Profile For DC V.

The fact you are asking the question leads me to believe that you are being called to the road. It may be harder somedays to keep the fire going, but that little light of yours is going to shine out on the road in a way it never will in your home church. But you have less accountability out here, but we are out here and the Lord equips you adequately, if we continue to put Him first.

Just dont forsake the assembly with other Christians when the opportunity arises on the road. There are trucking chapels and services along the road and they need our support and we need theirs.

David

Usxpress has thousands of autos and moving that direction fleet wide. You sound like a great driver prospect, and while they still force many of us to train in an auto and roadtest in a 10 speed, I would bet that a call to usxpress safety department might get you some advocacy. 800-251-6291 ext 257587?

Maybe a recruiter would work for you, I dont know. But again, in a company that seeems to take all comers somedays, you look like a great prospect

David

I am so ready to start training for my CDL. Emotionally that is. I am trying to get a grant/ fin aid that i may recieve due to my ADD and the fact that. I am on Ritalin. Thing is the opointment with the people in November. I was bummed but I was riminded that All things work for the good for those who are in Christ Jesus. Emotionally i am ready. Cognitively NOT AT ALL. This will give me more time to study on ths HRTP. God is Good.

Michael,

Ha, ha,

You dont get to run the show anymore. Just continue to seek Him, during this time as He clearly is allowing you to grow in ways you might just want to bypass. But if trucking is where Hes sending you, then any growth in the area of patience you get under your belt now, will be real helpful down the road.

Its all going to work out beautifully regardless as you really do know the end game.

Keeping looking up,

David

My apologies for commenting on an old thread..

I drove one of US Xpress' new 2015 Freightliners with the "Automatic" transmission. I have to admit, it was very nice especially when I was in the Los Angeles area traffic. There was no shortage of power and shifted very nice. This could also be placed in "manual" as well when driving steep grades or mountains.

I agree with Brett. You'll be fine getting in one after driving school as long as you know how to shift and/or have the concept down.

Just spent 200 hours on a 2015 Peterbuilt with auto at usxpress and as a new driver it actually made driving easier initially becuase I could forget about shifting mostly and concentrate on driving. The newer technology is pretty good, and usxpress as a company is moving toward all autos from what others are saying. I did have to road test on a 10 speed after those 200 hours of auto work and it was felt like school again. But the truth is having honed my ability to drive the rig over 18,000 miles put me in such a comfortable position overall, that for the first time I was free to focus a great deal on shifting the manual. I feel that in about 10 to 20 hours, I would be very comfortable with a manual going forward.

My guess is you will see the manual go the way of the automatic as it did in automobiles but how would I really know.

David

I assume tommorrow I get my job with USxpress, but will let you know if I dont. I will also explain why my three day orientation went over the weekend.

Arrived at Tunnel Hill Tuesday for Wednesday start of orientation and checked in to Baymont Motel which is nearby and where orienting drivers stay. Now having been in it for 5 nights I would rate it about average and in need of some maintenance. I paid the $17.50 a night extra fee and had a private room. The morning continental breakfast was also average, but all in all it was about what you would expect for a motel that must run about 100 drivers through each week.

Our class started on Weds and consisted mostly of doing, a reapplication, the physical test, the DOT medical exam, the urinalysis and a road test.

1. The re-application was pretty much a rehash of what you had already provided. 2. The physical test was actually much harder than I had expected and I would recommend anyone who expects to sign on, (find a description of physical test) get into the gym about 3 times a week and workout carrying 50 -70 lbs around for 100 or so feet and squating low as in under your truck, doing a duck walk. I would also recommend 30 minutes on a treadmill three times a week to get your cardio conditioned as a moderate to large spike in HR with the weight carry will fail you. If you do not work out prior to coming as I hadnt, your body may be overwhelmed when subjected to three trips up and down the hall with significant weights. 3. The medical exam: well the reason I am held over was that I had had a bout of melanoma this year that required a couple of surgeries and becuase of the fact that the tissue taken out the last surgery was negative and I also am annoyed that I have to share private medical info, and pshycologically I was walking forward as if I never had melanoma AND THE LAST DOT PHYSICAL DIDNT REQUIRE ME TO DROP MY DRAWERS, I never listed the surgery. Well I get in there with the nurse and doctor and they ask me to drop my drawers, the nurse did the cough manuever, and then asked about the large surgical incision on my groin and leg where they took all the lymph nodes out of my leg looking for cancer. I guess I could have lied and told them it was years old, but I didnt, told them it was this year, and shut down the medical exam. I was told I needed a release from the doctor who did the surgery. That release didnt get here until late Friday so I couldnt get the doctor to finish the physical and was held over the weekend on their dime.

Someone speculated that the dropping the drawers wasnt so much for check but check for drug testing cheating and evidently someone did have urine taped to their leg. I was just annoyed at my having to share deeply personal information but in hindsight I should have just acknowleged it with the first DOT physical at school.

The urine drug test was just that and so be aware that you go from exposing your genitals to the drug testing line and so cheating looks pretty difficult.

The road test was in an automatic and quite easy. They pretty much just want to see if you can move it safely. For anyone saying that usxpress is going back to manual tranys, I think you got it backward. I think we were told the new trucks were all automatics.

The rest of the week was going back and forth to the orientation office as they dealt with one issue or another in their list of things they have to rule you out or in. Some people get ruled out early, and some dont get ruled out till the last day. Usxpress seems to do very little formally as far as that goes until you are actually here for orientation. Most terminators seemed to feel that Usxpress had been informed of their negatives in the recruiting process. I think it is set up so most all the risk is on you and not usxpress in the application process and that people, with a conviction, or self employment, or surgery, or physical limitations, or tickets, or DUI, have to really consider whether its works subjecting themselves to the heavy scrutinizing that occurs after you arrive. My guess is that 25 - 40% of people who showed up to orientation did not make it.

The gals in the orientation office seemed respectful in all my interactions and always were apologetic for delays or dissapointments. They have a tough job for that company and I never saw them treating people disrespectfully.

The instructors all seemed to be pretty good people who all had significant experience in the industry and were pretty respectful and fair in their interactions with us.

There were classes on e/logs, map reading and inspections, but mostly this felt as if it was really about getting you hired or not.

While it will be another day before I know for sure whether I have a job, I feel tonight that Usxpress really puts you through the ringer physically and mentally and most of thats done after you quit your other job and not before you get to orientation which seems slanted in their direction. But honestly, you get on board, and you look to be working for a company that cares about its drivers, about safety, and has pretty sweet equipment.

I may or may not even have a job, but my opinion wouldnt be all that different if I dont. They have a right to employ who they want and some of us with issues really have no one else to blame for them but ourselves mostly.

They did seem fair and treated everyone equally as far as I could tell.

David

I wanted to give a summary of what I experienced and my perceptions recently attending Roadmaster Tampa School.

Roadmaster like everyone else providing a service in trucking gets hammered on the internet primarilly from people who had negative experience and thus had motivation to take the time and post on the subject.

I was assisted in my payment of tuition by WIA (a goverment grant to retrain the unemployed). They paid $3500 upfront making me one of those who didnt have to struggle with poor credit or no credit. Some of the negativity I saw seemed to center around Roadmasters unwillingness to allow students who could not get financing or had financing fall through the ability to continue the program. It was painful to see a couple guys you had gotten to know over the first couple weeks get sent home for inability to pay. I wished they had been just allowed to continue and that Roadmaster just assumed the risk as there seemed little to lose after midway through the program. But maybe that was unfair to the guys that paid $7000 upfront out of pocket or secured financing at 18% interest. Also where do you stop once you make exceptions in a program like Roadmaster that starts new classes every week of the year? The guys that I was most hurt about, actually got through 2/3 of the program but so I assume if they got that far, they know what its worth going forward and will find a way to get it done if it means that much to them.

Roadmasters personnel in Tampa, whether it was the recruiter, the placement coordinator, the office director or the instructors and examiners for the most part are people like the rest of us with their unique personalities and strengths and weaknesses. Some were hardened and not all that accomidating but there were enough softer, fun and accomidating others to make it pretty much representive of any organization. They all for the most part wanted you to succeed. I never did see where anything became easier for anyone in the face of loud, angry or frustrated responses from instructors and that may be something the school may want to monitor. But do you really appreciate the challenges that come through a school door in this industry every week? Despite what the recruiters or counselers may have told us, not everybody is right for trucking.

I can appreciate those that felt the first week spent on e-treads that could have been done at home wasnt worth much, or that the seats and computers could be upgraded, but beyond those complaints, I have nothing but pretty positive feelings about the Roadmaster 160 hour program. Our student to truck ratio was no more than 4 students to a truck for the most part, the trucks were not as new as the trucks we will be going to work on, but they were 9 and 10 speeds and you really were expected to develop your base skills before they would graduate. I know personally that they will not graduate you if you havent obtained an average ability to handle the rig safely. And they will be the first to say that everybody gets it at different times and if you have to stay an additional week (on their dime and at the expense of upcoming classes, its not a big deal to them).

Barring any issues with driving record, employability, or criminal record we all had offers for jobs when we graduated. Now many of us had some junk in the closet that we have to get through with whoever we go to work for so we cant really blame anyone else for that. But if you are lucky enough to have a clean slate, every company whos hiring students out of school is going to want you.

I had a wia counseler tell me that everyone that goes to Roadmaster through their agency gets a job. Now looking around the unemployment office, I find that hard to believe. But if you are an average person with not to much personal baggage, you can expect to be trucking once you complete the school.

The hotel: i didnt stay there, but everyone I know said it was a nice hotel. La Quinta. Downside was that you ultimately have the cost tacked on your tuition.

My recruiter was Pat Felty. Hes a likeable guy and I never caught him in a lie or even an exaggeration. I would recommend calling him in Tampa, and be sure you ask him anything and everything you can about the benefits and risks for you.

Finally, I hope this helps you. Maybe it helps the school too but in my mind they deserve it. I got what they told me I would and they let me go three additional days to get my over the road driving down. I am still a clutz kinda with double clutching and finding gears, although I was perfect in my manuevers. USxpress road tested me with an automatic by their choice, and all I can say is that Roadmaster made it so I could pass anyones pre-employment roadtest, manual or automatic.

David