Starting with TMC

So I got in way later thanks to the tards that work for Greyhound and Burlington trailways. I had time for 3-4hrs of sleep before the first day. But now day 1 is done. Lots of paper work, classwork, and learning lifting and stretching techniques before they check to see how well you'll do with the physical side of things. Oh we did they physical and drug screen too. Nothing really too bad except I don't really care for heights and I had a little trouble lifting the 120lb tarp. Tomorrows gonna be a long day 7am start and class till 8pm because were starting the simulators. Ill update more tomorrow. If you want more details or have any questions, post or pm me and ill try to get it covered. Peace!

 

and heres a basic/general schedule for orientation that I got off the Driver Connection site:

Week One
Monday: classroom to include physical/drug screen, forms, etc.
Tuesday: classroom, night simulators and backing begins, WalMart bus run at 1700 and 2000
Wednesday: classroom, night simulators and backing
Thursday: classroom, night simulators and backing
Friday: begin load securement
Saturday: load securement
Sunday: load securement
Week Two
Monday: begin yard training/truck familiarization
Tuesday: yard training, WalMart bus run at 1700 and 2000
Wednesday: yard training
Thursday: yard training
Friday: clean up equipment, release from orientation (the time you leave can vary, but the general rule is approximately 1500)

Peace!

 

Man Im tired. Class went till 8 and then we went to walmart. More classwork, doing tests and a little bit of paperwork. Then we watched some videos, 1 of which is almost guaranteed to put you to sleep, but they are good videos. Went over the basics of the Qualcomm system and a general overview of a day in the life of a TMC driver. Later they split us up and we got to do an hour in the yard shifting (1-3 and back down) and straight line back. These trucks are pretty different from what Im used to. They are low rpm - high torque trucks that shift around 1000-1300 depending on your range selector position. Then we got to do an hour on the simulators practicing shifting all the way up and down through the gears using the splitter button. Not sure if theres really much else to say about today.

Things are still going pretty good for me. Its gonna take me a while to get the hang of using that splitter button, especially when down shifting. The trucks are really nice though. Hmmm.... yeah I cant think of anything else to add, but ill answer any questions you can come up with or Ill get the answer tomorrow. Peace!

 

Thanks, I really hope so but I know its gonna take some time.

 

So today was an easy day. We learned about hours of service and how to do logs, you think you know how to do them but youll see its not exactly what you thought it was (although PDA does a good job of getting you started), and then we took a test on it. We went over the different pay methods, per mile vs percentage. We watched some movies about accidents and about some technology TMC has in the trucks to help avoid rollovers. We also finished up more classwork. Ive gotten B's on all my tests . So it was a good day. Questions and comments are always welcome.

Before I go though, Id like to throw a shout out to all students at Professional Drivers Academy in Milton, PA both present and future. I got some advice for you. Highlight everything they tell you to in the FMC Safety Regs book, that will really help you out when you get a job especially at TMC. Also, if youre having trouble straight line backing keep those elbows in close. If youre having trouble backing and turning, try looking out the window at your trailer. When parallel parking, STOP, you should know what Im talking about and I promise it will help you. Last bit of advice I have, if Buck or George tell you to do something do it exactly that way and it will work. Good luck guys and gals!
Peace!

 

Not much better here, 62-63MPH. Sorry.

 

Another day down. Today was movies, tuition reimbursement, and going over benefits. Then we did trip planning. I dont know how other schools do things but my school, Professional Drivers Academy, did a good job of preparing me for this. Its a bit different and a bit more in depth than what we did at school, but it wasnt hard to keep up. Tomorrow starts the 6:30am classes. Trying to help us get used to longer work days. Were starting load securement training. Should be interesting. Well Im hungry so its time for food. Questions and comments welcome as always. Peace!