Hello TMC drivers. I am researching local training facilities and various companies. I found that TMC seems to be the upper echelon of the flatbed industry.

Do any of you TMC drivers know if they run consistently through Rochester, NY and if so what the runs/loads are like?

Also what would a typical (if there is such a thing) week be like. Hours of driving day vs night driving, wait time... The 'school' recruiter was extremely vague and I got the impression he didnt really know or care. Except he did state that since I live 2 miles off of i90 you will be home Fri afternoonish and back out either Sun night or Mon morning. Is that accurate? If so that sounds like great hometime from what I have been reading.


Many more qns to come as I am stuck in analysis paralysis...

Good Luck and Welcome to the forum. Check out their web site for any info you might need

Personally I never got to that part of NY very much. Of course I didn't need to either. When I did deliver up there I usually picked up at the Auburn NY, steel mill to haul steel bar. As long as you get there early on Friday it is quick to load. Other things have taken me through there on my way from Maine to Michigan usually some form of lumber or wood product. Also I have returned through there from MI with some steel for upper CT.


What the recruiter told you is the ideal weekend hometime. Of course it isn't always that good. I see two possibilities for the way your weeks will typically go. The first is that EARLY Monday morning like 3am you head out from home tothe consignee in say OH or MI, unload that at say 9am, and go pick up something else to deliver Tuesday in MO, pick up something there for VA Wednesday, Pick up something for NJ on Thursday, Get a load to MA for Friday, and then get a load for OH or MI again to get you through the house. You probably will not get home until Saturday noon with that kind of schedule since you didn't start until Monday morning.

The second possibility is that you will pick up Friday at say Auburn NY with a load to say IL for monday morning. You will get home Friday afternoon quite early but will have to leave the house at noon on Sunday and drive the 600 miles to park at the consignee Sunday night. Monday morning you will deliver there, follow a similar schedule to above but end up delivering in upstate NY Friday morning.

Typically you will put between 60 and 70 hours per week on your logbook, and get 34 hours or more at home.

keep em coming.

__________________
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

Rawlco is speaking the truth i live in the south but you leave early to keep a early running schedule sometimes it will get out of wack though, when it take four or five hours to get reloaded for the next run. I normally get home midday friday and leave midday sunday.

__________________
Flatbed Bob 379 #91041
KEEP THE RUBBER DOWN

yeah TMC runs up there i followed one driver all up to the thuway, from somewhere in pa

__________________
-Ed

WOW, this is exactly the kind of answer I was looking for. Unexpected and greatly appreciated detail. Thank you.

Rawlco, sounds like you are saying that with TMC you get home almost every weekend, is that so?

Getting home every weekend depends on your location. Right now TMC is hiring in most locations east of I-35. Most of these locations are considered line haul and are guaranteed 46 weekends per year home.

All of New England as well as the northern parts of MI, WI, and MN, Most of FL, and some coastal regions are considered Long Haul and are promised one day home for each week out. You may get home every other weekend but sometimes it turns into every third weekend. Living in Maine as I do I came to learn that if I was west of the Mississippi river on Monday I would not get home that Friday.

So I believe that LakeEffect living in Rochester will qualify for Line haul and get home almost every weekend. There will of course be times that things do not work out properly.


I currently get home every weekend with TMC as I am dedicated to the Home Depot distribution center in Norwood, MA.

__________________
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

Does TMC support the drivers decision on how to utilize the 11/14/10 hr rule? In other words if you choose to drive days and sleep nights and not use the split-break, will they support your decision or will they expect you to split to get-there-itis? Also, If you pick up a load late in the day can you wait till morning to start your 14?

My FM did not question my logging methods usually. The only time was when I was low on the 70 hours and he wanted a complete picture of what I could do. This goes back to the complete information thing I have talked about before. If you give complete sensible information to your FM in the first place they won't question you. Now if you say you can't make this 400 mile trip for 2 days they will know something is wrong and question it.

From a Fleet Managers perspective logging is easier. They never expect you to split log, though I did frequently when it worked to my advantage. I never gave my FM an ETA based on split logging. I usually figured my speed average of 60 mph for the miles my GPS claimed in the midwest, plus 1 hour for fuel/meals per day, plus arriving minimum one hour before my appointment time. So a 600 mile trip would be 10 hours driving, plus 10 hour break, plus 1 hour for fuel/meals, plus 1 hour for delays. That meant that I needed an appointment for 22 hours after I was loaded and leaving the shipper for a 600 (GPS) mile load. If you do not have a GPS you may need to leave more time incase your mileage estimate is incorrect. The time of your 10 hour break does not affect your arrival time at the consignee.

East of Indiana and north of Richmond VA is slower going. Reduce average speed to 55, and add an additional hour for traffic during peak hours, make that two additional hours if you plan on crossing a major city between 7 and 8 am, or 4 and 6 pm.

If you are taking roads off the interstate you will probably average 45 mph in the unless you have taken that road before.

Inside New York City you have to plan on 25 mph, or maybe less.

Usually just a simple ETA is sufficient. If questions are asked and you can explain your plan to your FM in those simple terms you will get no follow up questions. You can usually say to them that the earliest you "promise is x time, but will do your best" and they will be happy. You can also add that "barring traffic, weather, or other unforseen delays you may arrive as early as x time, but that it is unlikely."

If I had my 14 run out while loading I would take my 10 hour break at the shipper. Now when you showed on your logbook that you finished loading and started your 10 hour break can be ambiguous if you have not moved the truck. If I still had some time on my 14 I would see how far I could get and look at split logging if I had gotten a 2 hour break.

Here is the big point:
Taking your 10 hour break early does not affect the delivery time (usually) but it will affect how much time you have left to get reloaded after delivery.
So take your break when you want, but if no loads are available in the time you have left when empty you will be short a load for the week. I usually spent a lot of time analyzing if split logging would benefit or harm me. It is a learning process and the most you are going to do at first is harm your own paycheck with the wrong choice. Hindsight is always 20-20, but you usually don't have all the information at the time you make your decision. TMC will not blame you for making decisions based on incomplete information, so choose and fear not.

I missed a load to get home one time because I didn't split log. I had a load going to Baltimore and since I was running with another TMC driver (we loaded in the same place, delivering to the same place) we both took 10 hour breaks. That put my arrival in Baltimore at noon with delivery anytime before 4pm. I was offered a load going near home for the weekend but it had to be picked up at noon about 3 miles from my delivery location. Had I split logged I would have had plenty of time to make it, but it went to someone else because we couldn't get a later load appointment.

__________________
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