USA/PAM Confused

thanks jeep, here goes nothing. good luck

 

I worked for 2 years at USA back in the late 90's. They have no respect towards drivers. The equipment is ok, but the equipment is bare bones. Thin walled cabs, no jake-brakes, which is not a must have but does help going down the mountian grades. The mechanics seem to blame everything on the drivers and treat everything as if it's your fault, plus they never help you at night. That's pretty common at a lot of places. They don't replace tires until they are really worn out, unless it's a steer tire. They will replace a steer tire that is cupping or what not. You can forget having a clean truck on the outside unless you pay for the truck washes yourself. Hometime back then was between 4-6 weeks and they didn't get you home for stuff like Jury duty, Voting, Dentist appointents, or things like that. It would have to be a death in the family before they would get you home. You went home when they said you went home. The terminals back then were always dirty and the other drivers never picked up behind themselves. The good thing is that they never shorted me money and I think they are fincially secure. Also since most of the equipment already has blemishes and bruises, they never question any more bumps and bangs you may have with the equipment. I spent a lot of time in the Northeast which never bothered me other then you lose driving time fighting traffic. There was a lot of Drop and hooks which is nice. USA would make an OK first company to get some experience but in 6mo to a year you could find a company with more hometime, and cleaner equipment. Good luck and just don't let anybody at the companies down. Keep your Dac clean. I started out with a bunch of awards for safe driving, most miles, top driver awards, and stuff like that, since then I told one dispatcher off, lost my job, and my driving career has gone down hill since then and my Dac report looks so horrible that even Swift probably woudn't hire me.