Sage Truck Driving School - Phox

Congratulations Phox. I hope you are paired with a really good trainer capable of channeling your enthusiasm towards achieving success.

Good luck and safe travels.

Im going to be going to sage here in wyoming in casper

WTG Phox. USX will gain a good, new driver. Remember, pay attention, and remain teachable, and gain as much knowledge as possible in the short time you will be with your trainer. I know that USX likes to encourage teams, is their training team style, or "true trainer" or a combination of both?

Stay safe

not 100% sure... recruiter told me it was solo dispatch with trainer but you know how recruiters go... they never seem to give accurate info all the time... I have read multiple possibilities.

I'm getting packed right now to head up to Irving, TX (Dallas area for those not familer with the DFW area) for orientation. I decided to rent a car, they're gonna reimburse fuel expense at rate up to cost of greyhound ticket... I'm spending more than that on rental but it's worth it to know I'll have a vehicle and don't gotta rely on greyhound or anything else. actually the rental is only about $105 for a week so not too shabby.

I'll be leaving about 9:00 am, will prob arrive at hotel around 4-5pm. Also paying the extra cost to (27.50 per night) to have my own room... last chance to have my own space haha but I'm also bring my cats, which hotel allows, so kind of need my own room anyways. My mother will be taking care of them for me if I start training right away, otherwise I'll bring them back with me home.

US xpress is starting a brand new training thing this month so my hope is with that in mind more trainers will be available. They have not given any details publicly just that it's new, exciting and supposed to start Jan 2016

I'm getting packed right now to head up to Irving, TX (Dallas area for those not familer with the DFW area) for orientation. I decided to rent a car, they're gonna reimburse fuel expense at rate up to cost of greyhound ticket... I'm spending more than that on rental but it's worth it to know I'll have a vehicle and don't gotta rely on greyhound or anything else. actually the rental is only about $105 for a week so not too shabby.

I'll be leaving about 9:00 am, will prob arrive at hotel around 4-5pm. Also paying the extra cost to (27.50 per night) to have my own room... last chance to have my own space haha but I'm also bring my cats, which hotel allows, so kind of need my own room anyways. My mother will be taking care of them for me if I start training right away, otherwise I'll bring them back with me home.

US xpress is starting a brand new training thing this month so my hope is with that in mind more trainers will be available. They have not given any details publicly just that it's new, exciting and supposed to start Jan 2016

Looking forward to your new diary with USX.

the adventure begins!!!

So far orientation is going well.

Day 1 was by far the most miserable experience I have been through in the last year. It seemed to go on forever and I was super tired.

started with some brief intro, learned about the fuel card and filled out some paperwork.

Then we got our blood pressure checked, first it read 155/88 which had me shocked because I have never had my bp that high. nurse said she'll check it again later. after our bp check we were told to head down to the physical ability test where after freezing our noses off (it was really cold for TX standards yesterday), 2 at a time we had to pick up a milk crate with something like 48lbs and lift it onto the top of a shelf about 5-6' high... no problem for me, just a little difficult to adjust fingers for lifting above belly height when they are frozen cold. Then we had to take it and set it down, then lift and carry it about 50' and back and set it down at start point. easy peasy for me. Then we had to squat and duck walk under a platform 4' high (simulating going under trlr), then we had to climb onto one about 5-6' high with a mid point step, to simulate getting inside of a trlr. I did it all easy. Then we went back inside and waited for our name to be called... one by one... took forever! (I'd say it was at least 2.5 hours till I was called). My blood pressure was checked again and this time it read 132/80 something. much better! classmate said it was prob high before cause I had eaten breakfast and body was still digesting it. After bp test she took my height and weight, and had me do vision test. then off to the mens room to do drug test. then back to classroom to wait some more. lunch is provided for us, day 1 was pizza from dominos. over the next 2 hours or so we got called back to another room to do the rest of physical. nurse checked my ears, eyes, etc flexibility all that stuff. only thing that really wasn't done was the drop your pants, grabs your junk and cough... y'know the one that makes most men feel uncomfortable. it used to bother me a lot but nowadays I could care less. in he end I got ANOTHER 2 year medical card... already got one a month ago but from hat I hear most companies make you do one with their nurse anyways.

The rest of the day was death by videos and a presentation from one of their dedicated accounts people. computer kept losing connection with tv and messing up so we didn't get to watch all of every video... not complaining though :)

about 5pm we were dismissed to go back to hotel to return by 8am the next day... day 1 started at 7am but we had to be in hotel lobby by 6 for shuttle which didn't pick us up till 6:30ish. the one to take us back to hotel didn't get us till lie 5:30ish.

Day 2 has been better. I decided to drive my rental car instead so I didn't have to catch the 7am shuttle... little extra sleep and didn't have to leave hotel till 7:35am.

training was a little delayed I guess some people had an issue with the shuttle. had I known I could have given them a ride. oh well.

We got a brief presentation on their driver tech system, then some of us got a hands on learning with it while rest of class did something else. driver tech is what they use in place of qualcom. it's old and clunky looking but doesn't seem all that bad.

Now we are on lunch break. subway was provided for lunch.

I'll report back on rest of the day later. Should hear back by end of the day if I'm hired or not. if I am I have to stay 2 more days for other training including winter driving cause I'm a student driver (aka recent grad) and I have less than 1 year exp.

It's official. I have been "officially hired" by US Xpress as of today! I have one more day of orientation tomorrow and then soon as I get assigned a trainer I have to do 175 hours with them. Because I don't live within 100 miles of the terminal I have to do 8 weeks of team driving after that... don't like that but oh well, once I'm done I can get my own truck.

Keep your eyes on the end result instead of the minor inconveniences you may encounter along the way, Phox.

Keep your eyes on the end result instead of the minor inconveniences you may encounter along the way, Phox.

I am... to the best of my ability.

I'm back home now in San Antonio (literally just got back like 40-45 min ago) awaiting a call from training coord to get me set up with a trainer. they didn't have any available this week but said she would call me back by noon Tue with an update and if not to call her back then.