Heres some bad about TMC. It's not worth getting upset and quitting over, but they do indeed do stupid things occasionally. It's not exactly a daily habit, but heres what happened to me this weekend:

I got unloaded in Michigan on thursday morning, 150 miles from the house. I laid over thursday night, and just before my Fleet manager went home he called and offered me a load going 200 miles to Chicago O'hare... Ok, no problem i guess.. but it goes in the opposite direction of the house, and i have a kid, and today is halloween. Ok, pick it up and go home he says, BUT it delivers on saturday...

I ask him, what are we going to do on saturday after i get unloaded (Nobody is in the office besides some weekend warrior dispatchers on saturday, and sunday) he says we will bounce back home empty and reload on Monday.

GREAT i thought. How wonderful of them to do that? But, after he went home and i sat there thinking about it more i realized.. I am going to drive and pickup this load and then go 150 miles in the opposite direction of where it needs to be on saturday.. Then, i'm going to basically REDRIVE that 150 miles to get it to Chicago on saturday.. THEN i'm going to drive another 300 Miles back to the house... That's like 600 miles empty. Are they really willing to pay for all that fuel just to get me home?

So, i get reloaded on Thursday and get to the house, i start telling my wife that i'm probably going to end up getting screwed and they're going to expect me to drive to iowa and get reloaded or something stupid.... I go trick or treating with my daughter and go to the truck to get ready and leave for chicago (Mind you, i had just enough hours to get to Chicago, and get home again) Low and behold, theres a load screen sitting on my qualcom to pick up saturday morning, from bettendorf IOWA... Go figure, not going to happen. So i sent weekend dispatch a message and explained that i had just enough hours to get back home again, and that our plan if i did this favor for my dispatcher was for me to head back home empty. The load is a tarp load, 7 stops, it would've taken me all week. Not to mention that the longer i sat at the airport waiting to get unloaded was making it even worse, by the time i got out of there they wanted me to drive 3 hours away from my house, get this grocery list load and by the time i got home it would've been like Sunday afternoon, and i would've had enough time to do laundry...

Mind you, i don't mind staying out on the weekends, and i do understand that sometimes #### happens. I've bit the bullet more than once doing favors for the company, but this was just rediculous. YOu don't preplan someone on a load like that without asking them about it first, right? My FM calls me EVERY MORNING to give me load options, or ask if i want something or whatever. And for whatever reason he stuck this crap load on me at the worste possible time without letting me know about it.

So anyway, after arguing with night dispatch for about 2 hours on the qualcomm they call me and ask me what my deal was. After explaining it to them in a diplomatic way they finally told me to just go home and reload on Monday.

The moral of the story? TMC certainly isn't perfect, everyone makes mistakes. BUT it was eventually fixed. I just wanted to post this so that you guys dont think im just preaching about how great we are all the time, everyone does stupid stuff, ESPECIALLY now when freight is this slow. I will tell you, though. The reason it was fixed is becuase i am a good driver (At least i like to think so) and i do my job well, and they know that i sacrifice my home time when i can, and in this case i couldn't. If i was a whining baby that never wanted to do any work and turned down every load that needed to be tarped they probably would've cared less.

Bad stuff will happen sometimes, guys. You just need to deal with it, or figure out how to be diplomatic, and get your problems solved. It doesn't make them a bad company, at least i don't think so. Money talks. As long as i make over 60k a year with them (And i have steadily) i can deal with a little bit of crap. y'know?

Hope you all had a great halloween.

Great post! I only can hope that others will read this and understand that you gotta roll with the punches at times instead of just giving up and labeling the company as bad.

__________________
Stupidity will get you killed.

I came to TMC in 2007 went through orientation in Colombia,Sc. Was not looking to make career at TMC just needed to get current exprience. Training is not bad if you understand that it is just a two week job interview. Yes they try to scare the crap out of you with the fines($300) if you do something wrong. If you get into this business thinking it's an 9-5, 8hrs a day job Think again. Yes some days are easy some are hard.
the longer you stay the more run ins you are going to have with your fleet
manager. But don't be to hard on them,go sit with them one day if you're at the terminal and you'll understand the demands that are placed on them. I lost my temper more than once and had to apologize to them.
After you've been on your own for 2-3 months the tarping and securing become alot easier. Time managment becomes top priority five loads a week is easier than you think. If you get a fleet manager that will get you
some good paying 2 day loads that helps with $ to the truck if on % pay.
I enjoyed my time at TMC and i miss my Pete # 13 speed, but I'll keep
my local LTL .

They have a $300 fine that they levy against drivers and they are still in business?????? I dont know about you, but a company charges me $300, they better have $300 worth or receipts to show that I owe them that much or they will be in court so fast their heads will be spinning! You can say that you sign something when you get hired that says that they can fine you, but this very thing has been dragged through the courts before. The ONLY thing that they can fine you for legally is broken or lost equipment(providing you broke it or lost it and they can prove it), not just stuff that they decided that they didnt like.

You lost your temper and then apologized to them?? Did they ever do that when they lost their temper and decided to fine you up to $300? I didnt think so! I dont apologize for loosing my temper with a place that is always trying to screw me and with a fine for breaking one of their rules hanging over my head all the time, sorry but that is some place out to screw you. I have NEVER worked for a place that just fined you for the hell of it because they didnt like what you did and I NEVER will. Number 1, that IS ILLEGAL, and Number 2, there are a whole load of companies out there that will NEVER fine you for anything!!

I DARE a company to try to fine me for something I did that did not result in broken or lost equipment. I hope that they enjoy some of their last days with the current ownership.

1st of all, to that last writer, the previous writer was merely saying that there are things that they can fine to $300, not that he was fined, and also, most likely they fine $300 for broken equiptment or for abandoments, either way, it is perfectly legal, and I can understand why.

Second, there are many companies that charge more than that for certain things, such as the company my husband previously worked for, CR England, they will charge $500 if you do not take the truck to the Utah terminal (even if you drop it at one of thier other terminals) and will also take your $280 reserve, and can still charge you for any fees assiciated with collecting the vehicle, such as towing fees, and also for cleaning of the vehicle, I'm sure you can imagine the potential costs. And this is just one example.

Also, I guarentee that every company has a fines policy, you just may have never encountered it. A company would be stupid not to, if you break equiptment or abandon thier trucks or laods, I guarentee they are going to fine you.

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Keep it up, things will always turn out, even if they don't turn out the way you expected. - By Me! (Little Bit when I'm on the road) Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love. How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.-Einstein

Wow now thats deep lol .thats the way life goes got to deal with all that with me i lucked out got that local job i wanted i work with pepsi for about a month after leaveing swift ,pepsi made great money work my tail off 12to 14 hr days 13 to 15 stops a day now i run to jamestown ny 2 times a week and then leave at 12am to do watertown,lakeplacid,the final top in plattsburgh ny done by 2pm in the hotel shower then sleep alot lol 1st few months was hard was taking me 3to 4hrs per store (delivering milk, pastries,paper products) was not in shape at all!!!! the heavy lifting (avg per crete is about 40 lbs not much untill you do about 150 per store )so arms are bigger and shoulders are to but the belly is still big lol legs well there legs i know they are stronger the company is great that i work for 21.25hr to start i get payed for 40 hrs and only work about 30hrs bennys i pay 20.00 bucks a week for family that med,eye,dental, they give me a check once a month one for 25.00 for cell phone,and another for 120.00 for food because im not home one day a week.so everyone keep buying that expensive coffee you know the place im talking about.


NOW ANYBODY EVER DRIVE A AUTOMATIC BIG RIG IN THE SNOW THERE BUYING A NEW TRUCK FOR ME DAYCAB INTERNATIONAL SINGLE AXLE WITH MY 36' TRAILER JUST WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW TO FREAKING STOP THIS THING IN THE SNOW TO USE TO THE DOWN SHIFT ALL THIS HAS IS A PUSH BUTTON KEY PAD TO GO TTO DRIVE PARK AND REVERSE
WELL ECKZ CALL ME SOMETIME DUDE HAVE A GOOD ONE YOU ALL

Timtruck you have once again proved your ignorance. I am glad that you don't work for TMC as I would be ashamed to call you a fellow employee.

During orientation at TMC you agree that any damage to the truck that is your fault will be your responsibility up to $300. That means when you hit a post and bend a bumper you will sign a payroll deduction form for $300 at whatever rate per week you wish. If hitting that post bends a bumper and the hood you will only pay $300 even if it costs $2000 to fix. Now if a wild animal hits your truck that is not your fault, so no charge. If someone else hits your truck at a truckstop that is not your fault so no charge. TMC expects you to be honest when reporting damage, and they have seen a few damaged trucks so they can tell if you are telling the truth or not.

__________________
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

-- J R R Tolkien

Isnt that what I said??? I wouldnt pay for something that I didnt damage?? Also, since when does a company charge a driver for something that insurance is paying anyhow?? You think this is a good policy? OK, then you keep driving there!

cant agree with you more...tim needs to give up trucking with that kind of attitude. Your attitude means so much in this industry, when are people going to learn that! Have a good day and be safe!

Whatever I just said that I think some of those policies are wrong and could be challenged. Where is that an attitude problem?

You do know that you are in the "bad companies board". TMC is here for a reason. I also have probally recruited more new drivers over to TMC than you have as one of their drivers, and I have never driven there! In fact the guy who first set me up for my driving school was a TMC recruiter, and I have no problems with the company and never have,In fact have considered driving there and even was hired there once. If you read any of my posts you would know why I didnt go to work there. But some of those policies, as I have stated, are open to challenge. I personally would not challenge them, but somebody will come along who will. Personally I dont care--As long as they pay me correctly and they have my best interests at hand and they do not have their hands in my back pocket, then I could drive for about anybody. Just because you sign an agreement does not make it legal or just. Like I said I could understand being charged for broken or lost equipment, but being charged monetarily for an accident? That is just wrong, no matter what the charge is. I have never run into another company(Im sure they are out there though probally on this board) that charges their drivers anything except points or something, but not monetarily for an accident. You know they do call it accident for a reason.

Who knows I still may drive for them eventually if I ever decide to go back to the road. They are a company that I would consider. I never close any oportunities that sound at least decent. Their local yard here in Indy is about 5-10 minutes on the highway from my house.