Not going to blow up the fine print to read it, but the presumption is about right. As I understand it, the company is now basically employee owned, and from what you've said, that's about normal for mega carriers, as it was the same for me at Swift back in 08. There, you did a general week of classroom, physical, background checking, driving and backing testing...that was everyone, as many of that class was going to van, but if you were going for flatbed it was an extra week of pure securement traning in classroom and yard application...and then 4 weeks with a trainer. Sounds like you're going to be getting the same kind of routine, with the exception, there is no vans at TMC, so you'll only need to focus on that. The nice thing about going through the Swift orientation/training is that we could take their [van] loads during slow times, but they couldn't take ours. Good Luck Edit: Correction, it was supposed to be 2 weeks with Trainer, but because of holiday when I went through, I asked for extra week.
If they give you 48 hours off every week.that is nice. Most starter companies make u stay out 3+ weeks at a time. I used to stay out 6-8 weeks with swift.
My first with Swift was after the first 3 weeks with Trainer, I asked for an extra week because it was holiday (Labor Day) and screwed up the schedule, but after that, went home got clothes and such and didn't go back home for about 3 months. They wanted to send me to WA around November/December and I told them I needed to get winter clothes, so went home for that and doctor's appointment...after that, like you, I was out for 2 months at a time.
It's ridiculous freight companies have drivers trained to think like this. I'd have walked out the door at the first hint of this and they actually told you that? What they're saying is do your 34 hour reset and get right back to work ASAP! BS... Trucking doesn't really have to be like that. Weekends or at least a solid 2 days off should be sacred. People have a life outside of trucks. The longer you do this the more you will come to realize that.
Trucking is far from politically correct and full of good ol boys.....with that said, welcome to the industry lol. Keep your skin thick for real. Anyway, flatbedding is really good to start a trucking career. I broke in flatbedding myself. It's gonna be a lot of work, but flatbedding is a lot fun too. Learning to back that spread axle may pose a bit of a challenge. If you learned to back a box trailer in school, you may as well forgot all that info. Alley docking is almost non existent when backing a spread axle. I may even dare say it's non existent backing any trailer. Just resist the temptation to over steer and you'll be fine. Good luck to you, driver!
haha yea that's exactly how i repeated it to the class when they asked for clarification lol im taking tmc for what it is. a stepping stone to something else. experience only. i was a grain bin builder for many years. in that industry its 6 to 7 months of work up in the dakotas and Minnesota to make your years salary before winter strikes. ive been gone for months before getting home. trust me, i almost walked too. they say they give you 51 hours off a week, i cut it to 48 for simple math purposes. im not defending their statements. im just not to worried about them because this is just a another rung on the ladder
luckily i was born with thick skin lol. it definitely takes more than most to offend me. in todays world of thin skinned people im surprised that most of what came out of his mouth in a corporate orientation setting has gone without anyone #####ing lol. i think his words are hilarious, i dont blame him for being candid to keep it interesting. he says he has been in the same room starting a class every Monday since 2007. im sure it definitely gets booring teaching the same exact thing every week. at least school teachers get to wait a year before having to repeat themselves.
