Going To USExpress???

Oh I just didn't want to hijack David's thread lol. Both Randy and David can ask anything about US Xpress here.

But I think we all agree whatever issues David has with Werner probably won't go away if he switches to another company.

ThinksTooMuch: Thanks for the reply, some of the questions that I have about U.S. Express are:

1) What is the realistic starting pay per mile a graduate can expect? 2) What is the realistic average miles a graduate can expect? 3) What is the policy on home time? 4) How long is Orientation, and is it paid? 5) How long have you worked for U.S. Express? 6) Have you been satisfied with U.S. Express?

Sorry for so many questions, I'm just looking for a company that I'm going to be satisfied with and make it a long term marriage. For the past 15 years I have been doing Janitorial and just tired of jumping from company to company because one company under bided. This last company was hell to work for. The customer hated to see me leave since I was with them for 15 yrs. Decided to get into trucking.

I have a lot of apps out there and have narrowed it down to about 8 companies, just looking for the right fit for me and the company.

I have a pre-hire from Roehl but just got offered a job with US Express. US Express offered a 3,000 signing bonus as well as tuition re-imbursement. The other thought is the Springfield terminal is only a 2 hour drive from my house and my home terminal for Roehl is in Gary IN. Roehl started off 4 cents more a mile though too.

Tough decision but I haven't heard much negative from U.S. Express. I do NOT like the idea of having an automatic though. I have a few weeks to think it over.

Six

Randy I've been with US Xpress for 2 months now. I am on a local dedicated account. So I don't have too much info on OTR stuff, we do have OTR drivers come on the account sometimes for a few days when it is busy, so I can tell you what they tell me.

NE Regional pays 0.33/cpm and averages 2500 miles/week. They get home on weekends for 34-hour restarts, sometimes Fri/Sat, sometimes Sat/Sun... that's trucking. I don't see many OTR drivers come to our account, so no information on them. But pay would be less by a few cents and maybe a few more miles per week.

Orientation was 3 or 4 days, can't remember lol. It paid like $60/day or something. Breakfast and lunch provided, no dinner. Lodging provided with 2 people to a room. Then new CDL holders go on the road with a trainer to team drive for a month or so (it's mileage based so it could be a little more or less than a month), paid at something like $0.20/cpm (varies by location). Then you go with another student for 2 months team driving, also paid at something like $0.20/cpm. Then you do a final road test and get assigned your own truck.

I have been satisfied with the dedicated account I am on. Orientation was sort of a blur to be honest, one day you do paperwork and physicals, then the next two days you watch videos and do a quick 15 minute road test. I am sure different terminals do orientation slightly different. Please confirm all this with your recruiter, I am have some things slightly off since I do not drive OTR for US Xpress.

I do NOT like the idea of having an automatic though.

There are some automatics and some manuals. I'd assume if you got an automatic, you could ask for a manual once you prove yourself to your fleet manager.

Roehl should also have tuition reimbursement as far as I know. And they have sign-on bonuses on some of their fleets/locations when I look at their website. Here is my information on Roehl (it is 8 months old though, so confirm with your recruiter):

21-day training total, 8 days orientation ($600 paid) Lunch provided, vouchers for dinner, 13 days with trainer ($90/day) all in Marshfield or Appleton, WI or flatbed Erie, Indiana. Breakdown pay $10; layover $60/day; detention is $10/hour after 2 hours; hand-load is $12/hour; 95% no-touch; 2300-2600miles/week on national fleet; tuition reimburse $100 per 900solo miles, max $6000 Hubs, Elenwood, GA, Dallas, TX, Phoenix, AZ; Paid vacation 1 week after 1 year, 2 weeks after 2years, 3 weeks after 8years, 4weeks after 20years; EZ-pass, pre-pass, fuel cards Dry Van – 0.32/cpm; capped at 0.45/cpm Reefer 0.34/cpm; capped at 0.47/cpm Flatbed 0.35/cpm; capped at 0.48/cpm Guaranteed 0.02/cpm raise at 3months, then 0.02/cpm raise at 6months; then it is performance based, up to 4 raises of 0.02/cpm per year;