USA Truck Inc. in 2012

Doesn't your Prostar have over 500k on it already anyway? I was told by maintenance that its only the 9400s that had to be run up to 525-550 because of the deal with International. The Prostars they can dump anytime above 500k. My buddy had his put out of service at 465k due to a turbo they didn't want to replace. This KW is pushing 450k and I was told that I shouldn't have it much longer. APU is needing an overhaul anyways. Alternator is failing and I have to restart it numerous times to keep it from throwing codes and stalling.

 

I will never forget what my first USA Truck FM told me that day in Jefferson City Mo after I told her I had no suitcase to pack my clothes, nothing but a very small duffel bag. (just grab what you can and get on that bus.) Thankfully the situation got fixed and I drove 1600 out of there that next day. To this day I wonder how she would have felt leaving most of her belongings in a tractor and getting on a bus. I have spoken to several USA Truck drivers that's went through this and most tell me they never saw their stuff again. I think the crux of why I have so much bitterness toward this company is the open contempt the maintenance dept (shops and breakdown) along with some of the fleet managers and load planners have toward the drivers. If you say anything negative to breakdown they remind you of the 2600 tractors all wanting attention at that very moment in time!! If I understand it right the company will match the 401K's with the none drivers, but refuse to do so with the drivers. I could go on but I think most of you get my point, and the ones of you that don't are not worth the extra effort.

 

no mine only has 470000 miles on it which suprises me that they do not wanna replace the clutch.That is my biggest worry is getting all my stuff out of it once it reaches West Memphis.Obviously i took what i could to this motel but my rig still has alot in it

 

Well looks like I'll be hotellin it tonight somewhere in AR or east Texas. APU finally went while sitting at a dock today in Fort Worth. I can't even reset it as the display won't even come on. I've checked the fuse and it's good so must be wiring somewhere that I'm not going to mess with. Thing is, next 2-3 days I'm already preplanned on loads that take me back and forth from DFW to AR. Go figure though that the Denton terminal is only open Mon-Fri. I suspect a multi day repair on this with parts orders. It may be time to demand a new truck again lol!

 

at least it went out now and not the dead of summer.Yeah the Denton terminal is only a monday thru friday operation with a roadside service guy working on the weekends for road calls

 

Last night at Van Buren a trainer told me that they cut Vandalia maintenance down to only 1 shift. Don't know how true that is but if it is accurate then it leaves only Van Buren and West Memphis with 2 shifts. All the other terminals close now at either 4 or 5. I guess this is part of Cliff's plan to close the budget deficit. Roanoke guys told me they had laid techs off and make sure nobody is getting overtime anymore. Awesome. What they need to do with this stupid "spider web" is the same I do. Get a broom and sweep that crap out. Go back to focusing on generating new customers and do what this company was started to do. Irregular medium to long haul freight.

 

I think life as you know it for the majority of drivers there is about to change. USA Truck is hemorrhaging money right now. This can not continue for much longer. Either they return to turning a profit, go bankrupt or get bought out. There is no middle ground here. I am amazed the board is allowing that moron to stay on as President.

 

I had this feeling all of a sudden. I'm reminded of the 70s Paul Newman movie "Slap Shot.". Maybe we are the Charlestown Chiefs. Perhaps they are devaluing the company enough to fold it and take a tax loss. I'd hate that though because this really could be a great company. There have been significant personnel changes and for the first time in a while I'm hearing far more drivers praise their FMs than gripe at terminals. Maintenance continues to be an issue though. Several drivers were at Van Buren last night who had been there for 3+ days waiting on truck repairs. One had said he was there since Tuesday and his truck hadn't been fixed yet. He said he told his FM come Monday he better get handed keys to a new truck or a bus ticket home. He said he was promised a new truck assignment Monday morning. Then that trainer said they were telling his trainer class last week that USA was rolling out a new policy. If you are down for more than 3 days due to truck issues, you would get a truck reassignment. I'll love to see that. 3-5 days is average wait time when mine goes down.

 

Truck reassignment is good for many people, but I'm sure some people like the truck they are in and you can get a lot of stuff in those trucks haha. When I quit I couldn't believe how much crap I accumulated in a year and how much I could get in there and not look cluttered. The Peterbilt I'm in now has a LOT more storage then the ProStar I had with USA, but I don't have much stuff in there as I'm not really OTR .

 

i cant wait to see that policy take place.I been in this motel in Jackson Tennessee since Thursday and have not heard a word from anyone about anything