us express

We were company drivers at USX until last November and switched over to O/O with a sister company. We are currently switching to a new company. Had a great experience with USX but want the ability to book our own loads.

 

(Trying to make sure I keep posts in the right area... I'm East Coast so this thread is as good as any)

I'm heading to Shippensburg, PA for orientation this weekend... Begins on Monday but check in at the hotel is any time after 3pm on Saturday.. on Sunday Morning there is a Pre Road-Test. First time I've heard of that but I don't mind getting to it right off the bat. The hotel rooms are paired up in twos with students, but you can request a single room when checking in instead and pay for the cost (or part of the cost depending on what the actual price is). I'm told it is $29.75 a day. I have no problem taking care of costs like that when it comes to keeping yourself relaxed in the evenings. The benefits in my opinion warrant the expenditure - You can go to bed anytime you want and not have anyone to race in the mornings getting a shower. And frankly, you don't have to worry about your roommate being a severely annoying or scary individual with Kleptomaniac tendencies.

Pay during training amounts to $406 a week... you get Breakfast and Lunch but have to cover your own Dinners of course.. and once you get your 1st truck you start out with a rate of .31 cpm if you're going Solo and have Hazmat like myself. Driving with a trainer is 120 hours of course, and for us East Coast students as well there's a mandatory 8 weeks of "Dumb-n-Dumber" teaming to do before you're allowed to go solo with your 1st truck... no worries, I figure it's only 8 weeks and hopefully everyone gets to know their classmates well enough to organize a decent team on your own without getting thrown together with a complete stranger. Plus you do your time... it's not like your obligated for a year or something. My thoughts, as long as you keep a positive attitude with everything and make friends with as many people as you can (especially dispatch) then it won't be that bad at all. I personally believe a job is as stressful as you make it.. (I was a Marine Rifleman, so anything else is cake) Learn to Relax and take your time and don't freak out when challenges arise. Enjoy your life, stay happy and appreciate the view.

 

My husband just finished the 3 day orientation with USX and so far he's content. After the 3rd day they put him in his own truck since he had experience. No riding with trainers or refresher courses and he got a 2012 truck that was clean and trust that my husband is picky when it comes to clean. They did pay for the hotel but you have a room mate or if you pay 25 bucks out your pocket you can upgrade to your own room.

 

If your looking for a none sliding scale don't join us xpress otr,join total!!!

 

I drove for Crete 2 years solo and team. I liked driving or them solo better than team. Dispatch for team ran us like nutcases the miles were good but it was too exhausting. Crete had its issues too, pay increases are steady bu the types of runs and miles get worse as the pay gets higher. Then if you get offered a dedicated run it always comes with a pay decrease... That's always a bummer. Who wants to make less money for being a good enough driver they can trust for dedicated? When I drove solo the dispatch was awesome, it ran very smooth never had any timing issues and got exactly 2500-2700 miles a week.

Anyway we are starting with usxpress soon out of tunnel hill i hope we will like them.

 

If you have a good attitude I think you will like USX for teams. Great equipment, good pay and lots of miles. As experienced drivers get a nice recuiting bonus also.
Best of luck.

 

I leased for USX for several years back around 2001 and found they were very good to me. I had no problems with pay or days off and my dispatcher would send me anywhere I wanted to go and I was told that having a good dispatcher was the key to good running. They did make me stop one time because I ran for 19 hours without a rest so I covered up my Q-com and trucked on, they had a long talk with me and that was it. I've got a super lease now but if need be I would go back to USX without thinking.

 

My husband starts orientation tomorrow. He has experience so I assume he will get his own truck. Praying this is a good company to work for. I am very nervous about it after some of the things I have read.