Driving OTR with US Xpress

Wedge... Sorry to hear of yet another hurdle in your new career. The good news is you have the ability to see these challenges as a means of "growing pains" and continue pushing on.
God bless and be safe out there.

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WEll i wish i could say i had such a good exp with USX, but sadly mine is the opposite of yours lol, i had a FM of 16yrs and he was awesome, i ran hard got home on time and had pre-assignments waiting for me before i even got to the drop. then they fired him after he and his wife were in a car wreck and he didnt want to move to night shift. and instead i have a 24yrs old collage student who knows nothing about what he is doing, so for the last 2-3 months i have sat so much i may as well be a stump, almost every load i get i am dispatched on is late by at least a day or more, and everytime i request hometime i am at least 1-3 days late. I actually thought of staying here for the long haul but when you pay range is 95 dollars to 700 and you never know what your going to get i have decided otherwise. Now that i have been here for a little over a year i am seeing that this sliding pay scale is not going to work for me. i ran 3550 miles last week and got 700 dollars, 2nd largest paycheck i have had in the year i have worked here.

 

700 after taxes right?

 

It was 700 after taxes yes indeed. I have only done better once and that was 900 after taxes when i ran teams.

 

Hey all, Alex here.

I've been with US Xpress for about seven months now. I figure it is about time for me to weigh in on my experiences here. So far, its been lucrative and enjoyable. I'm a solo, OTR driver; I'm not on dedicated, not on a regional fleet, and I do not refuse loads. I have asked not to be sent into NYC and as I do not have a passport, I can not go into Canada (+$.01 cpm for every mile ran if you have passport, not just international loads). I also do not have a TWIC card or hazmat (+$.01 cpm on all miles, not just twic/hazmat loads) so I don't get any port or hazmat loads. So I'm pretty much just a regular driver here, nothing special.

I had six months verifiable, solo, otr experience when I came here which qualified me for the tier II sliding payscale ($.29-$.42 cpm depending on length of haul (shortest load-$50 (min pay per load), shorter loads-more cpm, longer loads-less cpm). This pay-scale pretty much evens out our checks and I average about $.32 cpm. I get 2800-3500 miles per pay period. My checks range between $600-$900 depending on how hard I run, what loads pay on that week, if I was at home for any of the days on that pay period, etc. Layover pay/breakdown pay is paid per 24 hour period the truck is down, except on Sundays and is paid at $50/day and attached to the load you pull after coming off breakdown or layover.

Home-time seems to be the same as with most of the other major carriers. One day off per every week spent away from home, no more than four days off at a time. But do they enforce it strictly? Not as far as I can tell. I can be out for two weeks and take five days off and not have a word said to me. If you take more than four days off, they want you to turn your truck into a terminal and be assigned another one whenever you come back but again, I've never been asked to do this. Surprisingly, they really don't mind if you use the equipment while you're at home, as long as you keep it to a minimum. I sleep in my truck while I'm on home-time and sometimes need to drive it around, and still, not a word said to me about it.

The equipment is above average for a company of over 7000 trucks and 12,000 trailers. All of the company trucks are 2010 or newer while the lease trucks range from 2008-2010. Many of the drivers who lease to own here elect to stay on as an owner operator once they fulfill their obligation to USX for the lease. I've seen owner op trucks as old as 1985 here. But back to the company trucks, the fleet mostly consists of 2010-2012 Peterbilt 387s both 70" and 50" sleepers, 2012-2013 Peterbilt 587s both 70" and 50" sleepers, 2010-2013 International ProStar Limiteds both 70" and 50" sleepers, and 2010 to 2013 Freightliner Cascadias with only the 70" sleeper. Half of the trucks do have an upper bunk, while the other half do not (generally the shorter, lighter weight models do not) however, I have a 2013 Peterbilt 587 with the 70" high rise sleeper and no upper bunk . Don't ask me... The big rumor is that we are an all automatic transmission company and while this was true for a time, it is not anymore. In late 2010/early 2011, US Xpress stopped buying the trucks with ultra-shift transmissions and began to buy all 9-speeds, except Freightliners, some are still auto and some have 10-speeds but no 9-speeds in the Freightliners. As far as engines go, we primarily use the Cummins ISX 450 in everything except the Internationals, which use the MaxxiPad. Sorry... MaxxForce. Some of the lease trucks and local fleet trucks use Caterpillar engines but that is about as far off the reservation as it gets. Maintenance here is not an issue. If it needs work, just get to the nearest dealer or terminal with a shop and write it up. You may wait up to four days for the truck to be brought into the shop but once it is in, they are usually pretty fast on getting it back out. And just in case they are not, they will either reassemble it and let you sleep in it that night and then bring it back in in the morning, or put you up in a hotel/motel for the night. If it is something major when you're out on the road, they are not bashful about sending you somewhere to get it fixed or having you towed. And another thing, they do not expect you to do any kind of maintenance to the truck. I had a trailer turn signal out for example, and they asked me if I wanted to have a shop change it. Of course, I declined, went into the truck stop, bought one, and put it in myself without an issue. But the fact remains, unlike many of the other companies, they DO NOT expect you to be a mechanic here, whatsoever.

One big thing I hear people asking about is the dispatchers or driver managers. Since I've been here, I've had three and it has not been my choice to get rid of the first two. All three of them have been brand new to the dispatching, brand new to trucking, generally in their lower 20s, and pretty much thrown into the job. The first DM I had was as green as it gets. 22 years old, college student, no experience with trucks whatsoever, and scared to death. I was also his first driver assigned. This aside, he was a pretty good DM. I never had a fight of any sort with him, he did what I asked, I did what he asked, and I ran 3000 miles per week. Then, all of a sudden, he was fired for disrespecting one of his drivers. I had a new DM within two days. She also was new to the whole thing. My miles dropped while I was on her fleet, not by much but there was a drop to 2800 per week. Some things didn't get done when they needed to be but overall, she was also a pretty good DM. My third and current DM and also the best one since I've been driving, is also brand new to it all. But the difference is this; he fights with the planners to get me the good loads, gets me drops whenever I need them so I stay rolling, sometimes fudges with the days to get me layover pay when its not quite 24 hours or on a Sunday, doesn't mind using the phone as opposed to the truck PC, and is an overall great guy. I would recommend him to anybody and I will. His name is Richard Kane and he is stationed in Tunnel Hill. As for the other staff, I have found them to be most helpful with whatever it is that you require. However, it is a rather large company and as long as you know the department that you need to help you, you will be able to get ahold of somebody. USX is an open door policy company and if you have any questions/comments/complements/complaints, you can give them to anybody from your DM all the way up to Max, the CEO.

US Xpress utilizes E-logs and electronic communications with a system called DriverTech. It is only similar to the other truck PC systems in that it is a truck PC. You will most likely find it confusing if you have ever used any other system. Like Qualcomm and a few others, it is Windows XP based so if you have any computer experience you can probably pick it up rather quickly. If not, USX's training on using the DriverTech system is more than adequate to prepare you for the basics. The expanded knowledge will be picked up over time.

US Xpress governs their company trucks at 65 mph and their lease trucks at 72 mph. I do not know what the owner ops are able to do. However, some trucks go faster than this ( mine goes 66, and I know a guy whos truck does 75 as a company truck ), I guess its just luck of the draw. They also do not change your governor due to high idle or anything else. We are not Knight

USX does have an idle policy but it is simple and easy to adhere to. If you're at a terminal and the temperature is above 28 degrees but below 70 degrees, the truck needs to be off UNLESS THE DRIVER IS INSIDE, then it can be running at any temperature. When not at a terminal, they don't care if you idle 24/7 or not. Some trucks are equipped with an EPA approved 5 minute idle limitation that works as follows. From the time the engine is started or the truck is stopped and brakes set, the ECM begins a count down timer of five minutes. At minute four, Check Engine begins to flash on the driver display on the dash. At 4 minutes, 30 seconds, Check Engine goes solid. And finally at five minutes, the motor cuts off but key power remains on. Driver pressing the clutch, accelerator, or service brake petal at any time during the five minutes, whether Check Engine is displayed or not, resets the timer to five minutes. If the temperature is less than 27 degrees, no driver intervention is required to let the truck idle (once you pop the brakes it will idle all night if temperature is <28 degrees when brakes are set, even if it rises above, it will continue to idle.) If the temperature is above 71 degrees, once you set the brakes, you have to wait until the Check Engine is displayed and press any of the petals. Check Engine will disappear and this will let the truck idle until it is put into gear again, even if the temperature drops below the 71 degree mark. Of course, there are ways around this, as with anything else. You can ask a mechanic politely to take your idle limiter off (like I did), or you can ask management to give permission to have it take off but you need a reason (pet, medical condition, etc. Be creative), or you can hold a cigarette against the thermostat to make it go above 71 and when Check Engine flashes, pop clutch and idle away all night.

USX has a pet policy. One dog or once cat, no more than 75 lbs, no violent breeds, and no pets if you're a trainer or if your team driver does not agree. They require a $500 deposit (can be paid at $50/week and you can have pet on truck as soon as the policy is set up(before the first payment)) and the animal has to be current on all shots and vaccinations. Leash required at all terminals and all USX affiliate properties, no letting animal out on customer property.

US Xpress also has a rider policy. I think the minimum age is 10 years old and the rider insurance costs approx $25 per month for every month the rider is on truck. If rider is over 18, USX requires two forms of identifications (DL and SS) and if they are under 18 they are required to have consent of legal guardian and one form of ID (SS or DL). THEY ARE STRICT ON THIS. But honestly, you could probably ride around with someone on your truck and no rider policy for 15 years and not get caught. I'm just not willing to give that one a shot haha!

As for the rest, I'll just sum it up here. USX has terminals strategically located across the lower 48 states(most of which are east of the I-35 corridor as that is our turf) which include Springfield, OH, Markham, IL, Shippensburg, PA, Lexington, NC, Omaha, NE, Olive Branch, MS, Tunnel Hill, GA (main), Atlanta, GA, Ellenwood, GA, Jacksonville, FL, Colton, CA, Denver, CO, Irving, TX, and Laredo, TX. We also have drop yards in most major North American cities including a few in Canada and Mexico. All terminals have maintenance shops (hours of shops vary based on location) and drivers lounges. The drivers facilities are usually pretty nice. The nicest ones include Irving, TX, Tunnel Hill, GA, and Ellenwood, GA. Most have driver WIFI (usually decent speeds and coverage reaching out into the bobtail lot so you can stay in your truck if you would prefer), showers (some terminals are nicer than others, of course), big screen TVs and comfortable furniture (depends on location), DirecTV expanded channels, close proximity to Wal-Marts and restaurants, a company van that drivers can use for up to an hour, a company store with reasonable prices and a variety of USX branded goods and other trucking necessities, free coffee, free ice, and microwaves for driver use. Our primary running area is everything east of the I-35 corridor although we do have loads going everywhere and even dedicated routes out of Golden, CO and Colton, CA.

All that said, I think I about covered it all here but if you have any questions about USXpress please feel free to PM me or ask on this forum. I can't guarantee I'll see it if its a post on the forum but I will try to skim through every now and then. Best way would most likely be PM. I'm Alex. USELESS XPRESS truck 32472, red Peterbilt 587 with the big sleeper Hope to see some of you new guys around. As always, GOOD LUCK!!

 

Thanks "Alex" for taking the time to write this all up! Great info. As this company is high up on my "list" to apply to in June. This thread has bumped them up a couple notches. God bless and be safe out there.

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Glad to know I helped you out, friend. I started another thread, strictly for reviews from current drivers employed by US Xpress. Hopefully it will give people like you an idea of how this company is and maybe influence people decisions on coming over here. I've been looking through this one and it seems to be a lot of talking back and forth and jibber jabber with some reviews mixed in. Maybe, if we are lucky, the new thread will catch on and people will only post their reviews there. I may just start another one called USXpress Truck Stop for people to chat back and forth at, if there isn't one already. Keep an eye on the new thread tho, it may just make the difference Have a good one!