Latest Message from the CEO

I think what Mr. Arnett is asking is for people to realize things are tough in the industry and EVERYONE is making cut backs somewhere.

TMC is not known for their aerodynamic fleet. Mr. Arnett couldn't change that now even if he wanted to. I thing he's asking folks to realize to keep a fleet of square nose Pete's on the road sacrifices will have to be made, top to bottom.

TMC may not be the best flatbed fleet on the road but the owner has made an effort to make it one of the best looking. Plenty of drivers would sacrifice something to be able to drive a TMC truck and there are plenty of used ones in the hands of O/O's.

Wanna blase up and down the interstate in an aerodynamic Volvo or Pro-star? Work for Swift.

 

I applied at Tennant in Orion, IL a few weeks ago when I thought for sure I was going to get fired (long story) ...I gave them my FM's number as a reference, they called to verify employment. apparently the entire company finds out when you apply for another job, my FM called and acted like I was cheating him, "we want to make sure we are meeting your revenue and hometime needs blah blah blah"

hometime and equipment are the only reasons I stay here. I want desperately to work for Cheeseman out of Ft. Recovery, OH, automatic Prostars and LTL dry van, essentially less work for more money and a much smaller company, they aren't hiring out of PA right now.

sadly the grass is in fact NOT greener on the other side, at least as far as flatbeds go, my goal is to get 2 years in with this company and then leave driving, not switch to another carrier. I hauled an OD John Deere from IA to NY right after this all happened, and it would have paid $100 less with Tennant. $0.36 + $0.05 OD compared to $0.39 + $0.10 OD with TMC... 1100 mile run and I made $0.49 a mile for 950 of them. $550 with TMC compared to $450 with Tennant. of course I killed the rest of the week by wasting a day waiting for permits and then haul a load across the border at Ft. Erie because another driver's trainee didn't have his passport, wasted half a day for a 58 mile run that made me $22, when I asked my FM to please pay a flat rate or SOMETHING other than $22, he has no idea what to do and neither does anyone else.

 

I was at a drivers issues meeting probaby a year ago and harold was there and a driver asked him why we had big petes if we knew that they didnt get good fuel mileage....what he said i've never really seen on here anywhere and i would have never thought aobut it. he said that at the time they had just been burned hard with the freightliners becsause the resale on them was terrible. if i remember right he said that the petes were kinda like a harley. they held their value very well and by trading them in two years it only cost tmc something like 5k a year to own each truck. course the truck market has bottomed out now so they're probably not getting a very good return now since they have to hold onto them longer than two years now but he said what they paid for them and what they got back on resalse far outweighed the loss in mpg at the time. i would imagine hes stressed more than anyone would ever know. anybody that devotes 40 years of their life into a company and has to watch profits deteriate has to be taking it hard. im sure hes made his millions but he deserves that as does anyone who works hard to build a business. does anyone truly believe that he sat around and said, gee let's cut mpg and ezpass and pay because that'll attract drivers. i think he's doing what he has to do to stay afloat. the decision we have to make as drivers is it worth it stay on board? am i making the money i need to pay the bills, am i still getting home every wknd, etc. for myself i'm still doing okay so i'll ride it out because i've done the grass is greener on the other side thing way too many times.

 

As NoTarps said he is wrong about Maverick we just choose to go slower to get the fuel bonus. I personally have made just over $1700 this year. Just got one of the new Cascadia's and they are a little heavier than my 05 Columbia but that is because they have an electric apu and an inverter they do top out at 68mph however.

 

Maverick is smart. They will save more money by the drivers being responsible for their fuel mileage and having incentive to go slow on their own than TMC will by cutting the nuts off those 13 speeds and treating all their drivers like they are untrustworthy school children.

 

Maverick has APU's? Nice. I bet they've even got EZPass...

 

Yep, no coin at the cash box...

 

Same with my co. All they have is long nose petes all with 18 speeds.