TMC Transportation, Inc. - Des Moines, Ia.

We agree, all trucking companies operate about the same, some better then others, I was just pointing out some of the issues my husband has with tmc, and yes, he is looking at switching FM, his old one was great and routed him home better, and loads was better, this one now just doesnt seem to get with the program, and other drivers with her say the same. He does idle as needed, he doesnt really care what they say or how much they complain, just wanted others to know that they will harp, he feels that until they cut their air use, he wont cut his, I say let them tarp in 104 temp and then crawl inside a hot truck and drive or sleep and see how they like it....lol and for the guy who said he doubted my husband was told what his home time would be, sorry to disapoint ya, but not only was he told that 3 times by 3 people, his own trainer being one, he also told me same when he called to introduce himself. I dont feel that his trainer personally lied, I feel recruiter and TMC did thou, only cuz his trainer was getten home like that, but now, he doesnt get home any more then my husband does, I know this, because hubby and his trainer have remained very good friends for past year(living close by) My husband is stayen with TMC for now, he has heard the horror stories of other companies, and feels that with its pro's/con's, TMC is better then most, he just feels they can step into the drivers shoes a bit more. And, home time is important to all drivers, yes, and we are not actually complaing, hubby is retired military, so we are used to "no family" time, but its the sitting ALL day fridays at 200 miles from home only to not actually finally get load and home till late saturday and leave early/mid sun that gets old. we wasnt saying anything against drivers who are out longer, you choice your haul lenghts, he chose his. Now just waiting to hear from any east Oklahoma drivers w/tmc so we can see if moven westward is best, he wants to get into more local work and figures to stay with tmc until that happens, and would like to live that direction, east TN is nice, but local jobs just aint here, and what does come up, there is a ton of other folks looken to, so makes getten one harder. has anyone heard or worked for R & L??? they run local and pay is good,he is looken at them and also for pepsi.

 

Well, also keep in mind that freight is fairly slow this time of year. This WILL directly affect home time on Friday. The best advice that i can give to you, and your husband is to put himself in control of the situation.

My fleet manager calls me with load options, he does not just send me whatever load he feels like. This is because he knows that i can make better decisions based on my time, and area than he can... Simply because I'm out there every day, and i know the pro's and cons. I may take a 400 dollar load over a thousand dollar load, because i know that when i get the 400 dollar load, I'm not going to be sitting there all day waiting for them to load me, and so fourth. I also know that once you get east of Ohio you're going to get screwed coming back out, there isn't much choice of flatbed freight out that way.

Your husband needs to understand that he doesn't work for his fleet manager. There are alot of new fleet managers (I think i know which you're referring to, she is new.. They tried to put me on her fleet when she got it and i refused to move...) She is gung-ho and probably believes she is the boss of the drivers, and this isn't exactly the case. The fleet manager is there to work FOR the driver, not AGAINST him.. This is commonplace.. TMC Hires alot of fresh college grads, i can't complain about that, we all started somewhere, but an easy way past this is to be stubborn if he needs to. If she tries to give him a crappy load, tell her no.. She will then start in with "Thats all there is" and he will need to make a choice to stand up for himself, and let the truck sit. He won't make any money, but it will brighten his future. If the truck is sitting then the fleet manager needs to explain to her team leader why, not the driver. And even if he does, i guarantee he will have a better explanation than the fleet manager will.

Also, rarely do i ever get home before noon on Friday. Thats the life of trucking, as someone else said, it's better that then once a month like alot of other companies expect of their drivers. However, i do manage my time much better than my fleet manager can, and will look as far ahead in the week based on what's on the deck as early as Monday, and i will plan my entire week before I'm even empty on Monday. Of course, I've been doing it long enough to know what I'm going to pickup, and from where when I'm empty, and where it will likely be going, etc.

Now, if he lost a percentage because his idle time went up, he probably originally had that percentage because his idle time was lower when he received it. Or his out of route went up, or his revenue went down. In any event, I've never heard of a driver at TMC losing pay just because of idle time.. The way that our points system works, there had to be another factor.

 

The world and TRUCKING COMPANIES. Would be more accurate. You are pointing the finger at TMC. Find me a trucking company that will get you home every friday, and, this ofcourse is assuming that you're doing your job well enough to be one of the first few trucks on the board friday morning, close to home.

Alot of you have unrealistic expectations, and feel the need to blame TMC for what is the INDUSTRY norm. Trucking is unpredictable, if you want to be home at 5:00 every Friday, you need to get an hourly job, it is not TMC's fault, there are too many factors that can change plans. And TMC knows this, which is exactly why they specify being home on the weekends, and NOT WHAT TIME.

 

I agree 110% here. However, this isn't just TMC. Every company screws their drivers in this aspect. I do wish it would change, but congress decided truck drivers diddn't apply to the rules and regulations that have been set by the federal government for hourly workers, (overtime, minimum wage, to be paid for ALL time worked) etc. Hopefully within the next few years we will see a change, but i highly doubt it.

 

I don't think he was "harassed" about it. I'm sure that they may have asked, i highly doubt that at that time they knew he was in 100+ temperatures. It's not like they check the weather before they look at your idle percentage.

You're getting a little extreme with this. Imagine if you owned a truck that burned a $3.00++ gallon of fuel every hour. I'm sure you'd be curious about it as well.

 

so investing in driver comfort is extreme? whats extreme is the amount of time and money they spend trying to put a gleam in the eye of every driving school student.

 

They do invest in our comfort. By not having APU's means nothing, i idle my truck, always have. I was asked about it one time, after that they left me alone. I would hardly call it harassment, though.

Also, many people mistake that our nice trucks are there to put a "gleam" in students eyes, they're not. The people that own, and run our company have class, and they want their drivers and their trucks to represent that. I don't think that's a bad thing, either.

I simply meant that reffering to it as harassment was extreme.

 

Can you tell me where R&L is based (the main terminal) or the DOT number (that is a long shot)? There are great trucking companies out there and there are a lot of companies better than TMC. I can recommend my company, but it is OTR and being home weekends is not an option. If TMC lied about weekends off and harrassment about idle time, what do you think the future with TMC is going to bring? It is not going to get better. I do feel bad about your situation. I was part of it once and everything you are going through I went through. I do know of a very small company that just hauls armored cars. No tarp, excellent home time (the driver I talked to said two weeks on one week off) and pay is OK. It is OTR though. I wish there was more I could do. Another thing to look into is hauling local mobile or modular homes. Not steady work, but it is year round. It is oversized. A friend of mine calls me very rarely (in a bind) and I get routed through the house, haul the home and get back on the road. It is not steady enough for me. Let's keep talking. We can figure something out. You now know TMC is not the answer so find something that works.

 

I don't know about R&L. I know Old Dominion is a decent company, you need your doubles endorsement. I believe they start out at 54CPM Or thereabouts. I was going to drive for them out of grand rapids Michigan, but ended up staying with TMC.

I guess it's all about the driver. I find it perfectly fine for them to ask about my idle time, now if this person was really "Harassed" about it, that's a whole nother story, but i highly doubt that was the case.

They've also never lied to me about when i would be home for the weekend, because the fact of the matter was simply, it depended mostly upon me, and what freight they had available. There were times were they've even set me up to swap loads with another driver, to convenience both of us on the weekend, i don't think that makes them a bad company. Like i said, trucking is unpredictable... When they stop paying me, or put false information on my DAC i'll be concerned. But so far, they're treating me and my family good. And i'm not going to try and fix what's not broken.

 

ECKZ you have said the truth every time you log in. Makes me happy that
i'm not the only person happy to work at TMC, I think you get what you put into it