Driving OTR with US Xpress

Pleased to meet you, petey387.


I'll do the best I can to answer your questions.

Orientation is 3 days. You'll be road tested, get your physical, take an agility test, watch videos, and fill out plenty of paperwork. At the end of orientation, you'll be assigned a trainer and hit the road. You'll need to complete 120 hours behind the wheel (I think that's the new number). It used to be 150 hours, but USX has made some changes to their training program.

When your finished with your OTR training, you'll return to a terminal for upgrading. They'll road test you again, then you'll team up with another student for 8 weeks. When your 8 weeks are complete, you can continue to team or go solo, your choice.

I get good miles because I have a good relationship with my FM. I always deliver early, or at the very least, on time, so that makes it easy for the planners to stack my pre-plans. They know I'm dependable. And because I always communicate my status and ETAs to my FM, she has a pretty good idea when I'll be available for my next load. So barring any equipment problems, I keep moving. Other than my 10 hour break, I rarely sit waiting to be dispatched. You'll start out slow, because USX is huge. But once you learn how the system works, everything gets easier, and the miles will increase because you'll become more efficient.

Everyone at USX has been good to me. They treat me with respect, and if there's a problem, they do their best to reslove it.

Yes, you can bring your dog, but you have to pay for that. Maybe one of my fellow USX drivers will chime in with that info.



You'll do fine with USX. Be sure to let us know how you're doing with your training.


Good luck.

 

I'm really glad to see your miles have finally turned around since we talked in Ohio. You should keep moving with the holidays approaching.

I'm in Markham in need of some repairs, so if you guys are local, stop in........I'll buy the coffee.

 

Flood, I'm with you all the way. Verizon is the way to go if you want coverage.

 

I'm an OTR driver. I don't know much about the Dollar General account. I don't care to fingerprint freight.

My guess is the DG account is attractive because it offers better hometime, and the lower miles are offset with stop pay. How much you would make on the DG account is best answered by someone who runs on that fleet.

We all use truck stops and rest areas to park, if that's what you're asking. I only go to a terminal on hometime, for repairs, or as a parking haven if I'm running low on hours.

 

Hello Everyone.


My dixie is busted!!!!!!!!!!


I'm sitting in our Markham, IL terminal waiting my turn to go into the shop for repairs. Went to a CT terminal in Hillside, IL last night to pick up an empty trailer so I could pick up a Home Depot DC load headed for Winchester, VA. Found a trailer, back up underneath............


BOUNCE!


The latch which captures the king pin was already closed. I climbed back into the cab and pulled the release for the 5th wheel........the air actuator functions, but the latch stays engaged.


Just when I was making up ground after my run of bad trailers.


So I'm here, waiting my turn at bat. The miles on this truck are getting up there, it's been spending an awful lot of time in the shop when I come off the road for a break lately. This is the first time in almost a year that I'm actually in breakdown status at a terminal nowhere near home (flat tires excluded).

When I was finished filling out the repair order, I noticed that I filled up the entire sheet of paper..........well, I've been making due with some things, so I figure now that I'm stuck here I'm gonna make the shop fix them all.


Trips and Stats.

Let's see........last Friday's settlement sheet: 2,059 miles. I was still in the middle of being plagued by trailers that needed repair.

Todays settlement sheet: 2,327 which does not include Tuesdays run of 610 miles. By the time I reached anyplace that had electricity...........I'm mean.........Transflo, it was already 1800 on the east coast (Wed).




No scanna da trip sheet.............yeah, yeah..........I know............ in-cab scanning..............let me think about it.






And that's it for now.


Have to get ready to watch the new driver luggage parade.



Thanks for reading.
-Wedge