U.S. Express - good; bad; ugly

[tadfw]

I'm sure this has been posted somewhere in the past, but couldn't find it, so I'll ask and hopefully get some factual answers.

I'm getting married soon and my future bride has a Class A also ... however, I'm thinking of signing up with U.S. Express as one of the terminals would be very close to her home ... would like to hear the good; bad and ugly before I sign up.

[AlexJ81]

search again bud USX has been talked about on here countless times

[tadfw]

That's why I was polite in asking Alex...I couldn't find any without going thru 100's of messages...was just looking for a few good answers from several people with the knowledge / experience of the company.

[Malaki86]

Do a search for 'USX' or 'USXpress' (you have their name spelled wrong.

I worked for them, but it's been awhile ago. It's hard to tell what's changed, so I can't help you there.

[doctorfillgood]

I just went through there orientation in Lexington NC as for there orientation it was great they covered everything you'll need to know if you have questions ask if they don't know they will find out for you.there maintance shop is very good i could not belive how fast those guys got stuff done pay is pretty good equipment is very nice well maitained.BUT if anything and it was enough and I'm not saying there the only ones that are this way to me they were over the line .there dispatch didn't have a clue what they were doing I've been driving for almost 3 years now and i've seen some bad dispatch but they take the cake as a result i ended up working for them 1 week and put in my resignation cleaned out truck and turned in keys.i guess if you didn't know anything eles on how it could be you would do ok with them i just knew better when i talked to the guy in the shop about it he said yea US Xpress is a good company to work for but lately they have grown so fast they are having a hard time keeping up with the growth and its hurting the drivers made since to me like i said they were or are a great company they paid me for the miles i ran and even still paid me my sign on bouns.i tried to put it in a nut shell for you not easy to be far and short i guess.if asked i would say if your just starting out sure you could do worse.i just couldn't deal with dispatch so i went back to the company i worked for before US Xpress. i told them when i called i should have never left they said were glad your back. hope this helps just my 2 cents worth

[tadfw]

Malaki86 - thanks for the info...didn't think about searching that way!

doctorfillgood - I do appreciate all of your great info ... I haven't been OTR is almost 37 yrs and alot's changed since then; hell ... I had no idea what "QualComm" was until a few months ago.

As is with every company, there's good and bad ... you just have to handle the hand that was dealt to you in the best way you can and go forward ... therefore, I wouldn't know a good dispatch from a bad dispatch at this point; mainly from being out of the business for so many years.

Looks like I've got alot to learn... 8)

[fruitloop]

I am toying with the idea about working for them US Express
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I drive whenever and go where ever and with ... giggles

[Malaki86]

Their name is USXpress, not US Express.

[CrazyTulip]

My husband and I drive team for USX since September of last year. We're not on the regular fleet but on a traffic lane (semi dedicated). We've driven for 2 other companies before USX but I honestly think USX is the best one out of the 3 (others were Prime Inc. and Interstate Distributor). Teams generally don't run their trucks over 180,000 miles and you'll get a brand new one. We run a minimum of 5200 miles a week and our best week (well it was actually 9 days) was 8500 miles. Unless we go home and the week is cut in half, we never had less than 5200 miles. They get us home on time (with a 2 day margin before or after the date you request which is fine with us). The only thing I don't like about them is the other drivers; most of them keep to themselves and the atmosphere stinks, but then again I just ignore it now since I'm there to make money and that's it. If you have any more questions, pls let me know I'll be happy to help. Good luck to ya!

[bigpapa7272]

hey crazy thanks for the input I am looking to us xpress when i get out of school in october. They are high up on my list along with maverick and transport america. Any more info you could pass along to me about them would be great.

[CrazyTulip]

hey crazy thanks for the input I am looking to us xpress when i get out of school in october. They are high up on my list along with maverick and transport america. Any more info you could pass along to me about them would be great.

No problem, just keep in mind there are some different policies with USX for solo drivers such as a sliding pay scale, so you might want to look into it more before you decide. A lot of drivers don't care about it, but others do so if I were you I'd research everything and see what you want out of a company before going in. Also a negative about USX I want you to know: they will not go into your background at depth until you're in orientation. So they might look at a glance if you don't have any major things wrong from reading your application, but other than that they won't do background checks etc. until you're there. They HAVE sent plenty of drivers home during orientation because they found out stuff during orientation. If you go make sure to arrange transportation! We took our own car when we went just to be on the safe side.
Miles wise I don't know much how they are for solos since I drive team - I have 2 friends with USX who run solo: 1 her truck is in the shop a lot, the other one just started a few weeks ago with USX and so far is satisfied.
Again: if you want to know anything - I'll be happy to help you!

[Skywalker]

I'm surprised I'm bothering to even respond to this....but here goes:

If you are going to drive solo....you could do better with Swift, or Knight.... But you'd probably be better off with Knight to start.

Frankly....for solos's...the sliding payscale....is :dung: It literally cheats the driver out of pay. It is can be used as a tool to literally hose the driver.

Do they do it.... I really don't know.

But I do know this: Anyone who thinks my skills diminish in value when I drive more miles and make them more money....has their cranium well ensconced on rectal defilade..... :evil:

Personally....beyond the "pretty red trucks"....nothing.

[Copperhead]

It isn't that your skills diminish with longer miles that they pay less, it's because shorter hauls actually are higher revenue than the longer ones. Since USX is getting paid a better rate for a short haul, they are increasing the driver pay likewise. I won't debate whether they are increasing it enough, that is another issue.

You are looking at a longer run is a pay cut per mile. In reality, the shorter haul is paying better to somewhat compensate for more frequent loading and unloading. It works that way throughout the industry. Of course, many carriers are just paying a flat rate per mile, but they are then shorting a driver for additional effort involved in a short haul.

If you would check with any broker, shorter hauls pay more than longer hauls. Just a fact. I do not have a clue what USX pay scale is since I don't work there, but I would consider it a plus if I was getting a better pay rate for shorter hauls.

To each his own.

[CrazyTulip]

It isn't that your skills diminish with longer miles that they pay less, it's because shorter hauls actually are higher revenue than the longer ones. Since USX is getting paid a better rate for a short haul, they are increasing the driver pay likewise. I won't debate whether they are increasing it enough, that is another issue.

You are looking at a longer run is a pay cut per mile. In reality, the shorter haul is paying better to somewhat compensate for more frequent loading and unloading. It works that way throughout the industry. Of course, many carriers are just paying a flat rate per mile, but they are then shorting a driver for additional effort involved in a short haul.

If you would check with any broker, shorter hauls pay more than longer hauls. Just a fact. I do not have a clue what USX pay scale is since I don't work there, but I would consider it a plus if I was getting a better pay rate for shorter hauls.

To each his own.

Hence why a lot of drivers go for it, but like you said: to each his own!
If you want to see the sliding pay scale rates check here: http://www.xpressdrivers.com/solos.html
On the right of the page is an icon that says "Pay Scale" click on it and it'll show you how it's broken down.

[Gunstra]

I'm surprised I'm bothering to even respond to this....but here goes:

If you are going to drive solo....you could do better with Swift, or Knight.... But you'd probably be better off with Knight to start.

Frankly....for solos's...the sliding payscale....is :dung: It literally cheats the driver out of pay. It is can be used as a tool to literally hose the driver.

Do they do it.... I really don't know.

But I do know this: Anyone who thinks my skills diminish in value when I drive more miles and make them more money....has their cranium well ensconced on rectal defilade..... :evil:

Personally....beyond the "pretty red trucks"....nothing.

Just FYI Knight pays on a sliding scale too, .34 to .43 per mile, the more miles the less your paid (IE: .34 for over 900 mile trips) and the less you run the more you get paid (IE: .43 per mile for short trips), so how is it bad to get paid more for short trips which don't amount to many miles then it does to get paid less for longer miles? That has me confused.

[Phreddo]

Teams generally don't run their trucks over 180,000 miles and you'll get a brand new one. We run a minimum of 5200 miles a week and our best week (well it was actually 9 days) was 8500 miles. Unless we go home and the week is cut in half, we never had less than 5200 miles. They get us home on time (with a 2 day margin before or after the date you request which is fine with us).

Damn, the company I just started with runs their trucks to [Dr. Evil] One meelyon miles [/d].

[K9]

1.) Dispatch: Idiot bullies who've never set foot in a truck and expect you to drive 3 states in three hours ... (because they've run off all their drivers and didn't get the load there on time ... and ... well ...they're idiots!)

2.) Money. THEY CHEAT YOU BIGTIME. The miles they give you are far shorter than what you actually drive ... then they cheat you some more by not putting in the miles they are giving you ... then they cheat you some more with that "Per Deim" thing ... as in ... "Hire on for .41 a mile and we'll actually pay you .32 cents a mile and then we'll look you in the face and tell you that you're paying less taxes ...therefore you're making out like a kitten in catnip.)

[NOTE: I drove for them 3 weeks and they paid me $1,000.00. And that's WITH the $500 bonus.]

3.) They are NOT driver friendly. They want you to be in that seat 11 hours a day so they can pay you for ... maybe 4 hours. If you need to get supplies or have an emergency ... good luck!

4.) I was told there are three companies that are operating out of that family .... US Xpress, Western Express, and Covenant. That's right ... Covenant. Need I say more??

5.) They will run you past your legal log time if there's half a chance for them to do so.

6.) No ... they do not want you to go home..

And despite it all ... there are people who've worked for them for years and who are making pretty good money (they say)_I guess you have to learn their system. Lot's of women working for them. GREAT facilities ... oh ... that was BEFORE they closed the Oklahoma terminal and sold the Colton building, fired half the office staff, and half the shop staff.

WARNING - WARNING ... DO NOT DRIVE FOR US XPRESS ... unless you have to. Nice trucks though....

[geargrinder]

because they hire and awful lot of lady drivers. Seriously, I have spoken to quite a few of their drivers. Never heard any really major complaints. They do one of them dollar stores, I heard that particular account can be a pain in the keister. Other than that they seem like a happy bunch of fresh meat. Best of luck.

[BIG JEEP on 44's]

because they hire and awful lot of lady drivers. Seriously, I have spoken to quite a few of their drivers. Never heard any really major complaints. They do one of them dollar stores, I heard that particular account can be a pain in the keister. Other than that they seem like a happy bunch of fresh meat. Best of luck.

I've heard plenty of horror stories by USX drivers ...But I think most of it was drivers that were new ,and just were not cut for the job , because the complaints just seemed mostly like stuff about hometime,and dipatcher does'nt understand legal HOS complaits...I don't think USX the cream of the crop, but they on't seem bad to get started...I was surprised to see that their Volvo 780s have no power window on drivers side seeing as it's a 780,and everyone says USX has high dollar equipment.

[K9]

Wait "BIG JEEP on 44's" .... you say that drivers who "complain" about idiot dispatchers are not "cut out fer da job" ... but then you turn right around and complain about (automatic) Volvo's that don't have POWER WINDOWS???

Amazing.
Then they say Truck Driver's aren't the sharpest pencils in the box!