U.S. Xpress
 

Currently I am looking at getting on with U.S. Xpress. They have their drug test (no problem), but they also mentioned a physical. Does anyone happen to know if it happens to be a DOT physical?

I ask because I have a shoulder injury that I am recovering from and want to be sure that I can recover if it is anything like the Swift Workwell Physical.

I must note that as I am not fond of having to drive an automatic, and the fact that I was trained on 9 & 10 speeds, I'm not too pleased, but, from the standpoint of city driving it will be nice.

I am not looking for criticism (constructive/destructive) on the company, I am looking for what the physical is about.

Thank you!

IIRC, US Xpress' physical is just a standard DOT physical.... at least it was when I was working for Total Transportation, which is now USX's little brother.

You know, Swift's workwell worked me harder than testing out for my flatbed load securement :shock:

They give you what they call a DOT physical. It takes about 90 seconds. The doctor puts a folder in front of his face and says "what is your middle name?" You have to drop your pants and cough.

If you take any medication, be sure to have the dosage and the strength with you when you go to orientation. Also, if you have ever been diagnosed with ANY illness, but sure you have a medical release with you. When I went to orientation, most everyone they sent home was due to not having a medical release.

They're going to question you to death! They'll ask about accidents and tickets from 30 years ago. There was a guy in my class who got a speeding ticked in 1958, and they questioned him about it.

The 3 days aren't too bad, there's a lot of sitting and doing nothing, it does tend to get rather boring. I'm not sure if you're a newbie or not but if you are you might get a trainer on Wednesday, but more than likely you'll have to wait a few days for one. If you're being hired as an experienced driver, you'll get a truck and load on Wednesday.

Yeah the physical I had when starting with Swift was the same. The medical issue should not be a problem since they are looking at Blood Pressure and Diabetes. I made it through Swift without any problems. I have been treated for Sleep Apnea and it did not require any medical release :)

Most everything that happened in the past, I have a good memory about. However Washington State only will release information for the past 5 years on a CMV abstract, and there is nothing on there. In fact, I could hand them a blank piece of paper and it would be sufficient lol.

Why on earth would you tell anyone what happened 30 yrs ago??? :shock:

To see if they can annoy the Cr4p out of you!

It would take more then that!....lol Never give out more information then your paper trail can cover!

Re: U.S. Xpress
 

They give the standard DOT physical check your b/p and the old turn and cough test . The b/p test send a few people home and i forgot the drug test

yeah pretty much lol

Is it just people that don't have there BP under control?

BP and diabetes are the two that can stop you from driving.

I understand they can knock you out.But, I was under the impression that if your BP was under control. They will accept you.

Your bp has to be under control as of the moment they take it to get your medical certification.

U.S. Xpress to me seems ok. I've talked to some of their drivers and many seem happy with it, but as you know no matter what company you drive for there will be some cry babies. I think many of there drivers on the regional and dedicated accounts are out 5-7 days then home 2.

When I worked at USX I was "regional" I was always out at least 7 days, then home for one.

If you only run 7 days, you don't make the money as you would for 14. I personally prefer to run 14 - 28 days at a time depending on how I am feeling.

It was my understanding that USX runs just about all their solo drivers in "super regionals" anyway.... I know when I was looking at them, they were really wanting to shift more towards teams than solos.

When I spoke with USX today, they asked me if I wanted to run OTR or Regional. I was under the impression, and I told the recruiter, that Solo's cannot run all 48. Since I was under the impression that I was going to run 11 western, then that is what I am sticking with.

The only dedicated that they had open, which I assume is FEDEX, was for teams, and I don't do teams :wink:

At least running the 11 western will get you home from time to time 8) Have you decided for sure to sign on with them?

USX considers regional to be the eastern half of the US. OTR of course means all 48 BUT from my understanding there are few loads that run beyond the eastern half.

I've talked to many drivers that were OTR and said they've never left the eastern half

At this point, I will be signing on with them. They're offering $2k sign on, .37 to .30 depending on run length. The real plus is that I have family in California, Nevada, and Washington. So, I can get the occasional run to see family.

Unless May returns my phone calls like they said they would, then I will be going to orientation on February 5th.

I am excited to get back on the road, and behind the wheel!

Congrats, and best of luck to you... let us know how it goes!

Thank you, I will certainly keep everyone posted on things. I have a long way to go before I am able to drive like I used to, but, I know I am a lot closer then when I first sat in my truck after going solo.

BOL

I've been driving with USX for a little over two years now. It's a decent company. No worse than others. A lot of it depends on what you make of it. One thing I do like is the AutoShift. One less thing to concern myself with and less tiring in heavy stop and go traffic. Only issue I have with the AS is that the '07 Century I drive doesn't have a clutch pedal which makes hooking up to trailers and backing up to docks a little rougher than a truck with a clutch pedal. It's harder to finesse the fifth wheel up to the kingpin these days. :sad:

I run a dedicated account hauling product for Reckitt-Benkiser (French's mustard, Lysol, etc). Most of my running around is east of I35 (though I'm in Tonapah, AZ as I post this). Even though I'm on this dedicated account, I've only been hauling this account's product about 25% of the time these past couple of months.

The nice thing about running this dedicated account is that I'm not required to hit the fuel stops sent down on my macros. I was fueling almost entirely at the Flying Hook, but USX has been having issues with them so they aren't wanting us to fuel there anymore. So now it's TA's and Pilots.

dan ojr ref western states
 

usx runs their western runs on the rails

i was in xd division 48 states and my normal loop was penn to ga to tex to mo

spent a lot of time in rail yard in twin cities and kan city but each rail drop gets you 50 bucks

i had one cali run in 6 months and it got pulled for someone to go home with

after you get tired of rand mcnally miles and split pay scale

and waiting up to 3 hours for your next run

get your 14 months of solo in and crete will give you a straight ten century

rather then the lightweight usx columbia auto shift

and pay you 41cents for all runs

at practical rate

USX just pick up a automotor acount in Kentwood,MI that's dedicated !! And not team ran .

Re: dan ojr ref western states
 

you have not been driving for u s for some time. x d is not run the way it was, max's son is not with the company anymore so it is working better.

u s only has a very few columbia's left.

and at $50 a rail drop i know alot of drivers that are making good money doing just rail drops

So, I've seen USX Volvo's. And I've seen a couple of Centuries. Are they phasing out one type to go with another?

This never makes sense to me. Your job is worth more on short runs than it is on long runs? :? Seems like just another cop out for companies to save a few more bucks courtesy of the drivers.:roll: That would be like an accounting firm telling an accountant,"I'll pay you more to do Mom and Pop's Grocery stores books than I will to do Food Lions books....

The new Volvo's are for teams we keep them for about a year then thy go to solo's. some new Centuries will go to teams if thy want one, the mid roof Centuries, Pete's and KW's are for solo's.

Well, from where I was in pay, this is .02/mile to .09/mile increase, so I cannot complain for the time being. Short runs are good but burn your 70 really quick, the long distance runs are nice but the pay is not as good. Either way I will make out better than I did with Swift.

I sure hope that I get a truck with a clutch! Although it is not exactly related, I hated my new truck I had with Swift. They removed the trolley bar from all their early '04 Columbias, so testing the brakes, and sliding the tandems sucked!