US Express

Anybody here drive for US Express, near Chicago? Any opinions about this company?

It's one of the former employers where Brett drove. Their fleets are mega-sized, as in nationwide, lots of terminals. I hear lots of USX ads looking for drivers on the radio stations I listen to on SXM.

What happened with Schneider?

I see them everyday on 65 pretty big operation I remember they came to our school 4 years ago when I was there. They pull sets for YRC too

It's one of the former employers where Brett drove. Their fleets are mega-sized, as in nationwide, lots of terminals. I hear lots of USX ads looking for drivers on the radio stations I listen to on SXM.

What happened with Schneider?

My first choice was indeed Schneider and I was scheduled to start with them this coming Monday 8/23 However 3 days ago they called me and said I had to get a sleep study and/or a CPAP machine and get into compliance before I could start. Since I've been dealing with all their requirements for about a month, I asked the recruiter why did Schneider wait until the last minute to spring this on me? (At this point I had no good choice. Any choice I made would push my start date out who knows how long) The recruiter replied with the typical company robotic lingo: "It's not my fault, it's just company policy."

So I saw an ad from USXpress, called a recruiter, filled out the full application and was immediately offered a solo OTR driving job. Starting 8/23. 3 day orientation and unless I really screw up, I will be in my assigned truck as early as Thursday. Really wanted to go with Schneider and I tried mightily, but I need to get back to work sooner rather than later. Time will tell if I made the right decision.

What's up, Bruce? I began my career with US Xpress. I did my contract year and moved to Prime afterwards. After 3 months OTR with USX they offered me a local position delivering to Walmarts from a produce company near where I live. I have no complaints about US Xpress. The dispatchers were friendly and they have terminals all over the place (one near Chicago too).

I spoke recently with my old trainer at usx. They have teamed up with a company called Variant (some of you may have seen usx trailers being pulled by Variant trucks). If you perform well you may be eligible to join the Variant part of the company. They pay around .52 per mile for less experienced drivers. I got an advertisement recently offering .60cpm for 3 years experience. The Variant trucks are equipped with apu's , and refrigerators.

It's mostly drop n hook loads @ USX, with fairly large timeframes for p/u and delivery. I'd often receive loads that I was already overdue for. Just send them an eta and they can adjust the time for you. When an actual live load/unload was given, they would tell you in advance that you must be at the appointment at the given time, just to make sure.

I hope you enjoy the company. Ask them if they have anything local for you (if you want) once you get settled in.

Terminal:

A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.

OTR:

Over The Road

OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.

Dispatcher:

Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager

The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.

CPM:

Cents Per Mile

Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APU's:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

What's up, Bruce? I began my career with US Xpress. I did my contract year and moved to Prime afterwards. After 3 months OTR with USX they offered me a local position delivering to Walmarts from a produce company near where I live. I have no complaints about US Xpress. The dispatchers were friendly and they have terminals all over the place (one near Chicago too).

I spoke recently with my old trainer at usx. They have teamed up with a company called Variant (some of you may have seen usx trailers being pulled by Variant trucks). If you perform well you may be eligible to join the Variant part of the company. They pay around .52 per mile for less experienced drivers. I got an advertisement recently offering .60cpm for 3 years experience. The Variant trucks are equipped with apu's , and refrigerators.

It's mostly drop n hook loads @ USX, with fairly large timeframes for p/u and delivery. I'd often receive loads that I was already overdue for. Just send them an eta and they can adjust the time for you. When an actual live load/unload was given, they would tell you in advance that you must be at the appointment at the given time, just to make sure.

I hope you enjoy the company. Ask them if they have anything local for you (if you want) once you get settled in.

Hello. RealDiehl. good to hear from you!

I'm leaving tomorrow For their facility in Markham, Illanoise. Orientation starts Monday AM at 7:00. Thanks for sharing you experience with USX.

How far and wide does USX roam? Anything over the Rockies? I'd love to go to the west coast, But I know nothing about chaining up. Looking forward to get back to driving. How have you been????

Terminal:

A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.

OTR:

Over The Road

OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.

Dispatcher:

Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager

The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.

CPM:

Cents Per Mile

Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APU's:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

Im doing fine. Really busy with training recently. Taking a break from that and going solo for a little while. Even going to try the dirty "L" word🤫 starting in 2 weeks. I'm keeping the truck I have, so I'll only have to lease it until June next year.

Good luck to you at orientation. There are loads that go to the west coast. I personally only had 1. Went from Ellenwood, GA (usx terminal) to Sparks Nevada. Then bounced around CA, OR, and NV for a couple weeks before coming back east.

During training, in the team phase, I also went into California.

Once you get into the swing of things you can always request a load out west.

Hopefully you can find the time to post frequent updates during training. It might help the next potential usx driver who wants to know what to expect.