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Message:: [QUOTE="IrishMike202, post: 249909, member: 8829"]Well, I am back from US Xpress and as much as I hate to say this, it was the wrong company for me for several reasons. This is going to be a rather long post so sit back and relax while I go through the whole experience. I arrived at USX in Medway Ohio on Tuesday September 25th. Orientation did not start until Wednesday. I got moved into the bunk house and then went to the drivers lounge to hang out. I will tell you that its a pretty nice facility even though you have to sleep in the bunk house. Being the new guy, I just kept my mouth shut and listened to the other drivers talking to get a feel for USX and what other thought of them. I heard a few gripes about this and that which I expected and comes with any job in any industry. So I went to bed early so I could be ready for day 1 of orientation on Wednesday. Wednesday, day 1 Orientation begins at 0700 with 34 recruits of varying experience. Signed some paperwork, went over some basic policies and procedures and prepared to go and get our physicals. All was pretty much on schedule up to lunch time. We come back after lunch and two recruits were dismissed for unknown reasons. Several others were called into various offices to answer certain questions for the background auditors. Peoples nerves were becoming a bit unstable at this point. We were told that no one was hired until the moment they received their fuel cards and if they were dismissed from orientation, they would have to find their own way home. Two more people had been dismissed by the end of day 1. That night, I sat around and listened to some drivers complaining about low miles and long delays in truck repairs there at the Medway yard. Some drivers claimed to have been there for up to a week for repairs. I found this a bit hard to believe at the time. Thursday, day 2 More paperwork and videos. Also went over the Driver Tech system. Its a pretty nice touch screen, Windows based computer system for the truck. Has everything you need loaded on it for USX as well as a pretty nice GPS system. We broke for lunch and were told to be back in class by 3PM. Upon our return, 3 more people had been dismissed. I was called in to one of the offices and informed that they were still waiting for one of my former employers to verify employment. They asked me to call and see if I could get them to send it ASAP, so I called and was told that they had not received a request. I informed USX of this and they sent the request again. At this point, they came in and began talking to us about dedicated accounts. They seemed to be pushing the Dollar General account. In fact one of the guys doing the orientation( well call him Dave for reference, not his real name) was assigned to the DG account but was assigned to do orientations for the past couple of weeks. We were told that many of the people on this account were grossing around  $1,400 per week. In fact the Dave showed me his pay stub later that night and he was actually averaging $1,450 per week. But since he ruptured to disks in his back while working on that account, he hasnt seen a check like that for a couple of months. That evening I heard more tales of low miles, load repowers cutting drivers out of mileage, extended lengths of down time and appointment changes within minutes of arrival at a shipper which prevented layover pay. Needless to say, I started to get nervous. I also asked several drivers about the DG account. All said it was great money until you get hurt. They said that countless drivers have been hurt on that account within just a few months of being assigned there. I dont know about anyone else but I want to work and make money but not at the expense of my health. How could I make any money being laid up? Friday, day 3 At this point, we are still not hired but assigned our training coordinators. We have some final paperwork to sign and the background auditors are still asking people a variety of questions. Let me warn those of you with anything at all in your background that may be viewed as unfavorable, be up front with them and dont try to cover anything up,.. they will find out. I was very impressed with their background process. If you know up front your going to fail a urine test, bring extra money for a bus ticket home cause they will send you packing,. 5 more cut for urine screen issues. I ended up having to call the IRS and get my W2s faxed for employment verification on a previous employer or they were not going to hire me. It was 4:30PM and they needed it by 5PM. At 4:55PM the IRS faxed the info they needed and I was hired. By the time it was all said and done, they cut nearly 15 people from our orientation class. So once I got my fuel card, I called my Training Coordinator (TC) to see who my trainer would be. I was told that I would have to sit at the terminal until Monday and wait for a trainer unless I could find a trainer that needed a student at the terminal. I was told if I found a trainer on my own to go with them and call in on Monday and let them know who I was with. Ah,.. ok kind want to get my 150 hours of training started so I set out to find me a trainer. I went out to the smoking area and started shopping for anyone who indicated they were a trainer. While I was out there, I heard more gripes and moans about poor mileage, communication and more. That evening, I wanted to get to a store so I road the shuttle bus that USX provides to town. I started talking with the driver and telling him how I was looking for a trainer. He gave me the name of a friend of his and suggested I look him up since he was in for repairs to his truck. Later that night, I finally met this guy that we will call Ed. After talking with Ed, he said that his truck was in the shop to repair and air leak, coolant leak and to get his driver tech fixed. He said Ill take you on as a trainee but I dont know when we will get out of here. He seemed like a nice guy. I was worried about just who I might get as a trainer so I was happy that he took me on. Saturday, day 4 Sat all day at the terminal waiting for Eds truck to get fixed so we could get truckin! Listened to even more gripes about low milage,. Guys not breaking 1600 miles. They were being told that freight was slow but how could that be at this time of year? Also spoke with some trainees that said they had been on their trainers trucks for 4, 5 and 6 weeks to get their 150 hours of training in. Keep in mind that this is 150 hours of actual behind the wheel driving. And so I began to get pretty nervous when Ed told me that his last trainee spent almost 5 weeks on his truck before he got to his 150 hours. Thats 5 weeks making $320 per week, how can anyone survive for any length of time on that when other companies have step level pays during training? Sunday, day 5 Late in the afternoon, Eds truck is finished and a load is waiting on the lot for us. It delivers on Monday in Cincinnati. I move into the truck (2007 Volvo, SWEET!)  and we go hook up. Ed says we will do our PTI around 6AM and get on the road right after that. I crash out early to see how I sleep in the truck. To my surprise, I slept better in there than I do at home. Monday, day 6 PTI complete by 6:30AM. COOOOOOLLLL, here we go! Right out of the gate, there is a car facing me in my lane of a 4 lane trying to pull in to give another car a jump start I assume. After narrowly avoiding a crash, the realization of everything I learned in CDL school came into play. Its not just about driving! We make it to Cinci and deliver our load. Time to let dispatch know we are available for another load. We wit for over an hour before we get a pre-assignment going from Cinci to Pompano Beach Fla. YES, lots of miles and driving time! We accept it. Within a minute of accepting it, we are told that the load no longer exists. Ed gets upset since this would make up for him only getting about 1800 miles last week. We wait for another hour and get a load from Columbus to Mass. We accept it only to have them said that the load is not longer available after we accept it a minute later. OK,. Two good loads that would have benefited me and Ed and both pulled right out from under us, oh well. Wait for about a half hour and get a short hop from Cincy to Dayton for a pickup going to Virginia, pretty good. We pick it up and start for Virginia, Getting late in the day and nearing our 14, we decide to stop near the Ohio, WV border for the night. Interesting first day. Tuesday, day 7 We wake up to a message for us to come back with the load and drop it in the yard at Medway. At this point we were already two hours past Medway, didnt make any sense to me or Ed as to why they would want a load that delivered today to come back to the yard. Never the less, we take it back. At this point Ed is pissed and calls his dispatcher. Within a few minutes, we are assigned a load from Columbus to Montgomery Alabama. Just then, the Driver Tech computer takes a dive and we have limited use of it. The dispatcher say to communicate via cell phone with each load update. We can still use certain e-mail functions so we decide to use the e-mail as much as possible. Keep in mind that the computer was one of the things the truck was in the shop for. We pick up the load in Columbus and start heading for Alabama. We hit rush hour traffic in Cincy. Going down the hill and just before entering the tunnels there, the coolant warning came on for the truck. This was another issue that was supposed to have been resolved over the weekend when the truck was in the shop. Once this coolant warning comes on, you have three minutes before the truck shuts itself off. So we pulled off the side of the road and Ed, pulled the censor as he was advised to do by another driver who had the same issue. So we  truck on. We spend the night in Ky. That night we are already preassigned  for a pickup in Abbeville, Ala once we drop off the Montgomery load. The pickup time in Abbeville is 5PM on Wednesday. Wednesday, day 8 We truck on to Montgomery, Ala where we drop off the load. We are on our way to Abbeville which is a small town close to no where. Its a two lane road to get there for miles and miles. We arrive at 4:50PM and send an arrival at shipper e-mail. We get an e-mail back saying the pickup time was changed to 10:00AM Thursday. WTF? Meanwhile, there are two other USX trucks in the lot awaiting their loads. One guy has been there for over eight hours and the other for over ten. Ed asks the shipper if we can drop the trailer and they can load it and we can just pick it up in the morning. Shipper agrees and we camp out between the Hardees and Subway for the night. Its 6PM. Thursday, day 9 We arrive back at the shipper at 9:30AM. Trailer is loaded and we are ready to go. But wait, no one including our dispatch seems to know where this load is going. One of the other USX drivers was still sitting in the lot from Yesterday. Said he was here now for over 24 hours and they just started to load him. His pickup time was for 7:00AM on Wednesday. At 10:30AM we get a call telling us that the load is to come back to Medway and dropped in the yard. It had to be delivered by Saturday at Midnight. We are told that at that time, we need to have the Driver Tech fixed. We truck to Ky where we spend the night at a Pilot. I need a shower and so does Ed. When I come out to get back in the truck, I hear a gush of air coming from our truck. I jump in and the low air warning is sounding. I shut the truck down and that doesnt correct the problem. I bring the RPMs up a bit and it stops. Then every time the air tanks fill back up, you can hear a small air leak. This was another problem that was said to have been fixed over the weekend and wasnt. Friday, day 10 We truck back to Medway. I kept close watch on the air and the coolant warning. Felt like I was driving on pins a needles. If I loose air going through KY, we have a problem. If the truck just shuts itself down, well.. thats a problem too. God, get me back to Medway safe! We arrive back at Medway and are told that if the truck was not done by Saturday, we could use a day cab to get the load to Findley, Ohio. That was cool; Id at least get some hours in towards my 150. At this point, I only have 33 hours in 7 days. At this pace, it will take 5 or more weeks to get the hours over. They put us in a hotel for the night since we are considered a team truck. Saturday, day 11 Truck is fixed,. So we are told. Jump in and find that the computer is still broke and the air leak still exists. Told that they are going to repower our load so that means no driving for me. Told that the truck wont even be looked at until Monday. MONDAY,..? MONDAY, ..?  What are you talking about MONDAY? Needless to say, I had to reevaluate why I was here. I loved being out there and driving. I came to USX after doing a lot of research. Apparently, my decision to choose this company was wrong. I dont see how anyone can make any money here. After hearing this from so many drivers, I left last night. I called my Training Coordinator and informed him I left. I want to drive and I want to make decent money. I have nothing bad at all to say about USX, they did treat me good but its about money for me. Without the miles, there is no money. And for the drivers I met, good people! Good luck to all of you. This is just my experience with them. Other experiences may vary but from those I did meet and talk to, the experiences resembled each other. You decide for yourself. As for me, I will be speaking with a couple other companies this week and hope to be at one of their orientations by the start of next week.[/QUOTE]

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