Trans Am Trucking, Inc. - Olathe, Ks.

WOW....After reading this thread im re-considering going with Trans-Am. I will be enrolling in school 3/26/07. I was pretty excited about trans-Am but not after reading all this. Is there any company drivers from Trans-Am that can tell me what to expect if I should decide to go with them?

 

Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see...........in other words, every company will not be a fit for every person. There is NO such thing as a perfect company. YOU have to decide what is right for YOU and go from there. BOL.

 

devildice gave the best advice possible.

I worked for Trans Am for 4 1/2 years until April of 2006 and loved it.

The only problem I had with TA was the log dept. They are strict on their logs.
They have to be, owner Johnny Jacobson ran it as an outlaw outfit until the federales caught up with him.
Not only did he pay the fines levied against the company, he paid the fines of any driver who stayed with him.
He figured it was his fault for not enforcing the law. He said, "I knew better."

As to the log dept, I usually had to straighten them out every couple of months.
They gigged me once for 63 violations in a 2 month period. Ready to fire my butt.
I took my logs to the office, two hours later I walked out with 1 legit violation.
The log dept got reamed for not verifying the violations the scanware spit out.

I got along great with everyone there.
My dispatcher was a great guy who gave me plenty of miles, 2800 to 3000 weekly, which ain't bad for a company depending on IBP/Tyson for loads.
Road assist and OSD worked hard to get issues solved and your truck rolling.
The shop was pretty good, several "retired" O/O's turning wrenches.

Why did I leave?
I'm hard headed. If I get sick I keep working.
I came down with a severe case of pnuemonia, passed out in the office when I went in to get my load taken off me.
Woke up in the Olathe Medical Center the next day. Took me 5 months to get healthy again.
When I was ready to go back to work I was told I was ineligable for rehire.
My old dispatcher did some poking around and found out the log dept was still p/o'ed at me for causing them a hard time on many ocassions so they put the brakes on my rehire.
Gal that had that done has since "left under pressure" but once that dark mark is there....

If I could I'd go back today.
No question.
Is TA for everyone, no. But no company is.
Go to a truck stop, talk to several current drivers, then make a decision.

 

thank you for letting me join your forum. i worked for trans am and i didn't get treated well at first . their lease purchase program wasn't very good.they said you could take 4 days a month off and still make a 1,000 dollars a week sorry but not true.i worked there for 4 months and according to my tax papers at the end of the year i supposedly made 18,000. i only saw less than a 1,000 dollars of that money while working there.they were supposed to give 300.00 cash advances a week automatically and did not.so i didnt use it in cash advances.they did give miles and i did run them i just didnt get paid.they said all tolls would be reembursed, but somehow they kept losing my toll reciepts.when you call to see why you didnt get a paycheck they would tell you they'll call you back they don't.if you call them back you don't get anything but a answering machine or voicemail.but if you call them back from a number that they dont know you get an answer.then they hang up on you.but there were a few lease drivers that said they were donig okay but the majority said no.

 

Typical scumbag OTR non union dry freight company.

 

Obviously you don't have a clue.
"Alex, i'll take, I need a clue for 500 dollars"

 

I have more of a clue than you will ever have. So maybe it is reefers they run. Makes no dif to me they still pay slave wages. Shiny red trucks and they pay pennies per mile. Pretty sure they offer some kind of lease to own or something like that. But it is just a way to fleece the suckers. You will never see the title to the truck.

 

I Drive for Trans Am now as a company driver. I started out fresh fom cdl school w/them. The cents per mile was better then most, as well as some of the other bens. Just like every other company they stretch the truth alittle bit(O.K alot). But as a new driver you could do a lot worse....I'd have to say overall TransAm is a good company to start out with and get some time under your belt for the experiance. Just dont let them talk you into the lease program. Start as a company driver get the experiance and find the job you really want.

 

I started with TransAm about a month ago. I get plenty of time to run, and plenty of miles. I average 3000 miles per week, and have yet to do a "T-Call" / swap.