us exspress

The recruiter I talked to told me that USX is only hiring people for teams. The application papers includes a contractual agreement to work in teams or else risk being terminated. I don't have a partner to team up with and I don't trust a company to do a good job of selecting one for me. Anyone out there working for USX able to explain how they create teams?

 

I can tell you my experiences with them..

I wanted to get back on the road for awhile. Brought a young girl with me with no driving experience at all. She got thru their school as number one (of 30+) after suffering quite a lot of sex discrimination. I was on the road as a single driver for a month before I qualified for Driver Trainer.

They did mess with my c/m when I went thru orientation. I told them it was less than I was promised and they upped it.

I got the Volvo I told them I wanted - I had told them no Volvo - no working for them. It was a few years old but had the Volvo engine (much nicer than The Cummins I got in the next one) and was a nice truck but needed front wheel alignment - which took a while to get.

When I started they sicked me on short runs and after a week I told my initial DM I needed longer hauls or I'd be gone - that resulted in 1,200 - 1,600 mail haul runs - good..

Got the girl as a trainee. They kept us running pretty good, especially after she had enough time to run as a team - BUT - we often sat a day or two - usually after a cross country run..

Seems they wanted to use us for local hauling for a day after each long run - and then often the next haul took another day before we were loaded again..

After the girl left - couldn't stand being on the road 4 - 6 weeks - I actually had to threaten them with quitting before we got the week off after her upgrade to full driver status.

Then the next trainee didn't show - after they routed me to his home town and I sat there for the better part of a day waiting for him - for which I did not get paid.

The next one they sent me was more or less incapable of communicating - speaking OR writing. He told me he'd been trying to pass the test for 6 months...

After a couple of nights with him not slowing down to the speeds I wanted him to drive at - actually speeding up thru road work areas - I told USX he was out of my truck and I wanted a break from trainees..

I had a good DM - ex driver - actually a GREAT DM - funny and pleasant - he fixed it for me.. Then they took the Volvo away - said they were selling it - gave me a Columbia - new although I told them you give me anything but a Volvo and I am gone. They didn't believe me, I gave them my two weeks notice. Went on a haul with the Columbia - it broke down within 1,500 miles twice, sat for two days - no motel/hotel. Sat in waiting room at the dealer as I could not stay in the truck. Got message from DM when back on the road I needed to stop off in Okie City. When I told him I was already 50 miles beyond he said go back anyway - I need you there. I said OK..

At OK terminal I was told to clean out my truck as there was a Volvo waiting for me they had gotten in the day before.. It was to be a nice surprise "gift" from my DM - remember I told you he was a good guy - so I stayed on...

He kept me running in his fleet although it was for teams only and I basically stayed just because of him.. I am not going to bore you with the list of how many days I sat, lots - but working with him made up for the crap you get as a single driver - otherwise - read accounts of USX and you'll understand.. They are great at have you sit and at the 23rd hour they dispatch you somewhere and then you sit for another 20 before a load. That way they don't have to pay detention... Lots of stuff like that that is very frustrating to a driver - and that cuts into your take home pay.

Then there was a new mid level manager who decided I should not be in this fleet as I at the time wanted to run solo - or have a say in the trainee. He told me I was being moved out of the fleet, despite the protests of my DM. My DM told me I was the best driver in his fleet and when I had the trainee - the girl - we did better than any other team - and he had told this new manager this..

We had a three way talk - I told the new manager I would quit if he moved/forced me out of the fleet I was in. He basically was on a power trip, said he didn't believe me - besides I was a "driver" and he was the manager - in other words - to him I was just a commodity. He moved me to another FM who was an #####.

So I quit. And USX lost a #### good driver with a perfect record for years and years..

And from what I've heard, USX hasn't gotten any better - if anything much worse...

 

To start with, any company can be good or bad.

If u have high expectations they all will look bad to ya. If u know what u gettin into, you will find they all similar.

US Xpress is a good company. However there are disadvantages of learning trucking from them. They use auto shift trucks. Which means u will learn how to be a good "Steer wheel holder" And u will have hard time to be accepted by another company since u have no clue about downshifting.

I know a couple guys, who are not happy with US Xpress, but scared to leave because they are scared to drive a stick gear truck. All they learnt and know is to hold the steering wheel, and look at blind side on a monitor.

You can not drive forever for big companies like that. They DO NOT PAY. They are only good to learn and gain some experience. If there is any big company driver out there, who thinks he is making good money, i can prove them that they are wrong. Take the money out that is spent for being OTR, and simply divide your paycheck (after tax) to the hours you worked (actual hours, not the ones you log) You will find yourself making much less than a CAB DRIVER who is at home everyday and mostly have 2 days off each week

So shortly, for starting, if i were you i wouldnt try to find which one is comfy, but which one will give u more skills that you will need in the near future

NOTE: I forgot to mention about teamdriving, most of the good PAYING companies WILL NOT ACCEPT team driving as experience. They will ask your SOLO experience. Keep that in mind unless you wanna remain teamdriver for the rest of your life.

 

The recruiters who came to our school didn't have their act together,, and when they told us that they would be keeping $.02/mile to pay us our tuition reembursment, we all laughed them out the door. Besides who wants to drive an automatic?

 

Was there any range training during orientation? What did the Test Drive consist of?

 

OK, I used to recruit for USXpress. I left for many reasons, but the main reasons were: 1) They want us to tell drivers ANYTHING to get them in. 2) They screwed over 2 O/O's that I was working with. One of them (a husband and wife team) had to sell their truck.

Where do you get this 15% garbage? There is no such stat. Here is an actual stat. When I worked there (during good freight times) solo OTR's averaged 2200-2300 miles a week. They will take ANYONE that can fog a mirror. USX is one level above Swift in the food chain. From what I have seen, one company is as good or as bad as any other company. Some are worst at other.

Now about your business model analysis. I have a B.S. in Business Administration and I have to say: What the h*** are you talking about? Do you have access to the sales and accounting data to judge whether each companies business models are working?

Don't BS folks on here. There are newbies like me that are looking for companies to drive for that will fit our pay and hometime desires. We don't need someone to spew false info to sway someone to any company. I don't know if you are a recuiter or not. If you are them I probably know you. If not then enjoy your life driving for USX.

 

Who would want to drive as a team with a stranger ?

 

I am sorry to hear (vols021) that U.S.X. did not work out for you. You must have had some good experiences with them to some degree in order to become a recruiter for them.

I would be interested to know what you think the stats actually are regarding the recruitment numbers. You seem to display some type of educated knowledge in this area and, since you did recruit for them, you would be privy to this information, correct? Keeping in mind, of course, of how the job market has changed over the past few months. My information does come from company staff.

As a 34 year veteran of administrative experience, I find the level of your response unusual for a person with your reported background While I do not "judge" much of anything or anyone, I do have more than enough experience to base an opinion on business organization. I do not need another transportation company in which to compare what I have observed.

I simply state the facts for what they are, facts. Without getting into more detail, my professional background has always leaned that direction and I see no reason to alter sticking with the facts. No one ever knows everything there is to know about ANY company, no matter who they are or what they do. You find out those things after you come aboard and then make your own conclusions. However, with respect to newbies, my wife and I did a great deal of research in many areas and of many truck companies that hire newbies, and U.S. Xpress came out on top. As a former recruiter for this company, that should come as no surprise to you.

Thank you for your comments.

 

3 days of orientation isn't enough to make an accurate judgement of a company. I don't believe orientation is much different than talking to a recruiter. My recruiter didn't tell me about the $.02 for tuition reimbursement, which my dumb@$$ bought into for the convience (which, as it turns out, my mileage was low enough that I actually profitted from it). The recruiter also won't tell you that it costs another penny per mile to take the per diem option. The recruiter will tell that your FM will never need to ask your truck number. Bull. My FM ONLY asked for my truck number. In fact, it was the guys in the breakdown department that would ask truck number, then confirm your name, then use said name during the conversation, as opposed to just calling you driver.

But anyway, you're singing their praises, having not even gotten bent over behind the wheel. You're all psyched about the promises they're making, so was I. Just wait until you get on the road and find out most (if not all) of those promises were empty.

And what's this crap about having to go back to Miami to get a note from your doctor? I have a hard time believing they'll pay your transit like that. Does your doctor not have a fax machine? That's what I had to do. I didn't even get paid for my travel to orientation. Recruiter said you could bring your spouse to orientation, and that it would be the best decision of your career. Yeah, maybe as far as they are concerned. My wife came with so I had to pay my own way to Ohio (6 hour drive), all so she can just sit in the driver's lounge as I went thru class stuff. I was quite firmly told that she wasn't allowed to be anywhere but the lounge. So they basically talked me into taking her so they wouldn't have to pay my bus ticket. Recruiter said she would be with me to help make all those important decisions about insurance and whatnot. Turns out I wasn't even allowed to talk to her during all that crap.

My point is this: You can't say anything about how great it is to work for USX when you HAVEN'T EVEN BEEN HIRED YET!