My US Xpress Experience!

@Pablo I trust you mean what you say - obviously there is some racism going on here just like anywhere else - anyway i think you're right that Mexico is a beautiful country and if you like to go there and have a Mexican woman, and can make a living crossing the border, why not....

I came to the U.S. out of the same reason, because I was dreaming about this beautiful country....and it's not just about the $$$ I was making MUCH more in Germany...but life is also about living a dream. Many trucking companies in Laredo need drivers for Mexico and somebody has to do it...who cares!

 

I am lost on this thread now. My typing is terrible and my verbage is "dense" as someone said "not too much air between words". It is because I think my english is contracting vocabulary wise (a little head trauma). If I offended anyone I did not mean it expecially Germangirl who I meant to compliment in having an interesting avatar. So I make my peace (paz).

 

Germangirl: Thanks for the update. When I last posted I did not see your previous reply. I am still getting used to this blog navigation thing. You know the Mexicans have great affinity for people from Germany. This is true of my Chicano adopted family and the Mexican people in Mexico. I have not figured it out yet completely as I have many books to read but it seems that Mexican people know that the Germans who settled with them from 1804 and on respected their hard work ethic and ingenuity. Norteno music derives from Germanish influences. The infrastructure of industry in Mexico provided by Germans was used to help the Mexicans whereas other providers of capital equipment (don't need to say who) was used to exploit the wealth and people and is a very sad thing. All my adopted
Chicano male family members who served in the Armed forces were proud to see
Germany and regard it as highly as my Prussian (and Mecklenburg) blood relations. I in turn love the Mexican people and nation; they have a president who
is a real man who wants to save his people regardless of the danger and forsaken blood money.

As my Chicano Marine Recon adopted brother says "nuff said" : )

and yes Germangirl, money is not everything. The whole time I worked at Microsoft (10 years) I dreamed of trucking. I dreamed of seeing thunderstorms
boil up in Kansas and Arizona, seeing the purple mountains of Colorado come into view on a summer day knowing I would sleep well that night in the cool mountain air, how easier it was to make friends with truckers over coffee in a west texas truckstop than in a network control center in Redmond, Wa. I loved picking up a load in California knowing I had extra days on the way to Virginia to stop at shopping malls, catch a movie, have a good meal at Red Lobster. I love trucking
because you don't need to stab other people in the back to make a honest dollar.

Look forward to meeting you in person some day.

 

.Calling all newbies, Do Not do what this experienced driver did. You as the driver of the truck are responsible for insuring that your load is legal in any state you drive through REGARDLESS of who is supposed to pay the scale ticket. After the fact when you get a fine the chances of your company footing the bill is about the same chance as OTR companies paying you by the hour. Better to get screwed out of 10 bucks that is a tax deductible expense. Then pay a freaking $600 fine because you where prone to listening to Twisted Sisters only hit. Yea that one.

 

One thing for certain if some idiot owner says he will not pay for a cat scale or any other scale ticket I'll be blunt, Your truck your cost to suck up and if you say you aren't paying a ticket because you're a cheap arsed moron well he can pretty much drive his POS as I'll be out of there faster than he can watch the tail lights on the P/U or bike leaving his yard! This is why I do NOT do buses or airlines to get to a BFI company!

 

Yep I been in situations where a manager has said "run" and we will cover you. I been in situations where a manager actually called out of state from an airport (wire fraud) and said they called the state highway patrol and got everything ok'd. In both cases these people were vile snakes and it is your license. I have even been hauled into the corporate headquarters to be intimidated by mid-level managers pretending to be tough and to have the backing of the legal department. Another thing is a safety department will charge you with a preventable if anything happens after telling to run even with their support.
Got to look after your license cause those managers seem to have other priorities than being "stand-up" men and women.

 

USX is a good company for newbies IMO. Many of their trucks are still automatics (although they are not buying auto-shifts anymore, going to 10-speed manuals), they are equipped with that way-cool DriverTech touch-screen thing that takes the place of a Qualcomm.

However:

1 - The DriverTech has a built-in GPS which can get you into trouble if you rely on it! Don't!

2 - Their mandatory route solutions are often nonsensical, taking you down narrow two-lane roads with 30-MPH speed limits and tight turns through small towns instead of much faster and simpler routes that are better suited for big trucks. When you receive your Route Solution at dispatch, the information does not include direction of travel! So you have to use your atlas and follow the route every mile of the way, tracing it carefully to determine direction and distance. Not a big deal, but an unnecessary nuisance to be sure.

3 - Company-supplied directions are often gobbldygook! Better to call the customer for directions when the "directions" are nonsensical gibberish.

4 - E-Logs are very cool! Give yourself time to learn that system, it's very helpful!

Bad news:

1 - There is no "regional" stuff. East "regional" is everything East of I-35, from Texas to (and including) Canada.

2 - A large part of their customer base is in the Northeast/New England area. Drivers call it "the New England Vortex," because once they get you there, you get stuck there, doing little short hops of 30 miles, 60 miles, 20 miles, etc, These loads burn up hours and pay almost nothing. USX pays a minimum of $50 for these little short hops, and a higher per-mile rate for shorter trips, but it's not enough IMO to make up for the time lost navigating on those stupid, ultra-narrow roads with truck restricted roads and low bridges everywhere. Essentially when you get "sucked into the New England vortex," you're doing local delivery in an over-the-road truck. They're buying lots of big Peterbilts, with the extra-wide steer wheel base. It takes a frappin' acre to turn! This makes the local delivery stuff in the Vortex extremely hazardous!

 

That doesn't surprise me with that northeast garbage! They get you up there all you seem to run is from pa to mass & everything in between . They have always been like that.

 

When I drove for USX I did my share of the NE but they also gave me a lot of runs down south. I even got a few loads to Texas to Florida and back to Texas in the same week. Those weeks I got over 4000 mile.
My average week wes around 2500 miles

 

I feel sorry for the lease drivers who get stuck in the NE Vortex. East Coast has always been hard on drivers. At Swift, the terminal in Greer, SC deliberately sent their trucks out west to make them money and kept western drivers stuck in "their" vortex for months. Drivers often rebelled at the thought of being sent within the influence of the Greer, SC terminal. It would happen to teams too.

I like the idea of electronic logs. Look forward to seeing that in orientation. Tired of pulling off the side of the road to update my log with straight-edge, pen, and reading glasses.