US Xpress, Inc. - Chattanooga, Tn.

Good grief, what a nightmare. When I was at my driving school, the had recruiters come in from different companies, to tell you about their companies. The dud that came in for Us Express looked like Chris Farley. I just wanted to ask him to fall through a table or something. He was a terrible salesman. I didn't go there because of their stupid pay scale. The pay differs based on how long a run you are on. And they boasted having an all automatic fleet. I would never want to drive an automatic truck, especially for my first job. Then when you leave that first job, you don't even remember how to shift well.

Anyways, I wish you well in your trucking career.

 

I agree, I won't drive an automatic no matter how great they work! Kills your driving skills if you ever change jobs. Also heard that U.S. Exp charges drivers for going out-of-route. Do they have Prepass? I won't work for another company that doesn't have Prepass---has saved my butt several times!!

 

I went to a USX orientation back in like 98 or 99 in Salt Lake. Everything was supposedly "in order", or at least that is what a recruiter there told me on the Friday before that orienation started. Of course, I had problems. The gatekeepers didn't like the fact I was a college student, and they ultimately decided not to hire me. What really pissed me off was they kept me hangin' for about three days longer than they needed to. Those same gatekeepers had decided by Tuesday evening I wasn't gonna get hired, but no one told me until late Friday afternoon. During that time they played games with me, such as not assigning me a truck when my classmates were assigned. While I dicked around there being toyed with and waiting to be hired, I could have been looking elsewhere for a job.

One classmate of mine, a guy with like 25 years driving experience, was turned away for no apparent good reason. He was about 60, and his wife was about 58. He was healthy, but she wasn't. We both agreed later that USX showed him the door because his medical insurance would have been too expensive.

I'll never apply at USX again.

 

I bet he lived... in a van.. down by THE RIVER!.

 

just came from US Xpress myself i was there for orientation on the 8-23-06. due to werner enterprises putting a false positive breathalizer on my record i can't get a job now. they let me get down to the medway terminal also and waited til the 2nd day to tell me i failed to pass orientation check and then wouldnt tell me why even tho im sure i know. i workt for USXpress last year for a few weeks and they seemed much better than werner enterprises, i wouldnt mind working for them again if i can ever get my DAC record straight.

 

were u still there wednesday?

 

Folks, I live in US Xpress's back yard, here in the Chattanooga area, and I run across people all the time that are STILL offering similar complaints about that company.

I know I wouldn't go near them, and they latched on to my phone number at one time, and I was not pleased with the person who cold called me. This was a few years back, but they woke me up, and I let them have it with both barrels.

This is a lesson learned by two people the hard way.

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I'm going to address the issue in general, because there are MANY companies that have gone to dumping "unnaceptable drivers" on the side of the road or in a bus depot, and washing their hands of them as they would after taking out the garbage. When this person was not prepared for such an enventuality, or is down to their last dime, as so many are, it makes me want to puke in distaste for these scum companies that would do this to another human being.

Because the law is very strict in performing background checks by Motor Carriers, scenarios like the above are played out across the Nation, where drivers discover that the ACTUAL background checks are not even started until a driver is on site. Some are even lied to, and told that they are hired, so..."come on in!!".

The big problem with this, is that it has become almost customary by some carriers, US Express being one of the more notable, in that when problems are found in verifying background material on a perspective driver, they will kick the driver off the premises, and leave it up to him or her to get back home.

This is unacceptable. It's unethical, and it's the rudest form of behavior on the planet. People are lured from the safety and security of their homes, and then left homeless on the streets to fend for themselves. When it happens for reasons where an applicant intentionally tried to deceive the employer, that's one thing and only slightly defensible. But when one is not aware that there is a problem, and they are treated the same way, I find it completely ludicrous, and this kind of crap puts companies at the top of my "DO NOT CALL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE" list.

There are a couple of solutions to the problem. They are not scientific, nor are they assured, but it can't help to try them.

First, before one accepts transportation from their home to an orientation site, I would inquire heavily and pointedly to what your exact status is with the company. When they tell you that you are "approved for hire", don't be afraid to ask what EXACTLY this means. Get it in writing and have it faxed or e-mailed to you, and print it out.

Ask them if all background checks have been performed. If you receive an answer to the effect that they have, then request respectfully, written affirmation to that effect, and that you have been tentatively been extended a job, if you pass the physical and drug screen process. Inquire as to whether or not you can take the physical and screening locally to assure all aspects of your qualification prior to departure from your home.

If they are HONEST enough to admit that they will not be performing a background check until you are on site, inquire as to why this is so. If they are also honest enough to admit that they need an original signature on a release of information form, tell them to MAIL you one, and you will sign it and return it to them, and when they have performed the background checks and can offer you a tenative extension of employment, again pending the passing of the DOT Physical and Drug Screening process, and will submit this to you in writing, have them call you.

I would additionally have them state in writing whose responsibility it will be to pay for and arrange transportation costs back to your home, if something goes awry. If they inform you that return costs will be on you, and you are not prepared, or cannot afford them, decline the offer outright. It's too risky. National averages are such, that a quarter of all applicants will fail the driver qualification process, and unless you KNOW that there is no reason that you may not qualify, and cannot afford to take that chance, why do it?

The bottom line here is, you have to protect yourself from these kind of abuses. Any company not willing to be honest enough to let you know the terms of your hiring on with them, likely isn't going to be honest with you about how it will be on the job as well if you are hired. So why bother dealing with companies like this?

There are many companies that will skirt the law, in your favor that is, to make the necessary background checks that they must do, and will often clear you medically as well, someplace convenient to your home, PRIOR to your arrival at orientation. Insist on options like this, to avoid what so many are experiencing these days.

The law that was enacted to protect drivers from invasions of privacy, has come to hurt more than it previously did. This is one example how it has.

With the exception of the job I currently have, I have NEVER let a company transport me to a hiring site. I always drove a personal vehicle, no matter the distance. I either retrieved it at some point, or I left it there for local transportation when I had time to kill and was there, and of course, transportation home if and when I terminated.