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"Thier spelling. I've tried to spell that bad. I can't do it". Sure they can and did.There is a misspelled word at the beginning of their sentence.

 

Glitch are you still with TA? I'm considering them and for me hometime is not an issue. How was pay during orientation and training? How long was training? I realize miles are down with the economy, but I'd like to get on somewhere that will at least put me in a truck so I don't get recycled. Thanks for the helpful posts and PMA, you get what you give.

-Edit
I submitted an application with them today. I spoke with their recruiter (Dennis) and he answered a boatload of questions for me. He said they are having no problem getting drivers in trucks right out of training. I'm hoping he's right if I go with them.

 

I just got my cdl last week, and I am possibly going to work at TA. Crete, who was my first choice, will not be hiring until the end of January. I need to start making money now. I will work hard and keep a good attitude. I can always switch. The economy should pick back up soon.

 

Hi you'll. I'm with KLLm and we changing our Ins. and 401k plan. Not for the good. The company is no longer putting their part into the 401. We are now going to pay more the the same Ins. What's TA doing?

 

Well Handsome Dave let me tell you something, the next time a company lays you off, or just wants to reduce their fleet of drivers, and you get stranded, I hope you remember that some of us aren't just crying. Stick to bashing the companies....oh yeah on the last line of your comment you misspelled "thier", proper grammer is "they're", judge not, lest we be judged!

 

ive bee with ta for the last year im happy, yeah during christmas freight slowed down, but its back up and they r running my butt off. i looked over my shoulder the other day and saw i have no butt left. thx transport america

 

how do they act with exp. drivers? i've been driving for 24yrs im going to start with them in two wks.

 

I drove for Transport America out of N. Lima, OH, near Youngstown for a month only. The training was the most intensive I ever had, it was in Indiana (I think, can't remember). They also gave the hardest physical, you had to climb steps for 3 minutes, they checked your heart rate, had to push 75 pounds around in a dolly after lifting it three times up to a shelf and back, then you had to walk so many feet squatted down like a duck, and then you had to pull yourself up into the back of a trailer. I have never had a physical test like that but I am well over 200 pounds and had no problem passing. There were men who failed.

They gave the best classroom training and backing range training I had for any company. They have 3 backing range instructors and trucks set up for obstacle course training. It was good. Now, this was in 2007, don't know if it changed since.

I had horrible trainer experiences, both thought just because I was a woman in a truck, I would sleep with them, it didn't matter that I was large and they were married. A lot of men are dogs that way. Both my trainers were mentally ill, I am convinced of it. The first one, I was with him 3 weeks. He yelled at me constantly, literally, he would loosen the lock on his seat and act like he was riding a horse, he would roll down the window randomly just to scream out of it, then he told me he could take me into the woods in Oklahoma somewhere and no one would know. (That REALLY made me nervous.) Then 3 days before ending my training with him, I was driving out of Dallas, it was raining, just dropped off John Deere tractors to Home Depot, and he wanted me to make a right turn suddenly. I couldn't get over as I was in the farthest of the 3 lanes. He grabbed the steering wheel out of my hand to force me over two lanes, not seeing a car coming up beside me on the passenger side. I yelled that there was a car, he let go of the wheel, and all of this was to take an onramp to the highway. I cussed at him all the way down the highway. There was no need to endanger anyone's life just to make a turn I could have passed and turned around and came back for.

I called Transport to report him. They advised I play nice for the last 3 days or there would be another 2 week wait till I got my next trainer. So, I told my trainer I was sick (because my nerves were not only rattled at his daily yelling, but this incident scared me.) I let him drive the last three days. When we got back, I passed my road test but failed my backing test, he only let me back up 3 times in 3 weeks! They were going to send me back with him, I absolutely refused. They made me write a statement then they told me they had the same complaint from other men, that this trainer yelled constantly at them.

I had to go out a week with one of their local drivers for Kmart for backing training. I slept in his semi at the facility while he went home each night. He was probably the best trainer I ever had, a former military man who trained for TMC. When I met him though, he said, "People here think I am crazy but I let them think that because they leave me alone." (No, he was crazy....) On day three, he thought I insulted him when actually I told him I wasn't going to listen to anyone BUT him because all the other trainers contradicted themselves. He didn't hear me right, lost his anger, and then lost control of our truck headed downhill at a stoplight. He lost his gears, was ramming between 9th and 10th, and in a high pitched squeal, was ranting and raving, hitting his hand repeatedly on the steering wheel. Now, I was a psychology major in college at one time, this man had mental problems, I assure you. When I finally got him calmed down, I told him I quit, take me back to the facility, I was done with having to put up with yet another a--hole, it wasn't worth it. I later calmed down and finished my last 3 days with him. He submitted a written report of his actions even though I told him he didn't have to, that I wasn't going to report him, but he was never to lose it like that with me again. He taught me well in backing, I admired his skill, I passed my test.

When they gave me my truck, they neglected to grease my 5th wheel. I drove it back to them and had them grease it before doing my first solo run. When I got to my destination, it was raining and I couldn't pull the pin. Here, the mechanics didn't grease the pin that you have to pull to release your kingpin. It took me 45 minutes and the assistance of a yard mechanic at the consignee to even release my trailer. There's a lot more that happened that day, that is why I quit. But, the company was more than fair, they worked with me, had loads, and were decent. I have no gripe with them. Trainers are crappy across the board, it's always hit or miss with what each company sticks you with. They did work with me concerning not sending me back out with the first maniac. I didn't even report him for the sexual harrassment, he was a jerk.

I wouldn't hesitate referring people to Transport America, like I said, they were decent to me but I was only with them a month.

 

If you want a good trainer,You need to get one out of eagan mn,janesville wi, or north liberty Ia. They have gotten rid of all the ###### trainers. If you are a new hire and are looking for a clean and respectable trainer, request Joe Wayne

 

Good God, the sniveling at the beginning of this thread! I ran for Transport America in 2008, and they were the absolute best company I have ever worked for! Yes, I left. Why? Cause I screwed up royally three times! NOT the company's fault, MINE! I had the best dispatcher in the business (Sarah, miss you lady!), who was always willing to communicate with me. If she had to give me a load into a low outgoing freight area, she always told me upfront. And guess what? I still took the load. Because freights gotta go. I got one of the older flat-top Freightliners as my assigned truck, and when it came time for the truck to go bye-bye, I was prepared to throw a fit worthy of a spoiled 2 yr. old. I loved that truck. Not as much storage space as a condo, which means I had less space to lose stuff. The shops were top-notch. If I had a problem, they got right on it. Yeah, I had to wait sometimes, but that's life. Trucks got into the shop based on their loads, and I tried like heck to wait until I was empty, and talked to my dispatcher before I sent the truck in for service. Also, I lived approximately 50 miles from my home terminal, and because of gas prices my dispatcher worked it out so I could take my truck home rather than commute back and forth before and after hometime. Yeah, I sat on occasion. This was 2008, and fuel hit $5/gal. Everybody in the company sat on occasion. Freight sucked in some areas. That was the way it was. We, the drivers and the company, dealt with it. If you have the opportunity to work for this company, RUN, don't walk, to orientation. You will not regret it. Company rating? AAA+++.