why I quit TMC (long)

I haven't worked for TMC but I know some flatbedders and I have to say something on the issue. I also understand that you are not that experienced with the industry yet but this is the way myself and quite a few others of us will see things.

1. Most companies do not pay for securement,it is a job requirement of flat bedding. I have 6 years exp in furniture hauling and we have to wrap and strap for nothing as well. It is the drivers responsibility,no it is not fair but that's the way it is right now. As for tarping well I have noticed more and more companies either lowering or dropping the tarp pay in the past three years. If you don't like doing drops in mud puddles and water knee to waist deep well then OTR is not for you. That is another one of the hazards we deal with every day.

2. As for the fines,you said the boards broke less than a mile from the scale therefore you had knowledge of the problem. You should have pulled off and let TMC know about it as well as the shipper then got out and tightened your straps so you could clear thru the scale. If the straps were that visibly loose where the scale officer could notice it and pull you for a level 2 inspection then it is your fault.Don't say you could not pull off because you could have stopped on the shoulder of the ramp for the scale,you have not entered it yet and you are in reach of safety officials if you need them. To begin with most of my friends use their own boards and not those offered by the shipper because they do not trust them for this exact reason. As for the lights out and bad trailer tire it does not matter if a truck is serviced 1 hour prior a corroded plug or wire will break when it wants to and it is the drivers responsibility to verify that all lights are in proper working order at all times,the tire is something you should have caught on your pre-trip of the trailer and immediately gotten repaired or replaced. If the inspection takes place before you get to the shop most officers will allow you to go ahead to the shop if you show some type of company statement to that effect. Qualcomm messages are very effective for this.

3. Now I understand you may have gotten held up in the wash and/or inspection line but how hard is it to send a short message or make a phone call to your FM that you are at the terminal but will be delayed checking in for the above reason. If you don't communicate to the office they don't have a clue what you are doing other than your location.

This is only my view on this and I am not being sarcastic,judgemental or in any way harsh. It is only what I have seen,been told or experienced in my 15 years of driving trucks.

 

Carter you need to stop the #####in.Youre gone,its obvious you cant read a pay stub......sometimes ya have to wait a week or so to see the reimbursements.Im not a recruiter,was line-haul ,dedicated now, as of 2 months ago.I netted $500-$700 every week,moreso now.If a driver nets less than $500,hes not doing something right,provided freight is good or he hasnt stepped on toes.Im not a yes man by no means,but #### doesnt add up.

 

wildcat2, staxx & nighttrain,

I am NOT disputing your recent posts. I am only speaking from my own experiences.

Yes, I will agree that if a driver nets <$500, something is certainly NOT right. Whether that driver has "stepped on toes" should be immaterial. I step on some toes from time to time w/my "bad attitude". Hey, get used to it. It's the only one I've got, and if you don't like this one... just try paying me <$500 once... you'll find out just how bad of an attitude I CAN get!

I'm w/Carter... I have some doubts that nighttrain has brought home 1K+/wk for 5 yrs. Hah! That's funny! If that was the case for me, I'd probably be satisfied w/TMC. Twice in my two years w/TMC I have GROSSED over 1K. The first time they tried to screw me out of much of it, saying the rate had been changed AFTER I took the load. My "bad attitude" informed them that the rate doesn't change, especially after I agreed to take the load at the rate at which it was offered to me.

I'm not "fussing", and I ain't gone (yet), but I know how to read a check stub, and I'll wager that Carter does, too. Yes, I've experienced the standard 3 week waits to get my reimbursements for tolls I've paid out of my pocket. It's not a big issue for me, on my current runs, HOWEVER if I was running the NE, or other places where they have significant toll charges... yep! I'd be "fussing" about it, too! In strong terms, in a loud voice, in a non-stop manner!

Now, others have said: "I haven't worked for TMC", so I'm not going to respond too much to that in this thread, other than to say that "others" should really explore out in the real world. The real world offers MANY good trucking jobs, if the driver has the credentials to offer to potential employers.

 

You can believe me or not I dont care Im just telling you my experiance why would I have a reason to lie. Masena is shut down but Rooseveltown is hammering the loads out and they're just 10 mls down the road. And instead of taking money from an ATM get a frickin comcheck not ur money if you hand in the reciepts with the load sheet every time you dont have that problem. So yes $1k a wk for 5 yrs some may have been a little less but not enough to blink at.

 

Count me as one of those who quit in that time frame because most of my take home pay was $300-$400 a week, and I couldn't see doing it without EZ pay as I ran a lot of NE runs being from Jersey. I spent lots of times waiting for loads even though I delivered early most times. I wasn't expecting to make the $60k dream they fed me but at least expected to make $30-$40k.

I had other reasons to quit as well such as problems parking truck and personal reasons, but if I was making $1000 a week consistently I would have dealt with it as it would have been worth it . But $300-$400 a week is a joke for amount of responsibility, time and work you put in for the job. I realize starting out you have to pay your dues but I make more than that now driving straight trucks and I am home every night. Hell even working full time at McDonald's would garner the same amount.

In my experience at TMC some made out great and others didn't. I don't think it mattered the length service either. Maybe it depended on your FM or some other reason. Some was because poor performance others who knows.

 

Yep, in my extremely limited experience, a huge part of it certainly does depend on your dispatcher, much also depends on the driver his/herself (don't roll in to deliver at 0900-1000, and expect to get a new load right away), after that is freight currently available in the area where you deliver. After these three big ones, it probably is luck of the draw.

 

That's not always or even usually in my experience true. TMC will shaft you out of comcheck money just as easily as they will out of toll money. They will say something like the paperwork you sent in had the wrong authorization code, or it's being processed or any other excuse, but I ate enough comchecks to know that scam. Also, getting a comcheck is one more delay in getting your load delivered, not a big time sink or anything but it's cumulative the little things. Probably more so on the nerves than on the actual clock.