Hi everyone,does anyone on here work for Upstaging in USA,can you give me any info about job etc,whether they are taking on and any info on how I would go about getting relevant paperwork etc to work for them…I am currently an event driver in uk with 3 years experience…many thanks
When I first came here I had left the event / promo truck driving life in the UK, Upstaging was one of the companies I applied to. I got a job offer but chose to take a regular truck driving job. I have only seen a couple of their trucks since coming here and travelling the whole country at some point. As with most event companies in the USA it means no family life for abot 9 months every year, in fact longer because when the seasons change to winter in the north it is still hot down in Florida etc.
I can’t really comment on what the company is like to work for because I never went there.
Do you have a green card or are you a US citizen ? without one or the other you can’t get a driving job for any company here. Check out how you stand.
Upstaging is still around and must be doing ok since they just replaced all bunch of trucks. I to can’t add much more about them since closest I got to work for them was to go to their yard and find out they moved. Trucks look always sharp, but that’s part of business. As far as money goes, I’ve talked to a couple who drove for company specializing in theater shows, and was shocked how little they were making. And of course they were gone forever.
Those kinds of jobs are more about the lifestyle than the money usually, a lot of the drivers are ex band members that never made the big time or wannabees. I made friends with a couple of band bus drivers when I did those Paul Brandt tours and they said a lot of the bus drivers are also the same. I still pull the tour trailers around every now and then, the guys from Upstaging and the like all wave at me and they’ll come over for a chat if I’m in a truckstop. The ones I’ve met have all been very…rock n roll 
It’s what destroyed my previous marriage, I was out for months sometimes.
Not that I miss my ex
Pat Hasler:
It’s what destroyed my previous marriage, I was out for months sometimes.
Not that I miss my ex
funny enough i divorced and remarried same one seemed like a good idea at the time…
Upstaging is probably the largest entertainment trucking co. in US. Think they have over 300 tractors. They get a lot of the big name bands ( U2, Rolling Stones Etc. ) They are also a lighting company so they can do lights for the show and throw transport in for a cut rate.
They have a bad habit of hiring a bunch of drivers in the busy season, then laying them off when things slow down, or when a tour get’s cancelled.
We have a few drivers come from Upstaging to drive for company I’m with ( Stage Call out of AZ.) we have approx 150 trucks, 50/50 O/O, company drivers. Great folks to work for.
Alright nick, I was speaking to a driver of ours who did a lot of American / Canadian work and it was a while ago but he said it might work out the same now but he said he was sponsored to go over.
That’s mainly for Canada but worth researching
mikey-t:
Alright nick, I was speaking to a driver of ours who did a lot of American / Canadian work and it was a while ago but he said it might work out the same now but he said he was sponsored to go over.That’s mainly for Canada but worth researching
He was winding you up … there is no way a British or European citizen can get sponsorship for any US company to drive a truck, believe me I know, it took me long enough to even get a green card and I am married to a US citizen. Truck driving is considered ‘Unskilled labour’ … there have been lots of ads in truck mags in the UK asking for drivers to drive in the USA, they are just scams, they ask for a fee to do a background and immigration check, then tell you that you do not qualify after they have cashed your cheque.
Your workmate was just trying to impress you, his HGV licence isn’t even valid here… Let him dream on bless him.
It’s a different rule for Canada, but to work in the USA unless just entering, unloading, reloading and back out again I don’t believe it would be permitted. Upstaging for instance is a US based company so it wouldn’t be allowed.
I agree it is hard, but it was 10 years ago and he was Canada based so maybe that’s the difference,
I know he wasn’t winding me up because I saw his license.
I’m guessing it will be very hard for Nick to get over and base in the USA then,
That’s a shame
Did you have no luck with the guys you were talking too before nick?
I’ve spoken to a couple of drivers on a temporary work visa in the USA, one was on for a firm out of MO. Freymiller IIRC, the other was on Werner, so it can be done, it won’t lead to permanent residency as it does it Canada, but you can get working visas. I don’t know how, but, it has been done…
The only way to get a temporary visa driving a truck now is to do harvest work and once the work is done you are out.
I knew a guy who was the transporter driver for Nissan racing team some while back, he did a stint touring the USA with the team, he was granted a temporary visa on the provoso that he would do no drivng, they had to hire a driver and tractor to haul the trailer.
Its best to go the Canadian way as you did Mark … only problem is the country to our north seems to fill up with Taffy’s, Cockneys, and Scotish ■■■■■■■ LOL
I spoke to a couple of Upstaging drivers and they were on tour with those real human dead bodies. Not the kind of cargo that I would like to have parked-up overnight on a lonely Interstate on-ramp. Smart trucks all the same.
One of those dead body things looks just like old Bob that used to work with me at St Anns 
Pat Hasler:
One of those dead body things looks just like old Bob that used to work with me at St Anns
few of them working at my last place lol
taffytrucker:
Pat Hasler:
One of those dead body things looks just like old Bob that used to work with me at St Annsfew of them working at my last place lol
All except two of them in the office