Stay Away From Usx!!!

Amen!!! Preach on sister!!! You are 100% correct.

 

Pardon me, but I have to call shenanigans. Having started with USX myself at the Tunnel Hill, GA terminal (NOT Dalton BTW; Dalton is where the hotel is ) I know for a fact most of what you say is garbage.....You most certainly are NOT escorted by a security guard at all times when at the Chattanooga office..that's a total crock of B.S.! I've been there countless times. You're pretty much free to go anywhere in the building you want....provided it's somewhere drivers are allowed to be.

As far as the shower situation goes...that is nobody's fault but YOURS! How can you possible blame USX for you not showering??? Sure there will be days here and there that a shower just isn't an option...but those are few are far in between.

And pardon me, but isn't running hard part of the job? Even more so if you're a team! You say you made the company a lot of money; I'm sure you did. My question is this: Did you not make a lot of money yourself??

Lastly, EVERYBODY knows NOT to drive if you're tired. That's a simple one, if you're tired DON'T drive! If your DM tries to "make" you simply contact safety....they will put a stop to it at once.

 

I don't know anything about US Xpress, so I can't argue for or against them. But I have to call BS on a couple of your complaints.
The shower situation. I've run team, and I've run hard as a solo driver. NEVER have I been so pinched for time that I can't shower or stop for a decent meal. Sure there are times when you become overdue for a little soap and water....that happens.
And for my favorite whiner point..."My DM made me do it".....gimme a freakin break. Your dispatcher was riding shotgun holding a gun to your head huh? I get so sick of people saying that. If the weather's nasty/you're too tired to safely drive/you're out of hours/etc....grow a pair and stand up for yourself. Your DM didn't make you do anything....you allowed him/her to push you into it. And who's posterior would be in a sling if something had happened and someone died as a result of "your DM making you do it"? Not your DM's.

 

We drive as a team and are o/o. We difinately know what its like to run hard for a company and be treated like dirt. We run compliant and it infuriates me to think others are still not doing that.

My question is this; your running 7000 - 8000 miles weekly. How are you logging that? Even as a team you are out of hours at some point. Why would anyone do that?
Drivers ALL companies could care less about you. When you drive over your hours, or even log falsely you are taking responsibility not only your safety but the safety of others. Let's say you get into an accident and you are over just 30 min on your log. There is a fatality in this accident and you are not the cause of it. The other vehicle caused this accident. Did you know just because you are over on your hours you can be held accountable for the fatality? It doesn't matter that the car crossed the medium and hit you head on. Had you logged right you may have not been there because you would have been stopped somewhere sleeping.
When I hear how drivers run without rest, not eating, not showering, this just make me furious. You do not have the right to put others lives in your hands. I don't care if the company tells you they will fire you. There are laws that protect you.
RUN COMPLIANT!!! It's your responsibility to do this, lives are in your hands with that 80,000 bomb you steer. Maybe what we really need here is for drivers who have been in accidents, and had their logs over on hours. There is not one piece of freight anyplace that is worth taking the chance of losing my cdl and everything we have worked so hard to get. I can't think of one company I would like to go to jail for.
Run compliant you are the one that will be held accountable for your actions not the company you work for.

Just so that we get this straight and so that everyone knows what southernraven said is correct.
You can go to usx web site click on Ga and this will tell you that before you arrrive you are to call them making an appointment.
I also take southernraven's word about having security take the drivers around.
Many companies are having do that now because of threats that have been made against their dispatchers. lol sorry about the laugh!
Anyway I think someone owes southernraven an apology.....

 

I have to agree with OTRL here on a point............

I am a trainer for a company running teams and looking at the math.......
I don't see how the 2 of you can run 7-8k miles a week legally............hhmmmm

I encourage my students not to let what f/m's say about a load.....IE if you are out of hours or tired.............You should thank your lucky stars something tragic has not happened yet.........

I would like to know how you have done it, so I can show my students how to do it legally....

 

The reality is most who say "the DM told me to" are actually running illegal because of their own greed. With all the safety reviews and pressure on the industry from outsiders, companies are not out there telling people to run hours over time. The only times I had a Swift dispatcher (night, not my regular DM) tell me to work outside of hours had to do with dock work after my hours were out. Even then there can be a problem if you back into something or over someone.

People log illegal because they feel "the sooner I get the load there the sooner I can get a new one and that is more money in my pocket." Problem is one accident can take more money out of your pocket than all the extra money you made. Worse yet is living with the fact you injured or killed someone that you wouldn't have if you were where your log said you were.

From what I have heard most loads are dispatched at a 50 mile an hour average. If the shipper is late getting you loaded you let the company know that the load will be delivered at such and such a new time because you were loaded late. This is NOT a service failure. Again it is all about greed of the driver. "I was done loading 4 hours later than I should have been and if I adjust the delivery time to cover that four hour delay, I may have to sit more at the other end waiting for a new load. So I will push it and get it there on time." Whose fault is that? The drivers. RUN COMPLIANT!

 

CFI/Con-Way is not any better. They say they have team freight but they have no teams only newbies fresh from school because no real pro driver wants to work for another Swift company. They lie to you and if you have a wreck they leave you stranded. If you are on WC they work harder to mess you around. You will have plenty of time for a shower as you will have some weeks with 4000 miles and if your solo you can even have 1000 miles a week. It amazes me why nobody ever really warns the teams starting out but they don't. USX does require a call says on their site.

Try Interstate been with them 5 months and very happy. Treated like humans here and that means more than anything to us. Also Cal Ark treats their drivers with respect just lower pay.

 

Thank you all for your input. We worked for a company out of Phoenix going to Columbus, Oh. It was all drop and hook and at that time we ran 5 on 5 off. We took two loads a week. We were able to keep it legal then, but we had to take days off after those two runs.
There is no way anyone could run legal the way HOS are now, even a team cannot log legally running that many miles.
I understand being upset with a company even if you quit, or are fired. I have yet found a company that does not lie or cheat the driver. I also dislike it when I find drivers running illegal logs. I think of my little grandchildren and maybe someone else's grandkids getting hurt because of a careless inconsiderate driver!!!
Just run compliant I have no sympathy for those who don't.