US Xpress Enterprises TEL Money Scam From First Day! Chattanooga Tennessee

I contacted US Xpress Enterprises, Inc. in order to change industries. The Recruiting Dept had a very difficult time answering my questions, as I went through 4 "Recruiters"! Eventually, I was instructed that I would receive a call from ACE Driving School. When the call came, the School introduced themselves as MTC. The Placement in the school, Transportation, and information of the "Company Paid Training" were completed over the phone. It was explained that I would receive 160 hours of the State Required instruction, stay in a hotel, breakfast and lunch provided, transportation between the hotel and school provided, and I would be expected to stay with US Xpress for 12mo. Once I arrived at the school, they required a School Orientation. It was then that the "Suprises" began!

I was handed a small stack of papers to sign. The choice everyone is given is quite simple - Sign The Papers, or find your own way back home! In the papers were Loan Documents, Non-Compete Agreement, School Policy, etc. I looked at the $8400 Loan Documents and reflected back on the conversations with Recruiters, and wondered what they meant by "Company Paid Training". [It wasn't until later that I learned "Company Paid Training" is the Less Than Minimum Wage paid when a new driver begins working ($70/day for 14hrs).] As the "School" commenced, I further discovered that the "160 hours of training" did not constitute Practical 160 Hours of literal training. In fact, it was 160 Hours of being in the school's computer, standing on their property, and being registered in the hotel. After 24 hours, the "School" expected everyone to be prepared to take the State Exams (5 Total). Not one hour was spent on preparing for exams. Instead, everyone was handed Questions and Answers to memorize over night.After the State Exam Day, if you passed, you advance to the next step. If you fail after 3 Attempts, you get kicked out.

The next day, I found myself walking along side of a 18 Wheeler with 30 other students in 99 Degree Heat for 8 Hours while another student spent 1 hour playing behind the steering wheel. That is what they mean by "CDL School"! Of course, by the time I waited for my turn in the rotation, I spent 20 Hours in "Training". Some of the instructors were down to earth, but several instructors talked to students like they were just Trash. Upon completion of my second week, I was notified that I could not "Train" any longer in the trucks. When I asked "Why?" I was told "We need students in the trucks that cannot drive." I stood there stunned. I didn't even have my CDL yet, and I was still paying for the "School". I clocked out and went back to the hotel. I did not "Train" any longer. When Orientation came around, I was told by US Xpress that I could not work on the account that I applied for. I debated with so many people that an email was sent to the VP Of Recruiting. It took less than 5 minutes after the email to be placed in the job that I applied for.

Once I began working, I had an hour commute each way. Often times, I showed up for work only to be told "Go home, we gave no freight to give you." In fact, there were many times I would sit for 3 hours waiting on a load, and only get 80 miles. If the Dispatcher believed you were making too much money that week, you would be sent home. After 6 months, I applied for the Lease Program at US Xpress. Once approved, I was issued a bus ticket, and was on my way to Tunnel Hill, Georgia to pick out my truck. When I arrived, I learned they had 2 trucks to pick from. I chose a truck out of Pressure, and not because I thought the truck was a solid choice or mechanically sound. It didn't take long before I began catching onto the SCAM at US Xpress. It is required to turn my truck in for a regular PM after 24,000 miles. Each time I turned my truck in for service there were always "other" problems that no one would disclose to me. The US Xpress Shop would keep my truck for at least a week.

In one particular instance, the USX Shop kept my truck for 16 days, lost my truck, misplaced the keys, and had no idea what happened to it. I had to drive my POV to the Dealer to find my truck. When I found it, someone ripped off the upper fairing. Keep in mind, a PM only takes 3 hours to complete. I learned that the USX Shops targrt the Maintenance Acct if Lease Operators. That is how USX makes more money off Lease Operators. The money USX pays Lease Operators ($1.00/mile) is reimbursed back to the Company later through siphoning the Maintenance Acct. [USX does the same thing to Company Drivers by using .16 Per Diem as part of the PPM. In essence, USX only pays the Driver .15/mile]. The SCAM at USX only gets deeper! If USX does not collect enough revenue from a Lease Operator, the reps in Planning, FM's, and/or CSR, (aka People who have access to your information in the System) will SELL YOUR INFORMATION in order to deplete the Maintenance Acct. They attempted to confiscate $900 at a time from my acct. I contacted every department, but no one was interested. It wasn't until I reached out to file a formal Ethics complaint that USX HR Dept returned my call. It took me a month to recover the stolen funds. Yet, USX refused to find out who was stealing indentities of Lease Drivers! Eventually, I applied to Lease a TEL truck. My goal was to stop USX Shops from stealing my money from the Maintenance Acct.

The moment I applied to TEL my Pay Per Mile dropped substantially. Still, I knew it would off set the maintenance cost, keep USX Shops out of my Maintenance Acct, and I would be dealing with a professional company that had my best business interest in mind. All the sudden, I began to be sent to States that I had not been to before. I was constantly being sent to Oregon, Washington, California, and Montana. Before Leasing with TEL, I was constantly told "We dont have freight out west!" I sat in California for (3) 34 Hour Resets in 1 Week with a student on my truck! I called and debated 7 FM's, 2 Supervisors, and even provided the names of 3 companies in California who have freight. Yet, USX was not interested. That is when I knew that it was time to leave USX. It wasn't long before USX Confiscated 3 weeks of Settlements, and claiming that I owed $5200 on a "Walk Away Lease". I argued for 4 consecutive weeks with USX before invoking my attorney. It was then that I was told by my FM that a "meeting" was taking place, and "they" decided to wipe out the $5200, and I was getting all that money back. I DID NOT SEE A DIME. This is exactly why Unions are needed!