Was let go by TMC last Friday

I worked for TMC.

 

"It will be my guess that a lot of companies will be letting newbies go after the cheap part of training is over. You know, the part where you drive basicially team for peanuts, and before you get turned loose to a higher wage."


"cheap?" how do you figure that? when you add up the motel, orientation pay, physical examination/drug test and all the other expenses incurred hiring a new person. PLUS during training, they're paying TWO people to do a job that was previously done by ONE? it costs a company THOUSANDS to get a new guy into a truck, it doesn't SAVE them anything!!!

well well, mr eckz, seems like just a few weeks ago that things were going so great with you with your great company and your recently acquired great local run!!! my my my how things can change soooooo quickly! I'm not trying to gloat you see, but I'm not surprised. companies that have drivers that are lowes/home depot dedicated are usually told during orientation - if you miss a delivery time, you better be broke down or dead. otherwise, it's immediate termination. seems a little harsh to me.

 

I've been waiting for you to show up.

TMC Road trucks are alot different than the day cabs are, the one i was lucky enough to snag was the biggest untaken care of piece of crap in Michigan, and that's no exaguration.

And, i wasn't a new driver either. Last friday (30 below in Michigan) i had no brakes in my car, my brake lines were frozen up. I called my boss and told him what the situation was (at the time, believed i was doing the right thing) i still had more than enough time to make my delivery. I called him about 2 hours later and told him i was on my way in, and would be there on time -- he had already given the load to another driver.

(Which was fine, that's why i called, to make sure the load would get there)

Well, Denise, or whatever her name is wanted to know why the load was changed. When my boss explained to her that i was having car trouble they took it as (unreliable). That's what they (say) this all stemmed from. My boss and I went through everything in my record. Nothing bad (Except what they forced him to put in there, which wasn't even a problem really, one late, and that was due to traffic adn weather conditions, i still left with plenty enough time to make it) and that was the end of it.

They wanted to hear none of it. Even he chimed in on speaker phone to defend me, diddn't matter.

I still think that TMC is a good company, they are going through rough times and i think that i got caught up in the mix. That's life. And i've never heard of anybody being terminated for being late one time, not from TMC or any other company.

 

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I highly doubt that TMC or any company benefits financially from letting someone go during or at the end of training. The costs to bring in a student and orient them, then pair them with a trainer are not insignificant. According to my trainer a new driver does not actually hit the break even point for training until they have been in their own truck for 3 months.

 

It costs TMC a little under $2000 by the time the trainee gets to the team driving phase of training. It's not cost-free training system they have by any means but they are in the black by the time we see our own truck not three months down the line. The drug screen and physical are $91, I actually asked about this because I wouldn't sign my employment agreement until George told me how much I would be on the hook for if I left. If you leave training or quit within 90 days you are on the hook for the DOT and whiz quiz cost as well as 1/3 of your first three weeks of pay. I had to clear that up before I felt comfortable signing and George was real helpful giving me specific dollar amounts. I had a hard time believing the medical costs were that low but as he explained it TMC has their own company doctor so the cost is much lower. It makes sense, with more than 2500 drivers that's about 4 physicals a day assuming everyone is on the 2 year physical which I highly doubt.

 

Your direct costs are correct, but you also need to figure that the trainer is being paid as well as you for the driving. My trainer claimed that he didn't make significantly more in his own paycheck by having a trainee. So an experienced driver would earn as much revenue for the company without the entire training expense.

You also need to add in the costs of all the trainees that don't make it all the way through. The annual cost of the training program is equal to the profit earned by all new hires in their first three months in their own trucks. My information on that is also outdated at this point.

 

hey just a note, it's against federal law to fire someone while in the military, whether it be for bootcamp, or weekend warrior, my son is is the reserves, done been thru that,

 

Its not against the law to fire someone just because they are in the military!