newbie needs help ? usxpress or watkins sherpard to start
 

Hey guys I'm out of school and need some opinions,thanks.

question
 

Di you graduate from PIA west mifling?
I'm from pittsburgh too and I graduate few month ago in PIA. I tried to applied for watkins and shepard but ... the lady told me that they couldn't asept me because they only asept people with 40 hour behind the weel and I haved just 20 hours so I guees they have specifics schools to hire students.

I'm finishing my orientation with TMC and everything is good so far

Good place in des moines .good people. good equipment (truck with 13 speed transmition) and I ready to go.

sorry for my gramatic

nero

U.S.Express is a good outfit.But they use Autoshifts not standard trannies.
A lot of people like the autoshifts,And more and more fleets are buying them.Keep away from Lease-Operators OR OWNER Operator until YOU KNOW THE BUSINESS WELL!
Good Luck.
Skull 8)

The first thing you have to determine is your desired equipment, salary, miles, home time and company culture.

Watkins Shepard:

A LTL Furniture and Carpet carrier that is a Medium Size company with a small company mind set. They do broker loads to get into position to haul furniture and carpet.

Positives:

They pay routed hub miles. You will get paid on any approved deviation but do not expect to be paid for the jaunt to grandma's house.

Orientation is a qualifying course for a newbie. No trainer just pass the 10 day course and they hand the keys to you.

Rarely hear from HQ.


Negatives:

First come first serve dispatch. I prefer having a Driver Manager. But since the rest of the company aligns I continue to work hard.

Not much traffic going to Phoenix so I am on the road 6 weeks a shot. OTR Drivers out of LA get home the most often. But one sign about Home time is the lack of a home-time QCOMM macro. Instead when you get routed home you just say you are unavailable. Dispatch is not measured on getting drivers home at all.

Maybe a Girlnammedshannon might comment on US Express.

down side to watkins shepard is they slip seat the truck and you have to pull doubles all the time...... slip seat means your not the only driver, someone else drives the truck when you don't, so I would think twice or 3 times before going with them.... USX is a girly company, they pay the lowest in the industry and all the trucks are auto shift so girls can drive them..

I wouldn't say that US Xpress is a girly company as less than ten percent of their over 7,000 drivers are female.

They do pay on a sliding scale but it's by no means the lowest pay in the industry. They have 98% no touch freight so you can make money driving, not lumping and most of their loads are drop and hook so again, you're on the road more than you're sitting in a dock or grocery warehouse waiting to be loaded or unloading your own truck.

USX offers great benefits and hometime and while it can be a pain in the ass at times when dealing with or working for a large company, the benefit is that everybody has a boss and there is a clear chain of command if a problem arises. They have good equipment that is well maintained and unlike many companies, it doesn't take an act of Congress to get your truck repaired if there is a problem. They don't expect you to run illegal or pressure you to outwork the hours of service.

USX isn't perfect by any means but it's a pretty fair company with good equipment, hometime, pay and benefits.

Uglymutt ...

You are confusing Watkins Motor Freight with Watkins Shepard Trucking . This is an easy mistake since you have never drove for either company.

Watkins Shepard does not slip seat the OTR fleet unless you take a leave of absence. The local fleet does exchange the daycabs but really there is no ownership there ...

Watkins Shepard does have a rocky mountain doubles fleet. This has 5 very experienced drivers that are paid a premium to haul paper from Canada to Washington and Montana. This a a Primo job that gets the driver home almost every other day.

I am thinking your comment on USX being a "Girly" fleet is referring to automatic transmissions. I would have to share a different opinion that shifting a manual transmission is more mainly than driving an automatic. My value system places higher definitions of what is "Manly" and what is "Girly." Like "spitting out" kids (a very painful task I understand -- much more painful and inconvenient than driving automatic transmissions) and raising them to be honest, intelligent, mature, and caring men is a "Girly" Job.

As a Watkins Shepard driver I have no problem with you commenting with your strong opinions having never drove for Watkins Shepard -- but you should expect a strong repsonse pointing out the ignorance of the statements when you expose yourself like that.

Well IMHO on USX they do not call them USELESS for nothing Nuff Said.

Watkins Shepard Info?
 

Curious Crackaces...You seem to know alot...we are about to sign up for a school, and are terrified of ending up with a bad company...we are not expecting perfection, but just decent treatment. We were thinking about CRST, but between the message boards (everywhere, not just here) and even a recruiter at Knight Trans. we decided against it. Do you have any recommendations? Watkins Shepard was on our list to research, as well as Swift, England and Werner...PS...I would really like to find a company where we dont have to drive into New York...I will give up hometime and all my holidays, but I am worried about NYC...thank you in advance for your help! Ginny

What exactly is the problem with US. True, their pay may not be the best in the industry, however, I have found a company that treats me fairly and
honestly. They give me what they tell me; they get me home when I want;
they give me enuf time to deliver my load in a timely fashion.

Yes, the trannies are auto, but if you work the tranny in mannual you can do with it as you need, but without clutching.

US is a good starter company.

FR8

No girl here, driver. You sound like you have some personal issues to deal with.

USX payscale is a little weird to someone who doesn't understand it. But its far better than alot of that I've seen. Mainly if you're a newbie. Most companies start newbies out at .25-.28 cpm. USX .32-.35 Now whats wrong with that?

USX or???
 

Thank you for all the feedback...we ended up signing up at a private school, and we love it...we are taking our time, no rush...we are already in a truck learning skills. A couple of truck companies have come to recruit...Werner sounded really good, especially for teams...Ashley and Schneider are coming at the end of the month...any knowledge on those two? Thanks again.

USX is a good company, but it's by far from the lowest paid company in the industry. Also, it's not mostly drop and hook. When I was there, I had about 15% drop and hook, did 1 unload (which I chose to do to get the $ instead of a lumper), and had to sit at many a grocery warehouse dock.

If you think shifting gears vs driving an automatic truck makes you more of a driver, you're sadly mistaken. Sure, the truck shifts gears for you, but is it going to take that 120 degree right hand turn onto a 1 lane road for you in the middle of the night when it's raining? Nope. Is the truck going to take over the braking and steering while coming across Snoqualmie pass during a snowstorm? Nope.

The only thing it will do is shift gears. Hate to tell you this, my 16yr old daughter can shift gears.

That said, yeah, I'd recommend USX, but not to a newbie driver. The only reason I won't recommend a newbie to go to USX is that hey should get experience shifting gears, just in case they decide to go elsewhere.

I like girls. :D Can I team with them at USX?

There are a lot of good companies and finding one wont be a problem. However, be prepared to be out 2 weeks at a time. Some companies will get you to the house on the weekends, but, it almost always means less miles and a smaller check. As far as companies go, check out Heartland Express. They have OTR and regional lanes and the pay is about as good as it gets for company drivers. (.50cpm)

Before you buy into that ...you'd best look for the "hooks".... as in "up to", and find out exactly where it applies...and the rest of the information regarding them before you consider them to be the "holy grail". Lets just place them in the "caveat emptor" area...... 8)

Your experience in "payscales" appears to be limited.... :D Not much to understand about USX's payscales....more miles to the run = less cpm per mile. Nothing tricky about that. More miles, more the driver gets "screwed" and the more profit the company makes... nothing tricky about that.

And when you stop to consider its paid as HHG short miles...its a royal shafting :shock: :? There's alot wrong with that.... :x

To someone looking in from the outside it is weird. Paid per load, per trip. Most trips given to newbies are 300-400 miles, paid at .35 cpm. The rate of pay doesn't go down unless the trip is 900+, in which case the pay rate sucks a little.

And as far as my experience in payscales being limited, duh. I'm a rookie. You seem to be another old timer who thinks they know everythign there is to know about everything. And someone like me who is new is a complete fool.

That's ok though, most of your senior driver friends are no different than you. (and people wonder why most of us usually keep our radios off)

Yup, the payrate does "suck", and it even sucks at their 35 cpm rate... since its HHG short miles, so either way it just "sucks". I guess you think a "shafting" at a couple of cpm more is just a little less painful.....

No, you're wrong....and there is a significant "error" in your thought process... I am not an old timer who thinks he knows everything, and I am not arrogant enough to even begin thinking that. I simply know what I know, and I limit my comments to what I know. That which I know nothing about, I keep my mouth shut. Discretion is the better part of valor. You may wish to embrace the thought.

If that is your claim to fame, and a mantle you choose to wear.... then so be it. But if you think that USX's pay schedule is a good thing,..... uh, you are somewhat validating the claim you made above. :D

Ummm, I find my humor in your "questionable" musings... since you know nothing of me, nor do you have a clue as to who my social circle is comprised of.... I think if you actually spent a little time reading my past posts.... I think it more than possible that you would feel foolish about your allegations toward me. Along with keeping your CB off, I might suggest that until you aware of a bit more fact....than you apparently posess.... that you keep a lid on your musings..... lest you make a fool of yourself.

Since you fired first.... Might I say that I suspect that you have and frequently wear a t-shirt with this on the front and back:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e_bagus/25.gif ??

Everyone likes to down EVERY company that will hire new drivers. Of course, most of them are not great, heck some of them aren't worth a dime.

My question is where else are we supposed to go until we have a year or so under our belt? Why do certain people have to down every company that someone has a question about?

Being so wise, these people most certainly should understand that we have to start somewhere. (as has everyone)

But what do I know about anything ?? I'm new, I know nothing.

How long has this uglymutt been driving ?

Uglymut comes off as another old biter driver. No matter what anyone says he's going to argue. Like most other more "senior" drivers. They like to think that driving a truck is rocket science. When in fact MOST of it is common sense. (as stated above by someone else)

Us Xpress is not bad company treated me well for 2 yrs . They have bad and good things about them what company dosen't . I like how people tell all the bad about a company they have never worked for. How long do you have to drive for to be a senior driver ?

No, that is not necessarily so. Some of the companies that hire newbies are lousy, while others are well above average and even good. Its sorting out which is which that is the trick.

Ask questions, sort through the answers....read, lurk, read some more, lurk some more. DO your homework....

Asked and answered.

Have you bothered to actually read the comments and do a comparison, or do you prefer to be a stodgy lemming hell bent to march to the cliff then hence into the sea?

Ahhhh, grasshopper, that you are so humble....

Most of us who started long ago....did so way before this thing called the "internet" was publicly accessible.....so we had to do our legwork the old fashioned way....and things were more difficult then, believe me on that.

Those of us that post here, and who try to help those of you that are new to this game....do so because we want to, not because we get a vicarious thrill out of it.... For the most part we get nothing, absolutely nothing in return....unless someone emails a thank you note.....

What you need to do is sit back, take a deep breath, read, and digest the information and take things with a grain of salt..... if you are as new as you say you are, then you really have little basis for comparison of anything except a preconcieved self administered predjudiced formed by your own mind..... Might I suggest that you and some of the others spend some time using the search function and find some of the answers to your questions and maybe these answers will also clue you in to why some of us answer the way we do.... :D :D

I'm a newb and don't have my CDL yet, but after lurking on the board a while it seems to me that everyone has companies they like or dislike.

This board also seems to have companies it likes and dislikes.

But when someone questions why a trucking company has a sliding pay scale based on how many miles the load travels (not necessarily with the same driver) that is a valid question.

This seems kind of goofy to me... So customer X you want this load to go 1200 miles. Well since we pay our drivers 20% less for loads like that we decided to pass the savings on to you....

Does this mean you can't make money at USX -- no. Does this mean you shouldn't drive for USX -- no. Does this mean you should be aware of the mileage policy before you take a job with them -- yes.

From one newb to another -- pay attention to what is said on the boards. It can make a lot of difference in the company you choose.

Well said Luke... Its all in how you take the feedback you asked for. I am guilty of asking things that have been asked before. Its all in how you take it.

And don't forget - the average length of haul for a solo driver is 450 miles per load - so about 80% of the time you'll be in the 'top' of the pay scale. About 15% of my loads hit the 600-900, and only 3 or 4 hit the 900+.

Just so you know.

Sounds like a steady diet of over nighters to me, which at a minimum gets old REAL quick and eats up your logbook and at a maximum can make you want to perforate your brain with a bullet. However, not before going postal on dispatch first! :lol:

Call the recruiting deptartment at the carriers you're interested in. Ask them their average length of haul per load for a solo. You'll find most are in the 350-500 mile range.

These are my total paid miles from just my last eight loads. I'm using these simply because they're my most recent and all that's in this load book so far. That and I'm too lazy to get up and grab another load book. :lol: Mind you, I wasn't a happy camper getting those first three short runs in a row, but they come in spurts and freight has been slow, so I didn't complain. Even with one under 500, two under 600 and one under 700, I'm still averaging 975 miles per load. The point I'm trying to make is that yeah, we all have to do our share of short runs here and there, but I would NEVER accept that averaging 350-500 is just part of running solo.

475+684+555+1,392+566+1,669+968+1,496=7805/8=975.625

It seems that some of you aren't "getting the point" that some of us are trying to make. I personally have nothing against USX... they seem to be a good enough company....from what I know, and since I have never driven for them.... I can't really criticize them.... but I will take issue with their "payscale" because its a "hoser" and it is direct abuse heaped upon the driver, period!

They aren't passing on "jack squat" to the customer. Freight tarriffs are all "negotiated" and done under contract..... So its really, "We hose our drivers down to the tune of 20% less pay per mile for more miles", so we'll be happy to haul your freight and pocket the difference.

Yes, while you might make "money" with a company like them...or any company that "shafts" their drivers with a sliding payscale that simply translates to MORE MILES equals LESS DOLLARS, you are doing nothing less than being complicit with the company and screwing yourself and your family while the company takes the extra profits and probably pays a big bonus to the "hoser" that developed that borderline criminal payscale....and lets not forget its figured in HHG short miles....so the unsuspecting and stupid will make alot less for alot more work. If thats what you want in life....go ahead and throw yourself on that sword. Me, I demand good pay for good work, and I get it!

How true, how true..... VERY TRUE!!