My DS, C1,and USA Truck experience

Hi, Ive been thinking about USA and i have a few questions what is there running area, is there any freight, how is the equipment (what is the speed of trucks, are there trucks manual, how is the atmosphere at USA, the hometime, and the pay. I would greatly appreciate if someone can answer my questions. Thanks be safe and God Bless.

 

Drop'n'hook, I've been with USA for a little over a year. They say the running area is lower 48 but it's primarily East of the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast. Every once in a while you'll luck out and get a load to CO or MT or somewhere out West. There is a lot of freight. In the 1 year and 4 months I've been here the longest I have ever waited for a load was 4 hours. Typically on the weekends you'll get a load that doesn't deliver til Monday. Sometimes its a 1300 mile load like the one I'm on now and sometimes its a crummy 300 mile load. I generally don't cry about that tho because sometimes you just need to relax for a day and I like taking my 34 hr restarts on the weekends. Thats just how I roll I'm sure different drivers do different things. The equipment is decent. They're base model trucks but you get the power windows and locks. On the ProStars they have the sliding fifth wheel disabled as well as the manual regen for your DPF. Other than scheduled maintenance I've only been in the shop a couple of times. Once with an EGR valve and once with an exhaust leak. The A/C's on the ProStars completely suck compared to those on the 9400. My 9400 would turn the cab into a meat locker this one here well it just gives you a cool breeze. When you first get a truck it's set to 59/60 mph. 59 on the pedal and 60 with the cruise set. Most of the trucks are Auto's which I HATE. My 9400 was manual and the whole time I had it I couldn't wait to get into an auto and now that I'm in an auto I dream about the days I had a manual. There's just nothing good I can say about the auto's but again that's just personal preference. The atmosphere for me was something I had to get used to. Took me about 6 months to get real comfortable here. I don't know if they got used to my crap or I got used to theirs but we all get a long just fine now. Me and my fleet manager even send jokes to each other over the qualcomm. I can call him up anytime he there and just cuss and rant and rave just to vent. I'd say they're good people. Of course as with anything you got your bad apples but you begin to learn their names and avoid them. Hometime for me is never a problem. I always get there the day of or the night before I requested. Well, I'll say most of the time. There have been a few times where I have been stuck up in the Northeast and couldn't get out in time. You'll learn the Northeast is a black hole for USA. Once you get up there you're pretty much guaranteed to be there for a while. And the miles up there just really suck because you're going from one Northeastern town to another but they eventually get you out of there. The pay ... mmmm .. the pay ... when I first started I would nearly cry almost every friday. I've had checks from -$79.00 to $0.20 but they were pulling out for escrow and tuition reimbursment. Now that all that stuff is over with and I got the annual raise its okay for me but I'm single and the only bills I have are car note, insurance and cell phone. For me it's a great company. My only complaint is the 60mph trucks. Driver's will give you hell about it over the radio just tell em to go on down the road and they shut up. Or you can use my line which is "driver, if you want to ##### that's your parogative but you'll need to call 1800USATRUCK and they'll send you a coupon to kiss my ### cause you aint gonna worry me about something I can't control." That usually gets me some peace but there are some guys that still just gotta keep running their mouth because a lot of drivers feel like they have to prove how much better they are than you and for the life of me I have no idea why, its not like they're ever going to see you again. So, yeah I, me, myself gives USA two thumbs up some will tell you differently. Hope that's some kinda help for you.

 

Drop Hook:

It's not a bad company at all, my personal situation just changed and I wasn't able to "live the lifestyle" anymore. I'd say they are a pretty well financed company, you never have to pay for fuel out of pocket, and you can get comchecks for lumpers as long as you contact your FM. Pay starts out slow and gets better.

Difference for me and Rollin Along is that I'm FROM the NE and I had no problem doing "local work" I'd swing by the house as much as I could and the month of January I was home almost every night for 2 weeks. I'd already left the company once last summer after my wife got sick but they took me back. Problem was they promised me I could stay closer to home if my wife needed me again and that proved to be not the case.

The 2nd truck I got (when I returned) was a real POS on it's last legs. I assumed it was because they were going to keep me in NYC so I didn't mind, but living in the truck was a real pain. As a result I really didn't report all the tiny nickle & dime problems that unit had, so when the heat quit on me durring a trip to MI I kinda got pissed off. It was the 3rd OOS repair in a week with that truck and my dispactcher kinda got pissy with my requests to get home already. So when I told them that something else broke on the truck the relationship got hostile.

So I left. That was my experience and I'd say it was somewhat self inflicted. If I'd *needed* the work I'd have sucked it up more and dealt with the problems.

(I want to make this clear to other newbs)

If I wanted to stay I wouldn't have dug in my heels and prepaired for war with the dispatcher. That was my decision based on what *I* needed to do for my family. My situation was salvageable but *I* chose to get out.

If they haven't torched me or my DAC, then they're not going to torch you unless you do something monumentally stupid. (like abandon the unit or load). And if it wasn't for the fact I'd already quit them twice I'd go back again. They're not a bad company to work for at all.

 

Rollinalong

You sound like a recruter.

 

haha .. nah not a recruiter here .. i just haven't had any real issues with usa i realize thats hard to grasp but it's just the truth

 

Maybe I should apply for that then.

"HEY KIDS FREE MONEY!!!"

Does that sound convincing enough?

Say what's the difference between a recruiter and a child molester?
At least the Child Molesters have candy.

 

If you're nervous, there's a good reason, you're not experienced enought yet. Take it easy, don't make any rushed decisions. Ask questions and stay focused on the job. Don't let them push you on your schedule. It's a stressful lifestyle. Get some exercise where you can, it's a great stress reliever and it'll help you sleep better.

 

I just got my truck inthe begining of February myself. Here's some stuff I've learned along the way so far:

1. NEVER let your dispatcher talk you into running illegally. Period. Don't even think about cheating on your logbook; you never know when the next level 1 DOT inspection is just around the corner, and (even if you don't get caught out on the road) USA Truck does have a logbook department. And, yes, they do check the logs (I had to explain an overspeed entry the other day - it was just a miscalculation but, still, I should know better...)
2. First thing you should get is a trucker's road atlas, especially if you're going to be running the Northeast (and with USA Truck, you most likely will). NY and NJ are home to a lot of low overhead clearances, and those are listed very nicely in the trucker's atlas. Saved me from making a mistake a few times already.
3. It doesn't always pay to run all 11 hours every single day on a trip. As a newer driver you will likely get some serious miles (they don't have to pay you nearly as much as someone who's been with the company longer) and you will often find yourself quickly hitting 70 hours every week. Sometimes, too quickly. This can screw you if you're on a really good load assignment because you'll probably have to relay the load to someone else - and lose some miles while taking your 34 in some Godforsaken dump. Learn to manage your time wisely.
4. If you must have a GPS unit, make sure it's one especially designed for truckers. Tom-tom does a nice job of getting you to your destination, but Tom-tom doesn't realize you're driving an 80' long, 13.5' high, 80-ton vehicle. Doesn't take a genius to know that a vehicle this size really limits how much a standard GPS unit can help you without getting you into trouble. BTW, layover.com has a really nice truck-specific trip planner; it will not send you over restricted routes and can even help you avoid toll roads if you like (only thing is, it just goes from zip code to zip code).
5. I used to work in IT before the economy forced me into a truck, and I can tell you that trucks and computers have at least one thing in common: people get within 20 feet of either one of these things and their minds just go AWOL. 4-wheelers will do some of the stupidest ^*#$!! around you with little regard for their own lives (or yours). You gotta learn to calm down and drive your own truck - don't let those suicidal maniacs drive it for you. Took me a while to learn that.
6. You can usually tell how old USA trailers are by looking at the serial number. For example, 54xxx=2004, 58xxx=2008, and so on. I mention this because anytime I've ever had to pick up a trailer older than 54xxx, it always had some type of issue (like rusty, barely-functioning landing gear -my favorite!)
7. Truck stops are expensive. Like, crazy expensive. Try not to rely too much on them for meals; you will cut your road expenses by a ton.
8. If you ever have to get your truck serviced, I've found that Shreveport and Spartanburg are really good terminals for that. There may be others to add to that list, but those are the ones with which I've had the best luck.
9. If you know you're going to be late for an appointment then tell your FM before it's too late; sometimes they can get the customer to accept a later time, but only if you let someone know within a reasonable time period.

That's really all I can think of for now. Good luck, and try not to make the same mistakes I did.

 

i am about to start with C-1 myself and was reading a lot of bad stuff but everything was from people that were not officially drivers, this is a great thread, keep up the post, i'm heading to Indianaplolis, IN on the 19th so i feel better after reading your posts, i'm sure all the ones i've read prior are the people who got kicked out cuz of something they did. keep up the posts, i'll add my $.02 where i can for anyone in my shoes now