TVC Pro Driver?

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by Rook, Feb 12, 2007.

  1. Rook

    Rook Light Load Member

    140
    10
    Sep 22, 2006
    Texas
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    Anyone have any first hand knowledge of them?
     
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  3. Pur48Ted

    Pur48Ted Road Train Member

    3,617
    5,979
    Jun 14, 2006
    Grand Rapids, MI
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    I "had them"........or should I say THEY HAD ME for several years. Paid my $40 per month.......just in case I got some "career-ending" ticket. Used them twice in five years. Got two lawyers that couldnt find their way around a court-room with-out a map. One of them was obviously intoxicated. Lost both cases that I was sure were "slam-dunk" dismissals.
    TVC ProDriver told me that I was "adequately" represented..........I guess you get what you pay for.....<sigh>

    Oh, and I should say that I haven't had ANY ticket since ( 1998 )
     
  4. MamboQueen

    MamboQueen Bobtail Member

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    Jun 11, 2007
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    I used to work for TVC. I was in their legal department from 1995 to 1998. Stay away from them.

    First off, the people in their legal department have NO legal training whatsoever. They don't even require any actual office experience of any kind to work there. You are handing over your ticket to someone who in many cases has no clue how to handle it. They send them (in bulk) to attorneys, many of whom are right out of law school, to deal with them. At the time I worked there, TVC paid these attorneys a whopping $75 per case to take care of them, which is significantly below what their usual rates were. The attorneys agree to this because they want the referrals. So you're getting what you pay for, which is usually not much. Most of these attorneys don't even go to court for you. Ever. They do it all by phone or fax, and quite frankly, some of it you can do yourself. Some courts will let you plead no contest and pay a fine, or they will agree to reduce it to a lesser charge and let you pay the fine to keep it off your record. You can call them or write to the court and do that yourself. No attorney needed. I worked for Ryder Logistics for several years in the dispatch office after my stint at TVC, and I fixed a few tickets for our drivers right from the dispatch office. No court, no lawyer.

    Another thing about TVC is this. Their sales reps get HUGE commissions, especially the ones who have been with the company since it's inception. Virgil Coffee, the guy who started TVC, was once a sales rep for Pre-Paid Legal and he decided to basically steal some of the reps from Pre-Paid and start TVC. The sales reps who went with him are BULLETPROOF. They can do absolutely anything they want, say anything they want, and they will never get in trouble for it. And their commissions are bigger than everyone else's. Bottom line: They will lie their butts off just to get you to sign up and you're the one who gets the short end of the stick.

    I did all the fun cases: failure to appear, guy about to lose his license, that kind of thing. I assigned attorneys to the cases and did research and explained things to the drivers when they had questions about their cases. Honestly, I liked what I did there and there were quite a few cases where I was actually able to help, and that was good. But not everyone there was like that. I had a guy one time who called in from a weigh station in a complete tizzy because he was an owner-operator who had unfortunately signed up for TVC. The rep who snagged him had convinced the poor guy that part of TVC's membership included liability insurance. Well, it was considerably cheaper than the insurance he already had, so he canceled his insurance and signed up for TVC. I had the oh-so-fun job of explaining to this man that no, TVC has no insurance coverage in any way shape or form and he's been driving with no insurance. I spoke to the officer at the weigh station and explained the situation to him and I flat out told him (which I was not supposed to do) that this man had been lied to by a sales person and that he was honestly not aware that he did not have insurance. The officer was kind enough to let the guy call his insurance company and get it reinstated instead of giving him a ticket, but it could have been much worse. That's just one example. I could give you hundreds.

    They also were really good at making claims that they could handle any existing ticket you might have when you signed up, they could do overweight tickets, logbook violations, parking tickets and any other non-moving violations. This is **NOT** true. You can send them the pre-existing tickets (even if it's a moving violation) or any of those non-moving violations, and their way of handling it is to forward it to an attorney who will take your case at a 25% discount off their usual hourly rate. YOU are responsible for paying 75% of the attorney's fees, no matter what they are, plus court costs and fines if any. Not such a good deal.

    They were also really good at making guarantees that they could absolutely get your tickets dismissed. Not so. It's impossible to guarantee things like that, and anyone who tells you otherwise is full of it. They didn't treat their employees any better than they did their clients, either. I hope that helps!
     
  5. MamboQueen

    MamboQueen Bobtail Member

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    Jun 11, 2007
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    "Got two lawyers that couldnt find their way around a court-room with-out a map. One of them was obviously intoxicated."

    If it was in Texas, and the lawyer was Alan Bransgrove, he did that to over 100 other people. I spent 4 months fixing that mess. They were trying to get him disbarred last I heard.
     
  6. shaman

    shaman Bobtail Member

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    May 14, 2007
    Ga
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    I lost brakes and had a roll over in VA on I-95 off ramp. The DOT officer checked the brake system at the site and concluded I could not stop due to faulty breaks. The Dot officer gave me a ticket that read "failure to maintain control/faulty breaks". As far as I was concerned a rubber stamp, not at fault on my behalf. I was a member of TVC and turned it over to them to handle. The clown atty threw me in the river without consulting me after I sent him a not guilty plea. I wound up with a conviction of "improper driving" and 3 points on my CDL and had to pay court cost. This BS after the officer stated in the accident report my breaks had malfunctioned. ASK ME if I will ever pay a premium to these clowns again, not no but HELL NO!!:biggrin_25510:
     
  7. rcowboy66

    rcowboy66 Bobtail Member

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    Jun 15, 2009
    San Antonio, Texas
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    I believe that all you are an employee who is angry at the company only because you were unable to make the commissions that other employees were able to make. We do help drivers and you do not know what your talking about. You are that person that was passed up for a promotion and that is why you are no longer with TVC you quit and want to talk trash and tell drivers what is not true what about all the other benefits that TVC offers. So I would say this talk facts and stop being a hater.
     
  8. gearjammer-2000

    gearjammer-2000 <strong>Clutch User</strong>

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    Dec 18, 2007
    columbus Ohio
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    just try to cancel you membership with them, it took me months to get rid of them and it was finally done thru the bank,s attorney it seems that once you start automatic deductions it takes the people getting the deductions paid t them to stop them not the person with the account, I finally had to threaten to move my accounts to another bank before the bank decided to help me get rid of TVC, from what i understand they referred it to their legal dept. a call was made and the C.C charges disappeared
     
  9. vangtransport

    vangtransport Heavy Load Member

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    2,373
    Apr 14, 2009
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    STAY AWAY!!! STAY FAR, FAR WAY!!!! I signed up for the service in OH because I was assured by the rep that they could help me with the only ticket I have ever got. It was a ticket for not having a OR fuel permit that was due on 6/10/09, TVC told me to not pay it and they were going to go to court on my behalf. They called me the Friday before the court date and confirmed that they were going to go . Well I got a court summins in the mail on 6/13/09 for a bench trial on 6/19/09, it stated I must be there or my license would be suspended and/or a warrant would be issued for my arrest. Needless to say I was scared so I called the clerk of courts. TVC NEVER EVEN SHOWED UP, the guy called in and said he was me and said that I was broke down in MN. TVC has not called me as of today and I am waiting to see how long it takes before they call me and let me know how my 6/10/09 court date went.
    The clerk told me if I had not called and did not go to the court date I would have had my license suspended in OR and a warrant issued for my arrest, she said that the judge was not very happy with my excuse or my attitude. I explained the whole TVC situation and how it was not me that called in to her and had to plead "no contest" over the phone and by fax, and was put on a payment plan for the $435. Thank god that the OR clerk is a very nice lady she helped me out of a TVC jam.
     
  10. biggreddtruck

    biggreddtruck Bobtail Member

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    Sep 23, 2009
    Edmonton Alberta
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    Well thanks for the above info on tvc pro driver, I was recently in Baytown TX an approached by a rep an explained all the benefits of their program, I didnt sign up yet an I dont think I will. If somethin is too good to be true it prob is a scam.
     
  11. Hardlyevr

    Hardlyevr Road Train Member

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    Jul 30, 2009
    Mapleton Depot,PA
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    If you are smart enough to be able to operate a calculator, then you can figure out this is a bad deal, and if you need an attorney, hire one when you need one.
     
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