Post US Xpress Orientation
 

Well as promised, here is the outcome of orientation, and some advice for those who are looking to sign on with US Xpress.

After 3 days of orientation and another 2 days of waiting to find out if I have the job, I was denied! UGH! I am so bothered by this one fact!

Advice:
- Have all your jobs (company, address, and phone number)

- If you have **ANY** medical issues, have a letter from your doctor clearing you.

- If you have had any accidents, regardless of fault, have the accident report.

- If you have any discrepancies in employment, be prepared to explain them in detail.

- If you have any gaps in employment, be prepared to explain them.

- If you have worked for Swift (don't know about others) and where fired, be prepared to explain to them why you where fired as Swift only tells them weather it was voluntary or involuntary.

- Be prepared to be called out for corrections numerous times.

- If you are getting out of training, make sure you have your certificate stating your training.

- No matter how much information you give them, some how it does not make it in to their system. Be patient, very patient!

- Make copies of your taxi receipts, they will re-reimburse you for that. If you are not hired, and this is what I was told, they will mail you a check.

A little information about their policies/equipment:

- If you have Sleep Apnea, they *Require* a note from your physician that prescribed your CPAP stating that you are clear to drive.

- They allow up to a 1750 Watt inverter. They will install it, along with the cabling. However, inverter installation takes second priority to truck repairs.

- There are some trucks that are running a clutch (Freightliner) with a paddle shift.

- The Peterbilt utilizes a push button shift mounted on the side of the seat.

- The Kenworth T600 utilizes an old fashioned style automatic shifter mounted on the dash board.

- I do not know what the Volvo's run.

- Most of their fleet is 05 and newer. I drove an 06 Peterbilt and loved it I might add!

In closing, hang in there, the company is a wonderful company, and I will be looking into them again when there is more experience under my belt. I hope this helps those who are deciding to go with USX.


P.S. If you go to the orientation at the Colton, California terminal, they put you up in the Best Western in Rialto. They are supposed to supply coffee and doughnuts, but they waited until we left. They will also supply you with lunch, which is not too bad!

Thats whats happens at most companys . The truth will set you free. :lol:

Amen to that! I was talking to a guy who was in orientation with me, and he changed how I was handling the whole process.

He stated, "If you have no hopes or dreams then you will not be disappointed!"

Now, I wanted the job more than anything, but, when they told me that I didn't have the job, I wasn't heart-broken.

There are plenty of other companies out there!

I still might go to may trucking myself. US xpress put truck abandonment on my dac and now i have to take them court . sometimes im so glad i live in california

They hold virtually everyone for five days and will look for anything to keep from hiring you. Theres better places to work out there....

Of course there's worse too.

Yeah they had some pretty interesting policies. But what company doesn't!

Well, I'm impressed that you're still fairly upbeat even though you were turned down. Most people would have come in here ranting and raving about how they were screwed... It sounds to me like it was explained to you why they weren't hiring you and you understood the reasons why. Good job!

I am surprised that they go to such lengths to find a reason not to hire you. This is only surprises me because of how big of a company they are. IMO, all companies no matter the industry should work this way. They can tell at a glance that you're qualified, now what else is in your closet? Let's make sure we're making the correct decision.

Keep your head up, find number 2 on your list and hopefully you can get in with them. It doesn't sound like you burnt any bridges so if you have aspirations of going to USX down the road I'm sure they'll take another look at you once you've been with someone else for a while and kept your nose clean.

Good luck!

Well, I have gotten to a point where I am going to be as all drivers should be, and that is Professional. I do wish I got the job, but hey, there are other fish in the sea, and it may turn out to be a better career move for me in the long run :wink:

Besides, making a 1200 mile trip to get to a terminal is not a good idea. At least with some of the other companies I am 200-400 miles away!

Danj-otr,

Sometimes it's just trial and error in life!

Best of Luck on your next move......

I want a letter staaing the only thing that would disqualify me would be a UA or physical before I'd ever show up for orientation. why waste my time or theirs?

It doesn't work that way! IMO they want to see your driving skills, they want to see how you interact with people, and how professional you can be.

Consider yourself blessed that they didn't hire you. Low pay and no miles are the hallmark of that company.

I guess it all depends on how you look at it. If you don't mind working on a sliding scale then the pay they where offering was better than Swift ($.29/Mi @ Swift vs. $.37 - $.30 @ USX). As for not getting miles, well, that is a hard call to make.

Not that I am directing this at you as I don't know you, but, most of the people that I have seen at terminals sitting in the Drivers lounge are complaining about miles, yet they're not willing to take runs unless it is what they want, so yeah they may not get miles.

For example when I was running for Swift we had drivers at the Walmart DC that refused to run in certain areas and would reject loads because of it, and then complain about not getting miles. The only reason why the terminal kept them on is because they could not get enough good drivers.

Sorry, I forgot about the driving test as well. the things you state are good qualities indeed. But as far as background checks, DAC and the like, that should've been done before you go to orientation. I've gotten pre-hire letters based on interview and condition of pee, pee again(physical), and driving test.

I think that for the most part there should be some other means of getting people on with trucking companies. The expense incurred can be very high as mine was with USX, and when you don't have any income, that really can be detrimental to the pocket book and family if you have to borrow.

So, did they pay your way back? and did you get orientation pay?

No, they did not pay my way back. Luckily, my wife is Living in Vegas, so she picked me up, and I ended up flying back up to Washington! As far as orientation pay goes, I did not get paid. They only pay you for orientation if you are hired :cry:

Thank you for this post. I am going to USX orientation here in a couple weeks and I just ran across this post in my search. I am a recent graduate and only worked briefly for one company. I voluntairly left during my time out with the road trainer. At the time things just did not work for my family. Do you have any hints on the road test or other things that I should prepare for before I go? I am going to the Lincoln, Ne terminal. Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Dont hit anything !! :lol: :lol: :lol:

That sounds fair enough! :D

A word of advice about USX
As a former USX driver, I regret signing the computer pad without looking at the screen which they cover. Never do it again.

One thing to remember about US Xpress.

There is NO VACATION Pay,
No Holiday Pay,
No Sick Pay
No Brievement pay.
You get a 250.00 retention pay on your anniversary date. THATS IT. I have a drivers manual to prove.

My wife almost died not to long ago. I was loading and got a call from my daughter that Mom was not answering her phone. Called 911. Dispatch routed me home and repowered my load. Got home, got a call from dispatch to turn in tractor at terminal 200 miles away within 24 hours , they called every 3 hours to make sure I was on the way (if you don't, they report it stolen- seen this happen several times).

Did they care, or express sympathy - NO.

I sent in a letter of resignation.

USX repaid me by posted that I was terminated for safety issues.
The send you an UNSIGNED boiler plate mail piece from Safety telling you that you are terminated. No names, no signatures.


Great company.

USX lost a major GM (mid 2006) and The Home Depot dedicated accounts (spring 2007).. Had the best service record but got greedy.

Hoovers.com reports; co-chairmen Patrick Quinn and Max Fuller placed a bid valued at more than $350 million to take the company private

Thank you for the word of caution. I still have not made a decision on where to go as of yet. There are a few that I have in mind, but it seems like every day there is more coming out about USX that I did not realize. I guess that patience is a good thing in finding the right company! Thank you for your help!

Whatever you do don't go with them. I have a posting from last yr. on here about my week with them. They are fruitcakes!!!!!!!!

I am sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with them. It is tough anymore to determine the "right" choice, just when you think that you have it someone will tell a horror story that makes you second guess everthing. But, I guess that we have to make what we think is the correct choice and make the best of the cards that are dealt. Sometimes there is allot of give and take. Seems like mostly take anymore!!

my drivers manual says vacation pay but i have been with them alot longer than you have so i checked my paystub and you are right it is NOW called retention pay so i called payroll and found out all thay did was change the name, it's still the same pay as it has always been and it goes up $50 each year.
if this is so unusual then it should not be to hard for others to list companies that pay this...?? btw only otr non-dedicated non-union companies after all lets keep this apples to apples. you can also post the url to show how pays it. no fudging.

so thay got you right home how long after you got home did thay call....?? if you are home more than seven day's you are required to turn in the truck "it's in the drivers manual" btw legal thing thay CAN'T call it stolen.... thay gave you the keys so it's not stolen. unauthorized use yes but stolen NO.

why didn't you hand this to them when you turned in the truck...?

what is wrong with that...??

Is it true that when you go to orientation with USX they have nothing completed on your app? Like checking work history, background etc... Not that I have anything to hide but if something goes wrong with my past work history they do not like, I really dont want to get sent home from orientation and have to start over somewhere being jobless! Thanks!

They start processing your application the first day of Orientation.

So bring all your documents and be prepared to explain in detail annything and everything.

"We don't want to waste time investigating someone who may not show up for orientation."

That is pretty interesting. I can see their point somewhat, but still you have to quit your job, go to orientation and if something does not come up right you are gone and now jobless! I have not heard of any other companies doing it this way. But, maybe they do and I am just not aware. Thanks for the input.

I THINK they may require you to quit first is because ( some,most,many) companies don't up-date your DAC report until you leave the company and USX wants to see your record there also. I know for a fact that USX doesn't up-date until you leave.

flood

yes they got me home, 2 hours after getting home dispatch started calling to turn my truck in. The first call went to VM as I was in conference with my wife's doctor. (would you have answered that or any call call or would you pay attention to the Doctor as he was explaining your wife's cancer and the regiment she is to undergo.) Dispatch did not like the fact that the call went to VM. They called every 2-3 hours untill I turned in the tractor.

I submitted a letter of resignation at time of tractor turn.

I was verbally threatened that if the tractor was not turned in by the time they specified, it will be reported stolen. Last year I recovered a tractor that they actually reported stolen. The was tractor parked in front of the drivers house.


Hoovers.com reports; co-chairmen Patrick Quinn and Max Fuller placed a bid valued at more than $350 million to take the company private

what is wrong with that...?? NOTHING IF EVERYTHING IS ABOVE BOARD




FROM XPRSA board:

Challenge the Proposed Buyout (Not rated) 23-Jun-07 10:53 am To challenge the adequacy of the proposed buyout, please contact us at [email protected] or toll-free at 866/264-3995. Guri Ademi, www.ademilaw.com.
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Does anyone know the date of tender offer? (Not rated) 27-Jun-07 07:38 am When is this tender offer for $20 a share going to happen, why is the stock trading so low at $18.80? Do people think this is not going to happen?


Sentiment : Strong Buy
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Tender Offer Update? (Not rated) 4-Jul-07 04:16 pm Does anyone have any updates as to the status of the ender offer? Given the current pps, could be a great short term trade.


Sentiment : Buy
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EARNINGS (Not rated) 19-Jul-07 05:04 pm Did they forget about reporting today or what?
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yecart2u

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Re: EARNINGS (Not rated) 20-Jul-07 08:36 am Watch the boards the next few days.

As a stockholder I do not like what I am not seeing.

No news since quin and Max said we want out of the public eye so were going private.

What gives


Sentiment : Hold
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cargoconelkgrove


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Re: EARNINGS (Not rated) 20-Jul-07 08:46 am This boared is so dead, not releaseing earnings till next week is not going to bold well for the stock in the next few trading days, even if they are still going private, it just puts doubts in investors minds. They should of never confirmed earnings release when they did, if they knew it was a possiblity that they were going to hold back announcement.
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yecart2u

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Re: EARNINGS (Not rated) 20-Jul-07 05:46 pm When do I get my twenty bucks?
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Max & Pat made the tender offer to take the company private than missed an earnings call. Not Good.

USX Stock quote :

At 12:42PM ET: 18.48 0.23 (1.26%)

The $350,000,000.00 tender offer looks good but why would you miss a scheduled earnings call?

If you pay attention to the financial markets, missing earnings raises red flags that don't need to be re\aised when you issue a tender offer to go private. Make a shaky invetment/loan market pull back.


[/quote]

Hey flood

this is the latest from XPRSA board

Good luck at US Express.