked as usual with lots of Hot loads ....

All the Trucking Companies are the Same! Only the Names on the Trucks are Different. It is driver Preference, Like Mac D Vs the Whopper! Either one will do the trick.

 

You put in sometime because you have a doctors appointment that has been scheduled for over a month they knew about it and the day before your appointment they want you to be in Vermont when your doctor is in mobile Alabama that's a three day ride in these slow trucks and with the HOS regulations but they say I can make it on time this is stupid I would never recommend anyone work for this company I have never been home on time with them I have always been a week late getting there