Thoughts On USA Truck?

Hey guys,

I am a 21 yo relatively new driver here. About to head into my sixth month with USA Truck. So far it’s had its ups and downs, and I wanted to vent some frustrations and also ask for some advice.Been reading on this forum for a while, but never made an account. Saw some similar posts here from other rookies about some companies so I wanted to give some background information.

I try to be as efficient as possible. I get up as early as I can, typically run on the 10 hour breaks if I’m able to. Prefer to run early mornings (1-2am) when I can; but it’s hard to keep that consistent when I have a live unload scheduled in the evening. Stay out for a while, always over a month. stay in contact with my trainer and talk to him frequently..

Now for venting/asking for advice:

I do a lot of sitting around. A lot of relay loads. Take this from the yard and run it 50 miles to the receiver kind of things. On a good week I can hit 3000+ miles, although that happens rarely. Right now I’m closing out my week at 1800 miles after being in the shop Monday and most of Tuesday. Also the relay load I’m on got cancelled and I’m stuck with the trailer until they reschedule it.

My dispatcher keeps telling me that I’m doing a great job, and some days it feels like it, other days I think he’s just filling me with air. I’m really just tired of sitting around so much, it seems my first few weeks back from home time are always slow, and then I get a good 3 or 4 weeks in before I get home. I’m just looking for consistency and I do voice my concerns to him (although I doubt it makes a difference)

I’ll finish a load and end up sitting and waiting for one to become available. Sometimes they’ll assign them to me in advance and I can get a groove going, but other times it seems like I do more sitting than driving. I’d like to be at atleast 2500 miles a week, I am out here to drive after all. Not to sit in the sleeper.

I guess my questions are the following: - How do you view USA Truck as a company? - What can I do as a driver to help with staying consistent with miles? - Is it really a slow time of year for us? I just find it hard to believe that freight actually slows down before Christmas..when people are buying eachother gifts and goods.

Hopefully this post doesn’t come off as pompous. I am still in my rookie year and do recognize this, however I know that I am a hardworker and I am determined to build a living for myself.

The intermittent loads and lack of consistency, lack of pre plans is very typical of OTR at large carriers. You can find that you're doing everything right in what we say, being safe, productive and reliable, on time and communicating well yet there's only so much work to go around.

Even experienced drivers have been struggling to keep the miles coming in at large carriers in many sectors.

In addition to the lack of freight, most of the large carriers are also reducing the amount they pay in labor and ancillary costs as much as possible in response to the market shift that occurred. I'm not condoning the practice, just acknowledging the conditions. It's industry wide, the larger the carriers, the more prevalent it is.

Some solutions might be seeing if they offer a dedicated account or niche accounts. These generally carry more consistent miles. Another avenue that I used at Knight was to take loads in regions that others didn't want to and find strategies to make it work. IE, doing a lot of loads in Socal, but running them at night. Taking loads across 80 in Wyoming for months at a time, running mountains in the winter. I found that the majority of the time the roads were bare and dry, and I could always get extra miles by routing around errant storms while making myself of value to the planners.

I'd recommend sitting down and really strategizing on how you can maximize your value and get the most miles you can, but also realize that it's a battle and many corporations are moving towards an approach of handing loads out not based on driver quality as much but rather which truck was in the area first. There's not a whole lot one can do to combat it except have strong fundamentals and be willing to take the loads without complaint.

There also comes a time when your present company perhaps doesn't check enough of your boxes for what you need. If that happens, and you have maximized your realistic earning potential there, than it may be time for you to research other companies. I stayed with my first company for 3 years. I formed some great relationships in the industry and learned much. When they no longer were a fit to my plans, I changed to a company that aligned to my goals after a lot of careful consideration. The patience and careful research paid off well.

I personally wouldn't recommend changing companies right now given the surplus of drivers and lack of freight. Also, a year of experience at least, seems to be the benchmark for opening doors. In many cases even two.

No matter what route you take, the fundamentals of being a top tier driver need to be first and foremost. Safe, productive, reliable and easy to work with. I understand your frustration and the confusion too of doing everything well yet not getting enough miles.

No matter what route you take, the fundamentals of being a top tier driver need to be first and foremost. Safe, productive, reliable and easy to work with. I understand your frustration and the confusion too of doing everything well yet not getting enough miles.

I appreciate your feedback and the tips you’ve given me. As for dedicated routes go, I know they have some options, I plan on calling our driver care line tomorrow and getting some numbers for dedicated driver managers. I like my dispatcher a lot, but the weekend staff are abysmal and it appears my dispatcher is very limited in what he can do to help me.

Ran into a driver at our Lakeland terminal who says he does dedicated chewy routes. Makes 3000 miles a week and runs overnights. But he goes home every weekend. Right now I’d much prefer to stay out for 5-6 weeks at a time. I figure if I talk to them maybe we can work something out.

My trainer runs on the staples account out of Indiana. He always makes consistent money, the only downside I can see is its driver assist on the unloads for stores.

I do think about leaving, but only when I get really frustrated like I am this weekend. I don’t think USA is a horrible company, safety never really bothers me even with the driver facing camera. I really like that our trucks have 68 as opposed to some other companies that limit it to 64 or 66. My current truck has an APU , but I know they’ll be retiring it soon as it’s over 400k miles. 50 cpm seems to be the best I’ll be able to get right now..especially dry van as a rookie driver. I know that as a dedicated driver that will be knocked down to 40something cpm. Which has deterred me from making the call already.

When I get more experience I want to look into tanker, as I figure loads will be more consistent and more cpm. Also want to get my TWIC card and hazmat , but USA has expressed it won’t help me much at their company. Still a good thing to have though.

Definitely don’t think USA is my forever home, but I know I could have it much worse. Just trying to learn patience. Pay my dues and all that.

HAZMAT:

Hazardous Materials

Explosive, flammable, poisonous or otherwise potentially dangerous cargo. Large amounts of especially hazardous cargo are required to be placarded under HAZMAT regulations

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.

Dedicated Route:

A driver or carrier who transports cargo between regular, prescribed routes. Normally it means a driver will be dedicated to working for one particular customer like Walmart or Home Depot and they will only haul freight for that customer. You'll often hear drivers say something like, "I'm on the Walmart dedicated account."

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.

Driver Manager:

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.

Dry Van:

A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.

CPM:

Cents Per Mile

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

TWIC:

Transportation Worker Identification Credential

Truck drivers who regularly pick up from or deliver to the shipping ports will often be required to carry a TWIC card.

Your TWIC is a tamper-resistant biometric card which acts as both your identification in secure areas, as well as an indicator of you having passed the necessary security clearance. TWIC cards are valid for five years. The issuance of TWIC cards is overseen by the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.

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.

Hi. Davey made some good points. Dedicated here at Prime have much better miles, which results in higher pay. You could pay me $1 a mile, but if I only get 1000 miles a week, it doesn't mean more money. Even I am struggling for miles and have been driving a long time.

Check.put my Youtube for rookie tips and tricks. And feel free to vent here or email me when u get frustrated. Some of us are in the same boat. Jumping ship before your first year may not help. And don't "figure" tanker or any other company will pay more. Research. Ask drivers at truck stops. Learn the difference between BS and the truth. Good luck

Hi. Davey made some good points. Dedicated here at Prime have much better miles, which results in higher pay. You could pay me $1 a mile, but if I only get 1000 miles a week, it doesn't mean more money. Even I am struggling for miles and have been driving a long time.

Hey Kearsey,

Thank you for this. Helps me feel not so alone in all of this. Luckily my dispatcher is pretty good about putting in layover pay for me when things are slow. Last week I managed to get 2 days of layover pay, and 1 day for breakdown. Layover is due to all the issues weekend staff put me through. All in all that was like an extra $225 before taxes. Closed out the week decently. This week I was able to run hard and push a few 11 hour days and overnight runs. Closing out at 2850 miles.

Staying out over Christmas and I don’t think it will be my greatest week yet. But I knew it would be hit or miss.

Overall I’m feeling pretty okay with USA truck as a company currently. I hear about these other companies and it makes me realize my life isn’t so bad over here. Especially for a rookie driver