Anyone know anything about US Xpress?
 

We have agreed to attend the orientation and have looked at the website, but any other search brings us back to the same sites again and again. Does anyone here have any definite knowledge of the company? Are they trustworthy? Does anything they're site says have any truth to it?

we been running team for over three years with usx. what would you like to know

They have red automatic trucks and pull dry vans. :lol:

How do they treat their drivers? How long does their training period last? What is their average starting pay for long-haul teams? Are the trucks in decent shape? Would we be assigned a truck or would we have to switch every trip?

US Xpress
 

You can check 'em at safersys.org.

Are they trustworthy?
this has never been an issue for us. thay have mess up my pay 2x and it was my fault (forgot to do the paper work right ) & when i called it was fixed on the next check. also usx doesn't think you should use YOUR money for much of anything, i only pay cat scale, and tolls in FL,KS, CA have toll cards for all the rest i have even turned in a hand written receit for a .35 toll and was paid back. we never have to pay lumpers thay do and if we need the truck or trailer fixed we just call and it gets done

How do they treat their drivers?
most drivers are happy but you will always find some that are never happy. (have seen some quit and 2 months later thay are back) we have been a team with usx for over three years and we are very happy.

What is their average starting pay for long-haul teams?
base team pay for new drivers the last time i checked was .40cpm for all miles if you both have has-mat you get .04cpm more paid each quarter and if you pull a has-mat load you .02cpm more so the base is .40cpm, .44cpm with has-mat, .46cpm pulling has-mat for new drivers. (you get better loads if you have has-mat) the avg team runs the co avg of 5000ml pre week. bad week 4500 real bad week 3800 good week 5700 better week 6200 great week 7200. most teams run about 240k per year. we run around 230k per year and all of it legal...!
we could run more if we wanted to but we are fine with this ( a little more us at home time)

all the trucks are "AUTO-SHIFT" not automatic. (their not the same thing)most are dry vans but thay do have a few very few reefers and some flat bed up in the NE and some roller bed van's (fedex/bax)

How long does their training period last?
training is 150hr behind the wheel or about three weeks IMO a little short when i did it it was 200hr.

Are the trucks in decent shape?
after you both finish training you will get an 2007/2008 truck. the volvo's have the biggest sleeper more room. (your trainer and her trainer will need to set it up so you both upgrade at the same place) other wise one of you will get the truck and have to get a load to pick up the other

Would we be assigned a truck or would we have to switch every trip?
almost all the new teams get NEW trucks but you will not get one with more than 75k, teams keep the truck until it has no more than 250k then thay will get a new one. in three years we have had 5 trucks 4 new 1 with 32k we have never put more than 160k on one truck this 07 volvo 780 has 144k right now and we don't want to give it this one up.

thay have always got us home when we wanted to (some times 1-2 days early) only one time did thay mess us up on home time (thanksgiving) i told them find us a load home or we were going to fly home...! 2hr later thay had us a load that del 30ml from the house. and thay say that if you want off for x-mass you will be home no matter what,, last year (with all the storms in the west) thay flew drivers home that wanted to go..!

now with all that said if you have a good FM life is good and if you have a bad one (and we do have some bad ones) life so not so good, if you get a bad one it is not that hard to change. ours is great, he's so good he covers for his boss when he's out and helps other's when needed so we are lucky in that. when i was solo the FM i had i hated, never a kind word to her or from her she was a real bit@! and she ran me 3000-3200 every week...!

ware are you going for orientation..?

hope that helps

Anyone have insight/opinions about the Dollar General, Dollar Tree & Wal-Mart dedicated accounts US Xpress has. Do they allow teams on these runs & which/if any would you consider the best choice among the three? Also can someone explain the difference between the "auto-shift" trucks USX has & a typical automatic transmission?

dollar gen, are solo only runs at between 200ml & 350 with 1-4 stops each and return. most runs take 14hr + 10hr break and 4hr back. YOU hand unload each stopto the back of the trailer (most stores don't have loading docks) you park by the side door. you get stop pay for each stop & unload pay. i've done then didn't like it but for 1 trip 237ml i got $374.
dollar tree is about the same. not sure about wal-mart. we also have TJMAX and that is team only but you HAVE to stay out for 6 weeks at a time. some drivers like um some don't.

an automatic (like you have in a car) use a turque-converter with wet clutch's and alot of "soft" parts (the soft parts are the parts replaced in a rebuild) and has 2-6 speeds


an auto-shift (call auto-shift, freedomline, ultralshift or i-shift) is a standerd transmission (9,10,11,13,14,15 or 18 speed) with a standerd clutch or air clutch( no pedal ) with a computer and a air shifter. the computer floots the gears the same as you do you just don't have a shift lever. the computer does all the upshifting and ALL the downshifting automatic's DON"T downshift. (if you are driving your car at 55mph and slow to a stop you will notice that the transmission doesn't downshift) doing the same thing in a truck with an auto-shift you will feel it do each downshift.

also an automatic transmission waste 10-20% of your horsepower (that's way a car with a stick get better mpg than an auto)
an auto-shift (usx use 10speed auto-shift) get the same (or better)mpg as a standerd 10speed (the computer can be set for mpg or hp) and you can override it by going manual and up or down shifting as needed

also in manual it WILL NOT let you go to a gear the will over or under rev the motor not like a car that will let you be going down the road at 70mph and if you shift into 2nd.........!!! if you try it in an auto-shift all it will do is beep at you.

what is funny about the auto-shift is when it misses a shift (we all miss one now and then) it's funny to here the truck do a gear recovery rev, rev, rev click, to good side is you can always keep BOTH hands on the wheel and you don't have to try to turn at the corner looking at the cars and change gears at the same time. or the lite turns green as you are drinking you coffee and you have to set your cup down to shift.

i can driver both the wife can driver both but she had a dicie knee so she realy likes driving the auto better. at the end of the day driving an auto-shift you just feel better (more rested) i won't even go it to how nice it is in LA, Atlanta, Chicago, the NE..

Thanks so much for your info, flood. You've put a lot of our fears and worries to rest.

Keep one thing in mind when going with USXpress.

They have auto transmissions. You will be trained in one and I believe your CDL will specify AUTOMATIC Transmission only.

This will severely limit your options in the future should you decide to move on. And from what I've read on the boards, many USXpress drivers do just that.

Don't forget, That all depends on were you live, and the laws of that state.

usxpress doesn't do any cdl training or testing...! you need to go to school and get your cdl first then usx will take you for finish training. the only way your cdl will say AUTO ONLY is if you take you cdl test in an auto and then as MADLUX said now as to drivers leaving usx drivers leave companies all the time and not just usx but all companies and yes if you can only drive an auto it will make it a LITTLE harder but more companies are adding them all the time. maybe that is why volvo came out with the I-SHIFT and it is not being sold to companies but to O/O's.. :shock:

Are they trustworthy? NO!
 

and why do you say that?

Re: Are they trustworthy? NO!
 

The auto-shifts or USXpress?

As for the auto-shifts, I absolutely love them. I drove about 15 months or so for USXpress - the only transmission problem I ever had was that the clutch went out at 650,000 miles on the truck. They replaced the clutch and the truck was perfect again.

The company I drive for now has former USX trucks. I'm in a 2002 Volvo with 720,000 miles on it, and it, too, works great. I have one of 3 of their former Volvo's. My truck is the heaviest truck in our fleet of about 75 trucks. Mine has the largest engine (465hp) and also gets the best fuel mileage in the entire fleet at 6.9mpg average. We haul an average load of 42-44,000lbs and most of the loads go through the Appalachian Mountains - we're based in Fairmont, WV, which is on I-79, about 60 miles south of Washington, PA.

If the auto-shifts were as troublesome as some people make them out to be, would a company with almost 10,000 trucks have them in EVERY one of their trucks? Would how many other companies be switching their fleet to them?

I have a buddy who went through their school in Medway, Ohio some years back and had the unfortunate experience of pulling for em'. His experiences were the following:

low .cpm
some sort of ridiculous sliding-scale BS
worthless benefits with large co-pay and deductible
sitting around unpaid alot
pay on HHG so expect to get soaked 10% off the hub
trucks look nice but they're stripped-down, governed fleet trucks
mostly a team-oriented operation - solos fight for the scraps
hometime a roll of the dice

You could basically cut-copy-paste the above gripes into just about any of the McMega-carrier threads and you'd come out right on the money. The real question to ask when researching such outfits is "How hard will they screw me?"

as i see it it all comes down to this size doesn't matter some companies are good and some are bad. look at it this way you have two driver driver #! picks up his load ONTIME and delivers ONTIME and doesn't bit@$ every time he gets a load he doesn't like and driver #2 picks up his load 10min late delivers 1hr late so he could have a sitdown dinner and calls and bit@$ every time he gets a load he doesn't like. now who is going to get the better loads and who is it that thay will not care if he quits...

I think US Express is a good company.

In this situation, where the OP is going to run as a team, US might not be a bad choice. I rarely hear good things about them from a solo point of view but the teams I've talked to seem to be happy.

Re: Anyone know anything about US Xpress?
 

Hasn't USXpress adopted the pay scheme swift pioneered? The further you drive the less you get paid. I think that scheme stinks and hope it doesn't become the norm.

yes thay did change the pay scale for solo's but what is strange is that no one looks at it the right way. what no one looks at is that long haul pay didn't change what did change is thay ADDED more pay of shorter runs.

look at it this way if you get a 1200ml run you can drive for 2 days RIGHT
but you can't do 4 300ml runs in two days (drop & hook time, waiting for next load etc.) so thay pay more for the shorted run so the driver will still make about the same pre day..

Forget the sliding-scale smoke-and-mirrors Ponzi schemes. From the driver's seat, miles are miles and should be paid based upon experience and tenure with the company.

In the above example, the driver should be on the clock waiting for his next load, dropping/hooking etc. A few more pennies per mile isn't gonna come close to compensating him for his time.

I was going to respond to some of the claims, but you covered it quite well.

The simple fact is....USX's solo pay scheme is just that.....a "scheme". And its nothing more than a scheme to hose the driver.

Since when is a drivers skills worth "LESS $$" if the mileage on the run is greater??? Its a plain and simple "rip-off". Nothing more, nothing less.

I would not even lift a pen to an application for a company that paid that way. Not worth the time or effort. :evil: :x

The "notion" that the solo payscale is adjusted upward for lower mileage trips in order for the driver to make more money per day on short runs is "hilarious".... a 1 year driver there gets 41 cpm for a 0-300 mile or less run, then conversely gets 37 cpm for a 301-600 mile run. Now, consider this, and its what makes the payscale a true ponzi scheme as ColdFrostyMug put it:

All they have to do to hose the driver is add ONE mile to a 300 mile run, making it a 301 mile run, and they screw the driver out of $12.00 Now, granted....$12.00 isn't a fortune, but multiply it times the number of trucks and loads they run.....and you arrive at how their drivers really get screwed.

If a driver worked 270 days a year running 300 mile runs every day, he or she would gross $33210.00. But if that same driver pulled 270 of the 301 mile runs they would get paid: $30,069.90. That is a $3140.10 a year difference in pay.....all brought about by simple dishonesty and greed.

That payscale is a sham and should be illegal!! :evil:

Oh, by the way....doing two 300 mile drop and hooks in one day....maybe you can't do it, but I have done it numerous times...pulling two relay loads in the same day. I guess thats the difference between a professional and a "wannabee"..... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Be Very prepared for orientation, have a resume, all your jobs in order, any "major" medical issues such as Sleep Apnea, Diabetes, and High blood pressure will require a release from your doctor stating that you are safe to drive.

I don't have anything bad to say about them either way. I had a blast driving an automatic.

thanks for showing everyone my point was RIGHT... :shock: :shock: :shock: before thay went to the sliding payscale a driver with one year was getting .32cpm for ALL miles SO driving AS YOU SAID 300ml a day 270 days a year at ,32cpm a driver would gross (old pay) $25920.00 or with the new payscale he now makes YOUR WORDS $33210.00 or $7290.00 MORE

thanks again for showing everyone I WAS RIGHT.

now as to the any one can do two 300ml RELAY loads a day (it's not hard to drive 300ml meet a truck change trailers and driver back but that is LTL not OTR) try doing two 300 OTR loads a day for two days and see if you can get all four 1200ml's done remember that you have to go to the pu D&H trailers get paper work drive 300ml D&h drive to next pu D&H get paper work drive 300ml's all this before your 11/14 is up and if you don't D&H then you will bump the dock and wait to get loaded or unload and then do it the same the next day to get the 1200ml i was talking about you MAY do it one day but do you REALY think you can do it two days back to back.... not going to happen

now as to the name calling do YOU REALY want to get into that.....??

Sure, why not. I think I know where I'm at with over 1,350,000 safe and ticket free miles..... so I think the word "Professional" adequately describes me. 8) Again, thats the difference between a "Professional" and a wannabe..... 8)

But tell me this: Why in the dickens would anyone want to drive for a company that runs nothing but short haul? Thats just glorified non-union LTL.....and on top of it all....not get paid a dime for all the rest of their time spent on the job? $33,210.00, good pay for a YEAR??? :roll: Come now....I did better than that with Swift 13 years ago :shock: :shock: And in my current job I've made over $24K in 22 weeks, and been home on off time more than 37 days..... Frankly, if I thought all I had to look forward to was $33K a year..... I wouldn't even bother filling out the application. Even while I was at CFI last year I made over $43K in the first 9 months of the year, and that was at 37.5 cpm, though some miles had the added 5 cpm for the 12 NE states added to make it 42.5 cpm. So tell me....why would I want to work for less....and get paid HHG miles to boot?? I can't think of a single reason why I would want to cheat myself.

And....oh, lets not forget that USX pays the driver based on HHG miles.

Now, for those of you who don't know the difference between HHG and Practical Miles.... here's the difference:

300 Miles paid on HHG: You will drive not less than 320 miles, and as much as 345 actual miles. (USX)

300 miles paid on Practical Miles: You will drive as little as 295 miles or as much as 305 miles....depending on your "routing skills". (CFI & others)

So, in reality, USX's payscale is truly a first rate "hose job". You do the math. If you think USX is the place to be, maybe you should lease on with Prime or CRE...they've got a spot for you.... :P :P :shock: :shock: 8)

8) :P :lol: :lol: Bump....

Here's another example of why USX's payscales "suck".....just like so many other box and reefer companies:

My last settlement sheet for 6/19 - 6/24 shows that I ran 2527 miles, and also got paid for 13.91 hours.....and my gross pay was $1213.38. Here, I'll do the math for you: it works out to 48 cents per mile on Practical miles.

Now as to your claims of being only 2% out of route on HHG miles.... thats truly a scream!!

For a one year driver at USX to make $1213.38 at the .41 cpm short haul 300 miles level....he/she would have to be dispatched 2960 miles HHG and would actually end up driving 3315 miles. But wait, that would be nigh to impossible to you....because it would be 10 dispatches of 300 miles, and well, that just can't be done!! SO I guess that pay scheme of theirs is not really all that much of a benefit to the driver is it....??

For a one year driver at USX to make $1213.38 at the .32 cpm long haul rate...of 900 miles or better, he/she would have to drive 3792 miles, and would actually drive about 4247 miles to do it. Pretty difficult to do with all the time wasted hanging around waiting for paperwork and all that. That is because its at least four 900+ mile dispatches or longer. I rather doubt that will happen....

The numbers don't lie, and everything in the industry has physical limitations....unless someone lies up a blue streak in their log books to make the money, and frankly....if you have to "become a bold faced liar" to make a living.....that in itself is justification to completely redesign to industry, or seek other venues to earn money.

USX's pay scheme is a "hoser".....period!

And exactly how many other companies also pay HHG? You're talking like USX is the only place that isn't paying practical miles. Take that argument somewhere else - at least until they're the ONLY company paying HHG...

No, they aren't the only one paying HHG.... I believe Swift and SNI are also, as well as some others.... But is it not true also that USX is the only one that is blindsiding their drivers with a lopsided pay scheme that has loopholes in it? A pay scheme that can be manipulated by dispatchers to clip the driver and actually cheat them out of money.... Don't believe me, just look at the payscale....and if you've got any common sense you can see the pitfalls immediately.

I think the difference is....most companies that pay HHG at least pay better across the board...

The argument is valid in any event, and USX's pay scheme is still a hoser. 8) Personally, I don't think anyone should accept HHG miles....its little more than legalized theft at the bottom line....and the company is the only beneficiary. Nor do I think that any driver should tolerate not getting paid for their extra labors.... Slavery was outlawed a long time ago. 8)

One other thing I wanted to add.... whats interesting is that USX needs to take and key their pay to "years" of experience, etc.... which can work to the detriment of more experienced drivers...in that one with some experience will find themself mysteriously sitting while drivers with less years of experience will be dispatched more miles...go figure, eh? Its all about the "bottom line".

The interesting thing about a company like I work for.....we get paid for just about everything under the sun, and we all get paid the same as far as mileage pay....so there is no incentive to dispatch one driver over the other...and the only deciding parameters are: 1. Does the driver have the hours, and 2. Does this move the driver toward where he or she needs to be in the scheme of things.... 8)

But at the bottom line, its each to his own, and if you are content to be hosed down financially by your employer, I wish you luck and happiness. 8)

so what company do you drive for then?

Lately, US Express drivers have told me the frieght has slowed down.

As it shows below my "avatar".... I pull a tanker (chemical & hazmat) for "Superior Carriers". :D

If you have interest in tanker work....check out Cyanide's tanker information thread....tons and tons of information there....including pay and benefits as reported to him by many of the companies. 8)

why would i and take a pay cut

try this in your calculator
071307 sitting at USF in clackamas, or. odometer 157405. receved load info pu in seattle, wa. stop #1 portland, or. stop #2 fremont, ca. finish hawthorne, ca. paid miles mt 186 loaded 1197.

071707 sitting at bax global in hawthorne, ca. receved load info pu buena park, ca. del usx drop yard in kearny, nj. paid miles mt 24 loaded 2754

072107 sitting at usx drop yard in kearny, nj. receved load info pu newark, nj. del oakland, ca. paid miles mt 8 loaded 2889.

sitting at fedex in oakland, ca. odometer reads 164545 so we have driven 7140 miles total paid miles 7058

so we went over 82 miles and part of that (18 miles) was going out of route to have a trailer fixed ware i wanted to have it fixed (went to usx yard in colton, ca. to have it fixed instead of having it fixed at the TA in ontario, ca.) and 9 miles when i missed a fuel stop and had to go back to it. so if we had not gone out of route to get the trailer fixed and if i had not missed the fuel stop we would have gone over 55 miles

you have this thing stuck in your head that HHG will always be 10% off i.e. that you will ALWAYS drive 10% more than you are paid for. all i can say is in that you are full :dung: 10% would be 705.8 miles over and 1% would be 70.58 miles over

btw do you have brown eyes...? just trying to see it you are full yet

i have every trip we have run for the last three years on this laptop or the system at home and the most we have ever been off is 5.6% and we have alot of loads we run that pay more miles than the trip is :shock:

your right REAL numbers don't lie but on the other hand opinions not based on real facts are not much better than a bold face lie

Gee, he or is it she.. called me an "a$$hole".... gosh, I am so hurt. And the originality of using $$'s in place of S's.... WOW!!!

You've more than adequately defined the parameters of your character for all to see... 8) By the way "grasshopper"..... Far better people than you have tried to insult me and failed dismally You don't even register on the scale. Your opinion of me is worthless. But I will say that based on the vehemence of your replies...it seems I touched a raw nerve. Is it possible that the "truth hurts", and that the rosy bed you thought you were sleeping in is really a bed of thorns?

A 75,000 mile "Professional"...... thats as bad as calling a medical student "Doctor"......

"flood", PM me your mailing address.... I want to go to a t-shirt shop and have a t-shirt with this on the front made especially for you:
:withstupid: