Usa pay scale etc..

When I was there a year ago they offered perdiem. It was not forced. I didn't pay a tractor deposit. Not for company drivers. But when I left I scrubbed the inside of the tractor with 409 from top to bottom. My wife and I cleaned it up good. They didn't complain any. I think the guy in Denton freaked out on how clean it was. Hope this helps.

 

I do know,a year ago, when I was with USA....me and 2 other guys from CDL school ALL went through orientation together. EVERYBODY'S experience at USA is different.....but 2(me included) opted OUT of perdiem. The other guy took it. Well me and the other guy, that didn't take perdiem didn't get anything for miles. But the guy that took perdiem had runs that were 1000 or greater once a week. He was raking in miles. Then, I think it was around April/May last year he got off of it and watched his miles fall drastically! As Klatu said, they don't FORCE perdiem on you....don't know how they treat drivers on/off perdiem NOW, as I've been gone from them almost a year ago....but they don't have any kind of "tractor deposit", like CR England does. You pass your driving test, you get issued a tractor, FREE! Just don't wreck the #### thing! haha

 

Wow. I guess I need to opt for perdiem so my 2400 miles a week average will go up.

It comes down to your dispatcher and load planners. Be on time and no whining and youll get miles.

Perdiem thru the company will scr ew you over in the long run. If I thought I was getting shorted miles because of it id leave. Ill never do it notr work where its forced. The fact some companies force it should tell you everything you need to know. (Most of that info is for those who dont know and may read this thread)

it will short your ss, unemployment, short and long term disability, give you less borrowing power for a house or car, etc.

Yes youll get a bigger paycheck but youll get the same at the rnd of the year on your tax return.

So to answer your question finally lol

No forced per diem and no truck deposit.

Sent from somewhere out there

 

i been working here since 2007 and am not on per diem and trust me per diem on or off of it has nothing to do with you getting miles.There is not a conspiracy at this company to keep anyone from getting miles.The company makes money when these rigs are moving so why would they ever not want a person getting miles? If a person isnt getting miles 99 percent of the time its because the individual does not warrant getting miles due to any number of reasons. Too many drivers at this company find reasons not to run.I was at Van Buren this weekend and ran into a driver that i run into frequently and it was the same old same old.Griping about everything in the book and finding reasons not to run which equals no miles

 

Could it possibly have been the constantly negative attitude that's always displayed in this forum that affected the miles??? Per diem has nothing to do with your miles.
Always having something negative to say about USA? Is it a personal grudge or are you a paid heckler from another company?

 

I haven't been on per diem at all in 2 years. They have asked me to switch before but I always turn it down. They show you the difference on your pay stub and if you do the MAC 20 to see your pay for the week. Its negligible at best on mine. For example, last week's MAC 20 returned a result something like this for me: $745.43 and would have been $751.27 on per diem. I'm laying in the bunk and too lazy to play with the QC right now to get exact figures but its generally about like that. I get it all back at the end of the year anyways so I'd rather have that to count on than $5 or $6 extra each pay period.

No truck escrow accounts or deposits for company drivers. However, I have heard in regards to what Klatu said, that if you return a truck thats trashed or abandon one, they do reserve the option to take out of your last check for it. Thats why its best to leave on good terms, or whenever possible, to return your truck at a terminal and have an inspection sheet done with a service manager or similar.

I also want to note that I met Thomas0810 today at Conagra in Fort Worth and it was a great experience meeting somebody from the forum. We had the exact conversation regarding miles almost verbatim to this. Although there are crappy FMs out there, the number of them has thinned greatly. My FM tells me that her performance evaluations are directly related to her fleet's production on a weekly basis and they are putting immense pressure on the FMs to keep the trucks moving. Those that still complain about not getting enough miles, IMHO, are doing something wrong. Either you are failing to communicate (i.e. ETAs to shipper/receiver), you are not doing your part in maintaining your truck, or you are just dragging and wasting time doing non work related things. I'm working on a recap every day and last week I was having days where I had to shut down at 1300 and 1400 with several hundred miles left to go simply due to lack of hours on the 70. There are miles to be had so nobody should be just getting unfairly screwed. A great majority of the fleet is new or newer trucks now as well so we shouldn't be having significant problems with breakdowns anymore either.