Are you sitting a lot lately?

The real question it though is this a US Xpress issue or an industry wide issue. Im starting to think its a company problem as there are so many other companies out there begging for drivers. Lots of sign on bonuses and higher pay. That tells me that other companies have freight. Im starting to think that we are loosing customers, and that doesn't surprise me. I was told by upper level management that they want to transition from a 60% veteran driver / 40% rookie driver fleet to a 40% Veteran driver 60% rookie driver fleet. This is not a rumor, I heard it from the horses mouth so to speak. Now we know that most of the mistakes that are keeping our customers pissed at us are coming from the noobies that don't know any better so magnify those problems by 150% and I could see where we would be loosing freight. If that IS the case and Im looking at less money as we loose accounts then Ill probably have to find a new home. Im not going to let my paycheck suffer over bad policy.

 

Why in the world would they want more rookies and less experienced ? They give a reason ?

 

I didn't get a reason out of anyone for why, I would guess its easier to manipulate the new guys and obviously they run for less. Better bottom line I would assume..... at least on paper anyway.

 

Maybe it's harder to attract and retain the experienced drivers so the company figures they'll focus on what they have better success at.....attracting rookies.

 

Id be more inclined to believe Greed has a lot to do with it. I heard from some of the people in Tunnel Hill that they are making a killing on freight rates right now especially the LTL freight were hauling... was told in the area of $6/mile on some of them. There is room in there to hire and retain veteran drivers if they chose to. As for me Im not too worried about it,I can do what I do anywhere, the thing is I got used to those larger paychecks so If I need to take my skill set elsewhere to get it I can. I like USXI but its not going to be the end of the world for me if they don't make it. There are lots of companies advertising 50CPM in my area now.... so many that its surprising. I can almost make as much as a solo driver as I can as a trainer with these horrible loads. Why put myself at added risk and added stress for no more gain. I figure Ill stick it out for a little bit to see if they can pull head from ###, but Im not the type to take punishment long.

 

Hate to lose you. It's mainly you and I in this section.

 

My miles have dropped since February but it's still decent. I never really have a bad week (less than 2500). But I'm working harder with a lot of shorter runs. That's what I've seen. I haven't gotten any long runs for a long time now. For me, the best I've gotten has been 700 miles loaded (since Feb.) For me anyway, it seems like USX has turned into Arnold with all of these shorter runs.

As far as loosing accounts, it wouldn't surprise me. Many of our trailers are old and leak, but at least we're addressing it. I've been swapping out a lot of trailers at a repair shop before bringing it into P&G. That tells you a lot right there. One trailer repair place actually told me something like "I like US Xpress. But all these new trailers you're getting? I'm afraid it might be too little too late." He was referring to the fact that our customers were pissed off about the condition of the trailers. Just his opinion, and I hope he's wrong.

Gotta say, those new Wabash trailers are really top notch. Hopefully the knuckleheads will not destroy the trailer tails.

 

Markham had a damaged trailer tail two months ago. Lol

I would say 80% of our trailers are in need of some TLC. We were on an account that got us home weekly. We'd bring to Markham almost every week a trailer with something wrong. US Xpress will fix issues but the problem is these drivers who pass the problem to the next driver. Wish they would hold those people accountable.

 

There was a huge discussion about it, and its not like you cant call breakdown and report a bad trailer, we were at central in Walbridge, OH last week and Wabash Mobile repair was there, turns out the trailer i was picking up had one of the marker lights out on the passenger side top, and the license plate light, he was there fixing some bent landing gear and stopped that and fixed my trailer, they will send a mobile crew out to fix issues, but it really sucks that some drivers wont even call on a dropped trailer if they know it has issues, its just laziness.

 

last run 400 miles. This one 295. started complaining and got a 500 mile run to the NE. Its not looking good out here. and the freight is slow mantra isn't cutting it anymore. It seems other companies have freight, they are advertising 50cpm and sign on bonuses. No point in sticking around and putting myself at risk with student for less than what I could be making as a solo somewhere else. They better get it together soon.