TMC Transportation, Inc. - Des Moines, Ia.

Discussion in 'Report A BAD Trucking Company Here' started by TurboTrucker, Apr 23, 2006.

  1. TurboTrucker

    TurboTrucker Road Train Member

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    Feb 23, 2005
    Rossville, Georgia
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    "Federal DOT based out of Iowa"? You must be referring to Field Agents...

    There are no such rules in print anywhere in any FMCSR&R's, and if there were, I'd be in violation of them on a daily basis. I bump docks all the time, where my total time on the premises may be less than 15 minutes.

    No...that's where it starts and ends, and it's perfectly fine. I can't imagine any flatbed scenario where loading or unloading would take LESS than 30 minutes, because driver securement is always in evidence, whether it is securing or unsecuring a load. If the load is required to be tarped, I can easily see an hour being needed on each end.

    Ah....I should have read on....


    That specific rating is meaningless UNLESS it is lowered, and you have to be running a really bad company to have the compliance rating lowered.

    No...the ISS-2 assessments are based on a 24 month rolling record of out-of-service orders for driver, equipment, or Haz-Mat violations. It is also based on the most recent 18 month record of any field audits performed on the motor carrier. And it is also based on the most recent 30 months of recorded "roadside inspections" where the driver or the truck was not placed out-of-service, but where the driver did receive and was convicted of an offense. The offenses include any traffic citation issued to a driver of the motor carrier, or any defect listed on an inspection form and submitted to the FMSCA for recording.

    I completely disagree and you are completely offering a falsehood. I do a tremendous amount of research on various companies, and I can tell you that the companies that receive the worst complaints, will also have extremely high ISS-2 scores. The higher the score, the worse the attention is given to safety issues and everything else. The higher the score, the more likely that the company is also experiencing high turnover as well.

    It's ABSOLUTELY related. There are very FEW exceptions to that rule.

    The only thing you have demonstrated is that you are woefully misinformed and that you are purposely misrepresenting some time tested research, and downplaying what those numbers mean.

    Now, as to how you personally treat drivers, that is another issue and one that I will not challenge. You may be one of the nicest people behind a computer and a telephone.

    TMC is a company that currently holds an ISS-2 of 97. That is a very bad number, and it was assigned by the FMCSA due to the companies record of not keeping in control, some or all of it's various safety related factors. When a roadside inspector sees that number, the FMCSA is requesting that the truck be stopped and inspected on the basis that the motor carrier is known to be elevated in several risk categories related to SAFETY.

    TMC consistently advertises and relies upon the hiring of inexperienced drivers to fill it's trucks. Those two factors alone suggest and support a charge of extremely high turnover rates. Happy people do not quit jobs. Unhappy people do.

    TMC has more than their fair share of unhappy drivers, for whatever reason. If that was not a fact, then they would not be hiring inexperienced drivers, they would not be suffering some poor safety assessment ratings, and they would have applications piled up on the desk waiting for empty trucks to open up, so that they would be able to process them.

    I find it a shame that you are not more honest about that company. You're not helping them, I assure you.
     
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  3. groovemachine

    groovemachine Light Load Member

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    Mar 8, 2007
    Shawnee, Kansas
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    Wow...this is a fascinating thread. Frankly, the weight of the evidence suggests that TMC is not a company worth starting with...at least at the current time.

    I am 4-6 months from hitting the road, my list of training companies just got a bit shorter...

    Maverick
    Roehl
    Schneider
    CRS

    For many of us folks just joining the industry, the goal is to learn the business from the ground up, get our experience, and get a good local or regional job after 1-2 years.

    TMC sounds like a place to make good money...but at what cost? I would rather clear 30k and be safe than pull 50k and risk my own or the safety of others.

    Great site, btw, I'm very glad to have come across it. It will be most valuable in countless hours of research between now and when I hit the road.

    :biggrin_25519:
     
  4. truckinbiker

    truckinbiker Bobtail Member

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    May 6, 2006
    northern michigan
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    yeah, its too bad that some in the company are flat out dishonest. so theres is a chance of having a real good experience at tmc. as far as the safety goes, you are the driver, you are responsible, period. not safe, out of hours, sit till you are. remember the lives out on the road. they count on you to be the very best, whether its tmc or jb hunt, or trick my tuck. be a pro.
     
  5. slacker03

    slacker03 Bobtail Member

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    Feb 7, 2007
    Bloomington, IN
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    It is not the company you need to be looking at as there are only 7 safety guy's for over 3,000 trucks. I know all of the safety guy's that work for TMC and they all try to get drivers to do there best and log leagl. It is not the company you need to look at it is the driver that should be held responicable for there action. I have been with TMC for over 4 yrs now and I will be the first one to say that I respect the safety dept at TMC. I would not do there job!! I have read alot of the posting on this sight and it kills me to see people talking about a company like some of you have. Unless you work or have worked for this company you have no clue as to what is going on. Yes you are right the Iss-2 score is out of sight but dont you think that has more to do with the drivers than the company. Tmc can talk till they are bule in the face but the drivers are the ones that make the score go up or down not the company. If you are going to put the blame on some one you need to blame the right people. I did read in one of these threads that the shop and the office people look down at drivers. you are right most of them do but there are alot of the office and shop guy's that would talk to you all day long, alot of that has to do with where you are at. Not trying to get into a fight with any one just wish you guy's would put the blame where it belongs.:biggrin_25513:
     
  6. TurboTrucker

    TurboTrucker Road Train Member

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    Feb 23, 2005
    Rossville, Georgia
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    All that tells me is that TMC refuses to hire enough oversight personnel to tackle the safety issues that plague them. Seven people for 2,751 trucks? That's the current figure as of 3/14/07.

    I work for a company that has around 160 trucks, with three safety personnel on staff. The stats we have are excellent.

    I respectfully disagree. A company of that size, with a 1 to 393 ratio of safety officers to drivers, is not taking the issue of safety seriously, nor could they.

    The IRS could completely stop tax cheaters if they had enough people to audit every tax return, so in absense of that being the case, most people are aware that they can play around with the figures to save them from giving up every cent that the code requires them to.

    Blame the drivers if you wish, but they are only taking advantage of the system that is set up for them to exploit. I don't happen to believe that the drivers are to blame in all cases either, due to the repetitive offerings that drivers are encouraged or sometimes pressured to violate the rules in order to satisfy unreasonable customer demands.

    I suppose I would have to find that I respect those people in their safety department as well. Apparently they have a full plate, and are in dire need of some additional troops to fight the battle that they are losing.

    Really? This is starting to sound suspicious.

    Nope. Sorry. And it's now called the ISS-"D" score. Break out the champagne. The new scoring criteria allowed TMC to drop to....97 this last week.

    That would not be the case if they were to fire willing non-compliant drivers who violate policies and monitoring to assure their compliance. If any driver level management personnel are pushing drivers to make up for lost time, then they should be discharged as well.

    Well..it's painfully obvious that TMC is well aware that they are under a microscope on the site, and they are pulling out all the stops to attempt to counter it.

    Keep trying though because this is rather funny. The defenses offered only make them look worse every time they are offered.

    A "driver" blaming the other drivers for the companies awful attention and lack of resources to address safety factors....now THAT'S a hoot!!!:biggrin_25523: :sign5: :hiding: :dark1:
     
  7. slacker03

    slacker03 Bobtail Member

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    Feb 7, 2007
    Bloomington, IN
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    Yes i DO BLAME OTHER DRIVERS FOR WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE ISS-D SCORE AND I BLAME MY SELF ALSO. IF WE AS DRIVERS WOULD DO WHAT THE DOT REQUIRES OF US THEN THERE WOULD NOT BE A ISSUE OF THE ISS-D SCORE BEING AT 97. IF TMC HAD 160 TRUCKS I AM SURE THERE SCORE WOULD BE ALOT BETTER ALSO.
     
  8. slacker03

    slacker03 Bobtail Member

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    Feb 7, 2007
    Bloomington, IN
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    Turbo Trucker you bring alot of good infomation to this board. But you know as well as any driver it all comes to the almighty dollar. TMC got caught and is now in a fight to get there drivers compliant. Your right if they would fire the ones that will not run compliant it would help but then who is going to driver all the empty truck's. It is as far as I can tell this is a lost cause there are to many new drivers with this company that have been told they can make all this great money. Yes you can make good money with TMC running leagl or illeagl. That is your choice as a driver.
     
  9. TurboTrucker

    TurboTrucker Road Train Member

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    Feb 23, 2005
    Rossville, Georgia
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    I seriously doubt it. I can show you thousands of companies with ten trucks apiece that have horrible safety related statistics. I can equally show you literally dozens of companies that have fantastic safety related statistics, who are five to ten times the size or more of TMC.

    UPS operates 56,642 motor vehicles that are all tracked just like TMC's are. Their ISS-D stands today at 20. Schneider National Carriers operates 12,268 vehicles and their ISS-D stands at 37. Oh, those are not flatbed carriers. Maverick Transportation operates collectively close to 2,500 trucks today, and still retains an ISS-D average between them all of 30.

    A company either has control of it's safety factors, or they do not. TMC does not. It is their responsibility to do so. So whether or not the drivers are doing it voluntarily, defiantly, or through coersive pressure, TMC is ultimately responsible for those factors being out of control.
     
  10. TurboTrucker

    TurboTrucker Road Train Member

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    Feb 23, 2005
    Rossville, Georgia
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    Of course it does, but there's a flip side to that statement. If a company cannot do it legally and safely, then they don't deserve to be in business, making those dollars.

    Forgive me, but based on what you offered previously, it doesn't appear that they are making very good headway in their effort to do so. Seven people in safety for a company that size, with the problems they have at the moment, is a joke.

    Who is going to drive them if the FMCSA lowers their compliance rating to conditional or unsatisfactory, and their insurance carrier drops them like a hot potato? No one. They have deeper concerns right now than worrying about filling empty trucks and applying band-aids to their wounds.

    It's because they have had extremely high turnover that they are in this pickle to begin with. You don't treat skin cancer with acne medication. They are going to have to fix their driver problems problems from within those offices FIRST, and work their way out to the seats of those trucks. Upper management is going to have to get off their hineys and start addressing the REAL causes of the problems they are facing.

    But the company can put a stop to it overnight with the enactment of some very simple rules of their own. Apparently they are not willing to do that, and it is due to their utter desperation to keep those trucks rolling with warm bodies. It's not an environment that I would recommend people enter into.

    There are always better options open to those with clean records and the attitude that they want to preserve them too.
     
  11. Brickman

    Brickman Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    It is possible OCCASIONALLY to unload in 30 mins or less. But not very often.
     
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