U.S. Xpress Opens Unique Driver Training Center

U.S. Xpress
The new U.S. Xpress facility. (U.S. Xpress)

Truckload carrier U.S. Xpress has opened a driver training center in Tunnel Hill, Ga., that is unlike any other.

The redesigned facility features a commercial vehicle learning lab where drivers can inspect and identify faulty equipment, use a high-tech simulator to practice driving in all weather conditions and brush up on their skills by accessing more than 150 training videos.

The company’s goal is to equip drivers with the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for a lifetime of successful driving, said Eric Fuller, CEO of U.S. Xpress Enterprises in Chattanooga, Tenn.

“Between our ‘full-ride’ scholarship program, first-day medical benefits and advanced truck technology, we are giving our greatest assets, our drivers, the tools to further grow and develop professionally,” Fuller said in a statement at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Feb. 20.

The U.S. Xpress Professional Driver Development Program was created by drivers and is part of a larger effort, Fuller said, to “transform how we manage our operations, technology and safety procedures.”

Amanda Thompson, senior vice president of human resources, said the program “positions U.S. Xpress as an industry innovator and empowers drivers’ continued learning and development on and off the road.”

Drivers can complete training assignments and refresher courses on their own time and at their own pace without lecture-style classroom instruction.

U.S. Xpress ranks No. 21 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of largest for-hire carriers in North America and No. 8 on the TT list of largest carriers in the truckload/dedicated sector.