USX drivers...how's your day??

Good on the hometime. I am going to make it home tomorrow one day late as well. Sitting inMarkham waiting for the PU time to go home.

 

I must have missed the opportunity to meet you Buffalo, we've been sitting in Markham since Monday. UUUGGHH!!! I need to figure out how to know who's where and when so I can meet some of you in person. I suppose I may already have and just not know it.

Since my last post, we picked up a load outside of Chicago on Monday that was bound for Laredo which we would have loved to do, but we decided getting Patty's upgrade done on Tuesday was way more important so we did a terminal transfer in Markham. I figured I would put the truck in the shop to get a couple little things fixed, but of coarse that turned into a nightmare because it ended up having to go to the dealer, but we have made the best of the downtime and managed to make some money too.

Patty passed her upgrade test, so we are now a team and I made $350 trainer bonus out of that, I also gave the road tests for the other upgrades for some extra money. On day 2 and 3 of just sitting around doing nothing, the shop manager asked us if we wanted to do some tractor recoveries for him which of coarse we did as its a relatively easy way to make a few extra bucks, especially with 2 people because one drives the tractor and one drives the shop truck and we both get paid. Between the two of us we got paid for 12 recoveries in 2 days. All said and done with the upgrade bonus and all the other little things we did here, we managed to make around $850 and got 4 nights in the motel plus whatever, if any, breakdown pay they decide to give us for when the truck was in the shop.

Oh, I also found 6 scale tickets that I forgot to send Mac 7's on, so I never got reimbursed for them. One phone call to driver payroll straightened that all out, and I'll try to never forget the Mac 7 again!

Right now were still hanging out here in Markham waiting to go pick up our first official team load, a Fedex load from East Moline, IL bound for West Sacramento, CA.

Yay!

 

Well, I seem to be a day late and a dollar short these days, but if you're still in Markham, so am I.

 

I'm headed to Chicago From Larado not due to deliver till
sunday 6am. Going to ask for a drop number at markham
and try to get a team load west. wish we could get to Ca.
Can't complain though 3,000 miles since my Upgrade Wed
afternoon. life is good!

 

Hello to some of the regulars:
NoCoCraig...adkhunter...ATL-1...RebelChick....vinsanity....Jeremyc....flood...AMT....silverton...
Dareallyst...truckinfroggy...Tomegg...Sheepdog...D33RHUNT3R....musicgal....Wedge. A BIG THANK YOU to all of you for helping me in my research via your posts & giving me the reassurance that USX is the right place for me.

I know some of you know me from some post on other topic boards, but seeing this is the "main" topic board for USX just wanted to say "Hello" to the rest of you. I just got done reading through all the post here so I am all caught up. You could right a great book on USX from all the discussions. I have chatted with Craig and Anne by phone already....super nice...but I know you all know that already . I am a real newbie since I won't be applying to USX until the end of the year but I believe in starting early so I come fully prepared and know exactly what to expect when I go to orientation and beyond.

I currently live in San Diego, CA which is where I am from but will be moving to Gallatin, TN in November to move in with my best friend of over 30 years. The good part is that he is a truck driver and has been doing so for over 12 years now. We have talked many times over the past 5 years or so about me getting into the industry and teaming up together. He has told me that if USX hires me he will come join me there right after my road training so I can do my 8 weeks with him and then just continue on as a team at the higher pay rate. I feel so lucky to have a team driver that I know I will get along with....we are like brothers me and him. We don't smoke or drink and are both clean organized people with great hygiene. It is going be a huge comfort to have someone with 12 years experience with me to help me through the challenges i will face out there.

I of course will reach out to all of you when it comes to USX specific issues as they will be new to both him and I. From what I have read we have some very helpful people here that are quick to respond to any concerns or questions new drivers have.

If you don't mind I would like to take the time I have to get to know you guys by reading your posts and responding where appropriate. I of course would only offer advice that would be just passing along what other people working for USX have posted in the past that I remember reading.

I hope that any of you that get out my way (San Diego or even areas around Ontario,CA) will let me know as I would love to meet you and see your truck....I will even buy you breakfast, lunch, or dinner for 2 for taking some of your down time to chat with me.

I am so ready to get out there...just sucks I have to wait another 5 months.

Here is my six phase plan as it stands today:

1.) Sell my home which has a cash offer and should sell by the end of Sept.

2.) Start my CDL school out here in San Diego at the end of August beginning of Sept (about a month away) and paying cash ($4300), but they give a discount for doing so. I think I read that USX does not require you to be hired within 30 days of completing your schooling. Can someone confirm this?. I think I heard it was within 18 months..but that doesn't seem right. I know most companies say after 30 days you have to take a refresher course.

3.) Finish CDL school at the end of Sept. Then I move out of my home and ship my stuff back to my friends home and go move into a Extended Stay for the month of October. The reason for this is I have to get surgery done to improve my hearing in my left ear which I of course want to do before I go to orientation so I make sure I pass the hearing test. It takes about three weeks for me to heal up even though the surgery only takes 15 minutes to do and go home the same day (Outpatient).

4.) After that at the beginning of November..... its hop in my new Toyota Yaris that gets 38 mpg with one suitcase and my laptop in the back and my four-legged co-pilot Phoebe my 6 pound Papillon and its its off to the wonderful state of Tennessee and the home state of USX HQ. I will be about two hours north of USX HQ just outside of Nashville.

5.) I will then spend the next two months getting my residency (which I hear is a big pain in the butt) and then I have to surrender my CA drivers license to get my TN drivers license with my endorsements transferred over as well (Class A, Triples, Doubles, Tanker) but I've been told I will have to do the Hazmat all over again. My school offers it as part of the cost, so I might as well get it so I can at least see what the test is all about....although I have heard that it may be totally different for TN than CA.

6.) After I get those two things done then I will take the rest of the time to finish getting settled in my new home and take a few trips out to get my bearings of the area and see some of the sights and sounds. I love live music, so looking forward to checking out Nashville since its real close. I'm also hoping to ride with my friend on one of his weekly runs, so I can start getting used to what it will be like running team with him. His company does have a rider program but not sure if they allow holders of a CDL to do so. I have read USX doesn't allow it but not sure if that is a company policy or a DOT policy. He will however take my dog out with him while I do my road training since they do allow pets in the truck.

Well that is my big intro and my game plan and timelines that all leads up to my orientation. Thank you for taking the time to read my post...sorry it was so long....and feel free to check in with me at any time, but I will try and give some updates as I get through each phase leading up to heading for Tunnel Hill.

The Diceman

 

Sounds like you got everything all planned out diceman! Good luck to you and have fun throughout the process. Hope to see ya out here sometime!


Well idk about the rest of ya but man o man has this week been a rough one. Been stuck with short runs and all of them have been late to PU and late to DEL so it's caused alot of frustration this week. Made more miles solo than I am teaming right now! Trying to stay positive though! I am thinking about switching over to the dollar general dedicated acct. not a fan of unloading trailers but I hear there's good money to be made at it and home weekly. Those two things spark major interest! Lol. Anyone know much about the dollar general acct? I haven't ran into any drivers that run it do I haven't been able to ask how they like it or if it's true that the money is there to be made.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend and a safe one!

 

Sounds like a good plan diceman. Remember to have your friend put you down for a referral bonus when he applies.

 

E. Molone to Sac is a great run. We do that one quite often. There is also one to Hermiston, Or. that is nice as well.

 

It will get better for you guys. I always hate the week before going home because you have to wait for just the right runs to get you there. Plus you guys are a new team so they want to make sure you can work together.

 

Can someone tell me what States are in the Midwest region?