Tell me about USA-idle, DM's..etc..GOOD -BAD or UGLY

I don't think going from Swift to USA is a lateral move....its a vertical move, in the wrong direction (IMO)...and after only 10 months.

I wish you all the best...but you've already started down a slippery slope.

 

Orientation is alot of paperwork. No surprise there. Seems like the experienced drivers started doing there road test on tuesday. Not sure if they did the course test to. You will be asigned an fleet manager by where you live. My FM was great! The night and weekend people are a whole different story. Good luck with them. They have several terminals, but I usually stay away from them. Van Buren is ok, but its so busy that they have a hard time keeping it clea. Laundry is free there, which is great. Showers are ok. Spartanburg is a nice, clean terminal, but very small parking lot. Theres terminals in West Memphis, Vandalia, OH., Shreveport, LA., Roanoke, VA., and I think one in Laredo, TX., but never went there. You do scan your logs. Usually at Pilots, or the terminals have scanners. If you get at least 50 gals. of fuel at the Pilot, you get a free shower. I dont know anything about there teams. I swapped lots a couple times with teams, but they were always trainer, student teams.

 

They have a dresscode in the handbook but its not strict at all. Its pretty much no tank tops or flip flops. The no shorts means that if the place you pick up or deliver to says no shorts then you dont wear shorts. You get your load from the LC (load coordinator). Your FM (Fleet Manager) is just a middle man between you and the rest of the company. Its forced dispatch except for NYC and Canada. We do a lot of drop and hook but we also do a lot of live load. I cant give you a number of how much because it varies a lot. I have had the same trailer for 2 weeks before. We go to big warehouses and some small places that dont even have a dock.

 

ucj824 is right. USA could use a dress code. and they dont pay for truck washes. You will notice they some of the dirtest trucks on the road. If I could give one piece of advice, it would be dont hang around the drivers lounge. You will hear more whining and crying than you can stand. Overall, USA is a good company. You go there to get a truck and drive, and they do that for you. Its all in what you make of it. Good luck and be safe.

 

Does USA pay less than Swift?

 

i think stating pay is down to 25 cpm. what does swift pay?

 

I start school on MOnday 09/21/2009 and the cpm is 25 for school fresh folks like me with raises every 3 month

 

Orientation is pretty quick and painless, lot's of paperwork.

FM's (DM's) are luck of the draw, some are better than others. Night shift is a joke, weekends are better spent fishing. Try to get your FM to give you a nice long trip on Friday before they go home and you shouldn't have a problem.

They have about 5 terminals (?): Van Dalia OH, Roanoke VA, West Memphis AR, Schreeveport LA, Laredo TX, ummm, South Carolina(?) and HQ. (Arkansas)

Worst of the lot is Laredo and OH. Laredo because there are NO ammenites and there's a problem with Mexicans & crime. They supposedly are very strict about leaving the company property there.

OH is just really poorly run, but it's a big place. I wouldn't trust the mechs there with my lawnmower. There's no showers and a lot of BS. The safety people there have fired people on the spot.

I've only been to LA once and SC twice, people have told me they're nice shops. Ehhh.

I prefer HQ, West Memphis and VA myself. But of course, I'd rather be rolling than rating the showers in the Terminals.

Rumor is teams get to go cross country. I've only been West of the Mississippi about 4 times.

You can scan your docs.

You get EZ-pass in the East Coast and Pike Pass for (umm, some highway) but you can't run the OH Turnpike or run in Oregon at all.

Umm watch out for the scalehouse in Memphis, they like to single out USA trucks because of the terminal being right up the street. (See: TragicMagic)

You can earn showers with your Pilot-Points card. About one for every 50 gallons. And Teams get 2 showers as long as you sign up for them at the same time.

You use the same rig all the time, so you can keep an eye on repairs. Trailers are kinda nasty, they've gotten better at fixing them.

Get direct deposit, they've never missed a paycheck.

Don't get busted cheating your log.

ummm, that's all I can think of now.