Usa trucks...1month in solo

Try to avoid taking your truck to a terminal for service on a Friday. You will more than likely not have another load assignment until Sunday or Monday.

 

I go for orientation on 5/23 in Ohio. Just got done with C1 yesterday. So far all my dealings with USA have been very good. Looking through my info I don't see anything about the Phase 1 or 2. What is the difference. What are you doing different in those 'Phases'?

 

Well I left USA yesterday after finding another driving job for a family run company.

I sent my Qualcom resignation message and offered to take the truck to the Chicago terminal which is only about 70 minutes from my house. They sent me a reply asking me to drive it 5 hours to Vandalia, OH to which I refused. So then they call me to ask if I can pick up a load on my way to the Chicago Terminal. Again, I reminded them that I was done and would not pick up a load.

The picking up a load is their sly way of tricking you into "load abandonment" on your DAC.

They did ask why I was leaving but didn't really seem to care or offer anything to try to get me stay. This after I've never picked up or delivered early. I have no bad DOT inspections, traffic violations or accidents.

Good luck with USA.

 

miles and the truck were fairly rare things esp from usa. i have heard there has been alot of changes in the management dept. recently. keep in mind so far what you have said is a rare thing.
have they slowed down their orientation? as i know of students that had to wait weeks to get a trainer. due to the fact usa only had 25 trainers to go around and were pushing out 100 new people from orientation a week.

most new drivers get the 9400i with 300 to 400k on them. trade in is at 525k or at least it was a short time ago.

if usa doesn't mess with you during your 1st 6 mnths... look for it in your 2nd 6 mnths (during the first year). they want you to quit. good luck with your hometime also. something your f/m doesn't understand (the fact you want to go home from time to time).

Glad they did get you home for the fam emergency (not something always done) though this could go hand in hand with the management changes also.

 

phase 1 just means you are a trainee and both you and the trainer are on duty.

phase 2 means you completed your required 50 hrs and show sufficient skills in handling the truck, haven't crashed it, and the trainer is comfortable enough to upgrade you to 2nd seat.
in which you will now run as a team 24/7 until you get the required 175 total hours for you to go to vandalia (headr they were testing out here now) or van buren for your final testing to upgrade you to first seat aka solo driver in your own truck.

 

2 days to get a truck fixed.. yeah that is normal even during the week. shoot a week at a time is normal also. usa only has 1 licensed mechanic on duty per shift. rest are trainees. DO NOT go to vandalia to get truck worked on. they will say it was fixed.. a quick patch job may or may not have been done.. but generally the issue wasn't fixed unless it was changing tires. expect alot of issues with the apu or icon and good luck getting it fixed correctly EVER.
hear it is policy now that unless the issue with the trucks are a major dot or safety issue the shop will not fix the truck. to the point even if you manage to get a work order made up to get truck fixed, the person in charge of that shift will rip the work order up and place it in file 13; while you are standing there.

usa has at minimum 10 to 25 drivers in their terminals sitting on their rears. or did have. for days to weeks on end.

 

Don't want fleet 44 or fleet 34 either. will be nice and not mention the individuals names in here. not that i care either way as i was smart and got the heck away from them and the company.

 

I meant that I never delivered or picked up late. Guess I should have had another cup of coffee before writing this post...LOL!

I guess the thing that annoyed me the most is the lack of follow through on managements part. I asked to be switched to another fleet manager three times with no results.

Also, how can they get you home 5 days late every time your due home? Especially when I live in Southwest Michigan. My house is 5 minutes from I-94 and 20 minutes from the Indiana Toll Road.

One time in particular I was out for three weeks. During my second week I spent the whole week running Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin. Driving within 30 minutes of my house 8 times. The next week when I'm due home that coming Friday, they couldn't get me near my home. Sorry, but that just seems fishy to me.

Every time I'd leave the house I'd plan on being out three weeks and it would end up being almost four weeks. I completely understand the nature of the trucking business, but don't promise drivers hometime and then never deliver on that promise.