TMC Orientation Story

Forget the grass.

You really want to piss Todd Bunting off, ask him how Sean Mynskey is doing.

 

I am currently in cdl school please keep us informed as tmc is at the top of my list.

 

miz860, read all you can here on this board. There is a wealth of information from current drivers to past drivers. Some have good experiences some have horrible experiences and most somewhere in the middle.

I don't know how it is there now as its been a year since I left. I came to this board and learned a lot before though. I think you can do a lot worse than TMC but its not all what the recruiter says or fanboys say. Your mileage will vary is my favorite saying and hold true here.

My advice to you if you pick them. Fly to Iowa for orientation if you can, they will reimburse you up to $150 (the cost of bus ticket) check with your recruiter. I flew out there on a one way ticket it was like $300 or so I forget. I was at hotel and checked in at 11am Sunday (first one there), those from the Philly area that took the bus didn't get there till after 1 am and we had 6 am start time Monday for orientation. Plus they were beat from a 24+hr bus ride. So to me it was worth the extra money. Going home they will get you a bus ticket or if you make it all the way you either go right into a truck with a trainer or more likely they rent you a car to drive home in, usually have to drop off others in your class.

Pay attention to everything and don't goof off, all of the jokers in my class were gone quick, more than half of my class didn't make it. Its a 2 week interview really so be on your best even at hotel. Don't walk on the grass. I sometimes feel they try to intimidate or piss people off during orientation, just let it roll off you. During the 2nd week try to always improve when your out physically driving.

Also bring a laptop if you have one. Some of the testing can be done online and at the time there was only 1 PC at the hotel and its always being used. Plus a laptop is good for entertainment.

If you can, post your experiences here on the board as it helps the next guy.

Good luck to you

 

You definitely want to keep your head down in orientation. Ask smart questions and take any advice. Like FirsNa said, don't joke around or goof off. Be polite to the hotel staff also. I think they work for TMC also and you can get in trouble at the hotel. I just kept quiet and only asked questions on something I didn't understand. They weed out people quick.

I was an experienced driver, no flatbed experience, and we had 35 start out. 13 of us got assigned to trainers. Only saw one person from my class when I went back to get my truck.


And, stay off the grass.

 

I swear one of these days I want to letter a truck to say Yellowstone Trucking on the side and drive it through harolds grass and do a couple of doughnuts for old time sake.

 

I chose TMC for their somewhat extended training program as I am a newbie. I appreciate your insight on how to conduct ones self while both at the hotel and during the "2 week interview". I am leaving for Des Moines in 2 weeks and will be flying in as I live in SC and it would have been a 34 hour +/- bus ride. My recruiter said they would reimburse me roughly $160.00. So it appears I am a little ahead of the curve with that decision! I was curious about the physical exam I keep hearing about, is this a DOT exam, something more thorough or all together totally different?

I have read that they weed people out quickly and was not surprised when you said that more than 50% were gone prior to leaving for a trainer. While out with your trainer were you guys running like a team or was the trainer really available(not sleeping) for training? How often did you make it home during training? What percentage of the loads during training were you tarping, and was your trainer open to helping you work out the kinks in your tarping expertise? How long were you with TMC and why did you leave? Did you leave your laptop in the hotel while at orientation?

Being that this is my planned first(and hopefully my only stop)in the trucking industry, I was planning on acting accordingly, take in as much information as possible, and really try to embrace TMC's culture. So, much of what you've said makes sense to me, and should to anyone interviewing for any job. However, as I said before I appreciate your insight and I think others will as well. Thank you in advance for answering the above listed questions.

 

Good luck SC and keep us posted if you can. I've been thinking about tmc. They look like a decent outfit from the outside. I just can't get past having to pay tolls out-of-pocket then hoping for a timely reimbursement. At least you won't have to wash your own truck. Providing they still pay for those. Anyway, good luck man.

 

Thanks, I will do my best at keeping everyone up to speed on my time there.

I was told by my recruiter(take it how ever you want) that tolls are provided in advance provided you stay on their trip plan. Now, I am not sure exactly how that would work, but that is what I was told. I find it hard to believe that a company that pays 1 million plus on landscaping needs me to front known trip costs, but.....

 

You'd be surprised how some in my class acted. Some acted like teenagers away from their parents for the first time. Rumor has it they use to have a van there for use to goto store etc. And a group went to the bar in it and had an accident even. Now its only once a week trip to Wal-mart on the bus, maybe more depending on who is driving it and how they feel. If you have a roommate that drove then it works great, if your driving don't be surprised if your a popular guy,,lol. I didn't have a laptop, but roommate did, he just left it in the room as you can't bring it with you to class.

The physical is pretty standard I think, not sure if its to DOT specs or not
Some their thought they were already in if they passed the physical and rest was just something they had to do. The biggest loud mouth couldn't even drive the truck, always grinding gears cutting turns too short with trailer running over sidewalk and almost putting it in a ditch.


Trainers are all different. Mine was cool, although I had to travel from New Jersey (near Philly) where I live to Virgina (just outside of D.C.) to meet him as he was the closest one to me. he would work with me though, driving first when heading out and when coming home as he knew I had to drive a few more hours to get home. TMC reimbursed me for mileage and tolls though. If your trainer is more than 200 miles away I beileve they pay for a motel for you, mine was 189 something,,lol so I was SOL.

For the first 2 weeks or so we did things together and he showed me the ropes. The middle 2 weeks he let me pretty much do things on my own and was there as an advisor. The last week he helped out a lot as he saw I could do it on my own anyhow. We ran as teams a lot of the time towards the end. First week or so not so much. We were home 3 out of 5 weekends. Spent one weekend in Houston TX, boy did that suck. Another weekend I got to go home because we were close to my house but too far to dead head to his home, so I got my brother to fetch me. I offered him to stay with me at my house but he declined. Spending a week in a truck with a guy is a challenge but we got along well. Heard some horror stories though of those with bad trainers.

I can't remember percentages of tarped loads, maybe 50/50. they say they don't give you hard loads but they did to us, makes sense though. We did a good selection of loads, although we did pull more shingles and drywall loads.

As I documented here before, I left because I was only bringing home $400 a week or so. I did a lot of sitting waiting for loads. I know I wasn't the best driver but I wasn't the worst. All my loads arrived on time. My FM ran me mostly in the North East as thats where I am from plus he said nobody likes running it. I also had problems parking the truck here at home. Closest I could park was 3 miles from my house in a shopping center parking lot. Twice my fuel tanks were sucked dry so I had to move it. I asked a local trucking place to park it there and they wouldn't let me. I heard of some place else but they wanted $200 a month, even though truck would only maybe be there 2 days a week. I also had personal problems at home with my gf not liking me being away all week. If the money was better it would have been worth it but for $400 a week I could find local work and be home every night. After I left they got rid of EZ pass and with driving the north east all the time that would have sucked.

I was only there for 6 months or so. I sometimes think I should have sucked it up and stayed as I was comfortable with the job and actually enjoyed it when on the road. I sometimes think to see if they would take me back or try somewhere else as local companies want 1-2 years experience.

My advice is to go for it, TMC isn't the best but from I read on these forums and from a few friends who drive, you could do a lot worse. Some do good others not so good. I've read some getting screwed here by them and left. And I've heard others say noting but good things and doing well with them. So your mileage may vary.

Good luck and keep posting your experiences here if you do go thru them.

 

SC,
Hey buddy I wish you the best of luck at TMC please keep me informed with how it goes! I had to put my driving on hold for a while. But as it looks now I will be making the move come March next year! Have to get tax money to cover school time! Please keep me informed how it goes! Would be curious to see if your check is more than $400 a week. Dont see how it cant be more! Good Luck!