Would Like To Hear From U.S. Xpress Drivers

Hey hargail:
Well, first off I must say the laundromat at the Tunnel Hill terminal is very nice. Haven't seen it since orientation. Hope my car is still there and ok. As for your comment, keep in mind, you were team, and I am solo. Apparently they treat teams much better. (spoke to a drive who used to be a team, and he wasn't happy) They get the newest trucks and apparently the nicest equipment. As for miles, I hear what they are doing is for the first month an experienced solo driver will get no miles. I am on my second month, and seem to be getting miles now, with schedules that are difficult, if not impossible to meet legally. (works on paper, but not in real world). As for experience, I've been in trucking for 10 years. I was with Proline Carriers for 3 years and with Western Express for a few months after they took over. Then I ran for an owner operator for almost a year. Had to leave to take care of my father who was injured in a motorcycle accident. Went back into the computer industry for a bit, then did some local driving, dedicated, and some over the road. And now Useless. As for the lifestyle, even in some of my computer jobs I had to travel and be away from home for weeks, if not months at a time. You only had two trucking jobs, and I wouldn't be all that surprised if the first place you were was worse than US. But I'm sure US is much worse than it used to be. One of my biggest complaints is the forced fueling and routing. Most times forced fueling (they tell you which town, exit, and station to use) is a mere inconvenience, but if you need it changed for load consideration, you'd have better luck calling your congress man. If your routing makes absolutely no sense, they still will insist you run it, else you run the risk of being charged $1.00 per mile out of route. Isn't that nasty? What's even worse, is they, like nearly all other companies, pay you shortest miles from zip code to zip code. But the problem is they expect you to take their route even though it's longer, and will not pay you the extra miles. Sometimes their route is better, but I had a time or two where it was an hour longer. I don't know what US was like back when you were pulling for them, but they no longer need drivers, they need steering wheel holders.

 

Well I'm back at Tunnel Hill for truck repairs. Came in Saturday night, not sure if I'll ever get out of here. But the laundromat is nice, and so is the wi-fi. And my car is still here and in good running condition. As for paid miles vs. routing, on average, I seem to be getting paid for 86% of all actual miles. Suppose that is about par for the course. Especially considering repowers have scewed some of my numbers. I'm stilly trying to find a better job. Seems there are many better jobs out there, the trouble is picking one.

 

If you like driving an automatic gets stuck in gravel getting out of a dock, gets stuck on ice with slight incline in Wisconsin, gets stuck on the 4th of July. Automatics suck. Like the company itself. Talk about repower. Takes place on 60% of the loads. Rethink working for this company.

 

If you like driving an automatic gets stuck in gravel getting out of a dock, gets stuck on ice with slight incline in Wisconsin, gets stuck on the 4th of July. Automatics suck. Like the company itself. Talk about repower. Takes place on 60% of the loads. Rethink working for this company.


Thats why most teams like USX. They know the company will keep them happy at the expense of their solo drivers.

Every time I got a load at USX over a 1000 miles I would not answer my qualcom because it was usually a attempt to take money out of my pocket by one of their teams who where to lazy to do more them a drop and hook or chain their truck to go over a mountain.

Teams are treated far better at USX then solo's and I know this because I was in both fleets. As a team driver I could just say I need to get home and they would get me their asap. As a solo you could give 30 days notice and be lucky to get home a day or 2 late and run illegal to get there.

When you work team for USX it does not matter how long a solo sat waiting for a load. They will load you first and then kiss your arse when you start complaining about how short the run is that you just took from the solo who is eating baloney sandwiches and turning off his phone because of angry calls from creditors. As a team at USX you will come in to get your truck fixed and whine about it taking a few hours to get your truck in the shop when solo drivers have been waiting days and get bumped so you can get your seat replaced that your mutt chewed up.

Solo drivers should never work for a company that caters to teams. Unless you like chaining and delivering their loads so they can keep rolling ,while you starve.

 

theres a lot of good companies out there . but this isn't one of them

 

i drove for usx for about 4 mths back in 06.it started out going to the 3 day orientation in medway,oh.the bathroom stalls were covered w/"don't work here-u will be sorry"messages all over the place.everybody found out there,that nobody was actually hired yet,regardless of what your recruiter tells you.they did all the background checking during your 3 days there.lot of people sent home because something in their background didn't check out.after 3 days done and was hired,had to wait about 7 days to get a truck,all the while,sleeping in the bunkhouse.1st run was 3 stops,1st one just south of toledo,2nd just south of chicago and last stop just west of chicago.about 500 miles.went to 1st stop and delivered,went to 2nd stop,was told i wasn't supposed to be there until tomorrow so called 3rd stop and was told the same thing.and that was how my short career w/usx went.no miles,no money,hence,the message on the bathroom wall

 

Haven't been to Medway, OH yet. Seems USeless has terminals all over the place. Dec 4th will mark 4 months with this company. Been averaging about 2100 paid miles per paycheck, for about $650 after taxes. (about $0.30 per mile after taxes) That depends on how accurate my calculations are. I still wouldn't recommend USX to anyone, but at 65 MPH, we're passing everything in sight. Tried to hire on with Landstar, but apparently their hiring standards are a bit higher than USX. So I might as well stay a couple more months and get my 6 month bonus. Still haven't decided where I want to go, but chances are where ever that will be will be better than here.

 

I got a prehire from USX while in school for dec. 3. By the time I graduated it was Dec. 8. I called them today and they said I can call back on Jan. 2, because they won't be doing any orientation until Jan. 22. GO ELSEWHERE!

 

Current rumor mill.

USX is calling in solo drivers into the nearest terminal with no warning (under dispatch even) and telling them they have to run as a team, lease a truck or quit. If you quit you are told to clean out your truck on the spot and leave. "Find your own way home" on top of it.

Anyone going to USX at a student had better plan on team driving.

 

Well, from what I heard they are only doing that in Michigan and Florida. I almost wouldn't mind getting fired but I'm afraid freight is so slow I wouldn't get another job. According to rumor they are now only hiring lease operators. When I asked about trading my Frieghtliner for a Volvo, they said they were short 60 trucks. How could that be unless they're hiring company drivers. Makes no sense to me. Glad I worked through Christmas. First good miles I've had with this company yet. Seems every time I have to go to Tunnel Hill I get stuck here. It's depressing. Would like a better job but I hear other companies are laying off. So probably better here for now. :smt070
Funny, I couldn't find a smiley crying, so the one with a machine gun is good for now