I'm going with Maverick: newbie trainee blog

After a very brief stint with TMC (didn't finish full orientation), and after careful consideration, I've decided to go with Maverick.

Not that TMC is a bad company; I think they are anal about a lot of good things (clean trucks, equipment, safety, logs, on time) . I see TMC as being for the newbie who really hustles under their percentage plan and makes $60 first year. For those with strictly money on their mind, TMC isn't a bad newbie choice. But the people (not the trainees, the trainers), I didn't like the overall attitude of the company. Especially when I talked to Maverick prior. I was actually working with Maverick for about 3 weeks prior. Maverick puts you on a waiting list depending on where you live and it is different for each state.

Here is what I know as of today:
Maverick (Little Rock, AR)
Week 1 is orientation and safety
Week 2 is load securement.
Week 3-8 is with a trainer/instructor on the road. Now the training doesn't last 6 weeks. It can be shorter depending on how well you catch on.

Week 1 Starts on a Sunday. You may have the following Saturday or Sunday off; no guarantees.

$550 your first week. $50 is paid cash to you, the other $500 in a check.
Each additional week in training is $500. Additional $500 sign-on bonus is paid AFTER 6 months in your own truck.

You are paid on Fridays weekly.

Pay once you are in your own truck is .35/mi loaded and unloaded. $10 tarp all loads/$20 tarp lumber. Detention pay, and hometime guarantee pay. .04/mi raise after 6 months (along with your $500 sign on bonus).

You cannot drive to the training facility. You must take the greyhound bus. (Well, you can, but your car will sit there). You meet your OTR trainer directly from the compound or they will get you to him. And you begin your training and from that point you don't plan on being home until training is over.

You spend week 1 in the motel on-site. The 2nd week is at a motel off site.

Bring everything you want with you as you will NOT have the opportunity to go back home until AFTER training is completed (unless you live nearby the trainer). They do put you up in a hotel on the weekends that your trainer would be at home.

Compare with TMC (Columbia, S. Carolina location)

Week 1 orientation and safety
Week 2 load securement and practice driving (13 speed super w/splitter and range selector).
Week 3-7 on the road with trainer.
Week 8 take road test back at training facility and then get issued a truck.

week 1-2 you will work throughout the weekend.

You get paid on Mondays.

Pay by percentage starts # 23% in your own truck and can go up to 32% and this depends on several factors (gross weekly income, mpg, logs, on-time %, truck appearance, personal appearance, safety, etc) Your % for pay is re-calculated at the 1st of each month, based on your performance the previous month. Pay by flat rate starts at .30/mi for NEW CDL drivers (no experience). $10 to tarp all loads. $50 breakdown pay for the first 3 days you are broken down. Longer than 3 days, then it is a % of your average weekly pay from before you broke down.

You are not hired onto the company "officially" until the end of orientation (Friday of week 2). You MUST be on the road with a trainer a MINIMUM of 5 weeks. You cannot get your own truck before then. I specifically asked that and they said they tried to shorten the trainer period to 3 weeks and had a rash of problems. They actually wanted the training to be longer.

Lunches were terrible. They dont ask you what you want and it seems like they just go and pick up the cheapest thing they can get. If you ask for an alternative (like a salad for example), they don't even attempt to get one for you.

The instructors knew their trucking stuff for the most part. Some of the attitudes tended to imply "you should be thankful we let you work for us". But I guess with turnover # 70% and even higher industry-wide, maybe they look at you as just a number to eliminate.

Oh, and with TMC, you can either drive or take greyhound to the training facility. If you drive, they give you $100. If you take greyhound, you are given a one-way rental car to get you back home the friday of week 2. Linking up with your trainer. They either have your trainer come get you, you meet your trainer via car (they pay .10/mi (TEN cents per Mile)) or they give you a rental car to meet your trainer. S. Carolina location if you want your own room at the motel, you can just pay the difference, which was $21/night.

What I was impress with the most about Maverick was that the recruiters really didn't fluff. They were up front with a lot of stuff and weren't afraid to get questions answered they didn't know the answer to. There was a lot of sincerity in the people I talked to. I didn't feel rushed or like another #. I haven't really started with Maverick, but I already feel like I'm part of the company. Add to this the overwhelming positive feedback from other people I've talked to (including employees at TMC) and viewing maverick-related posts in this forum I don't think I've made a wise choice to get some flatbed experience.

So anyway, I figured I would start this thread to document my experience at Maverick. It will start this Sunday.

 

Well, the greyhound bus ride wasn't too bad. Okay, I am officially at the compound.

Maverick van picks you up at the bus station/airport in Little Rock, AR. If you chose to rent a car, they take the cost of the bus ticket and apply it towards the rental. You can drive your POV, but they dont recommend it because it will just sit at the terminal and then you will have to come back for it months later after you have your own truck.

Arrive at North Little Rock, AR Maverick training location. The trucks are neatly stacked in their parking spots. All the buildings look new and the property is well kept. All the major buildings are within 600 feet of each other.

Visit Classroom for a 2 minute welcome and we get our room keys to on-site motel room.

On site motel: Literally 300 ft from classroom bldg. And corporate office is about that far away, too. Nice rooms. Carpet, double bed, 2 desks with chairs, 2 spots to hang clothes on hangar, bathroom/shower has its own door. Sink outside bathroom. Soap, towel, and maid service provided (minus sunday). Free laundry room (bring/buy detergent). It has the feel of a regular motel room, minus the manual key (vs key card) and a fridge/microwave. Also, NO tv. But nice room for being on-site. I was expecting a dump.

edit: Bring a space heater/fan with you. they do NOT have individual temp control in the room, so it will be a bit chilly in the room. It will also double as a white noise maker. I suppose you can buy one, too, but I already had about 4 of them. It's one of those "Had I known" kind of things.

Company vehicles for students - either a car or van where you can actually take it and go riding to the store with. Usually an hour to 90 minute time limit, and you have to ask in the lobby if others want to come.

Class starts at 0730. Be there early.

So far, VERY IMPRESSED with Maverick. And most of their employees think so, too. Almost too good to be true.

Dont be late, dont walk across the grass.

edit: I will update in full about their benefits package.

 

Okay. Today was an interesting first day. Well, here is what to expect:

- They go over polices and expectations. Don't lie to them, they won't lie to you. I did notice that they do tend to be up front with you on these things. BE ON TIME, NO smoking except in designated areas, NO ALCOHOL PERIOD while in training. They don't seem to have a problem asking someone to go home.

- Electronic signing of documents. They scan your drivers license and SSN card, you sign all the company forms over their online signature platform, which is a blessing. Most trucking companies have about 100+ pages for you to individually fill out and sign. This takes about 4-8 hours in itself. At Maverick, this is done as a group in about 1.25 hours. You could do it individually in about 30 minutes. Of course, the forms are, when appropriate, pre-filled out for you.

- You go over pay and the different Maverick divisions.

- Lunch (pizza provided for free)

- You briefly cover qualcomm, operations, and trans-flo

- Trucking Lifestyles 101. This is supposed to separate the men from the boys. I said earlier that Maverick is all about being up front. Well, this is a unique teleconference where significant others are allowed to call in and liste to the Director of Driver Training cover the truth about the trucking industry. He covers things like driver turnover, hometime, (not just Maverick, but industry-wide). No other company or CDL school has an intro class like this. It was almost no holds barred. You could ask any question you wanted, both the students and their spouses (or whoever you gave the number out to call in) Maverick believes that they are hiring the whole family when the hire you, so they feel that the whole family is entitled to know EXACTLY what to expect.

2 points in the seminar that stuck out the most:

1) Hometime and being routed though your house. They do have a high hometime percentage (over 92%). But hometime is NOT guaranteed or promised (nothing in the transportation industry is "guaranteed" as he later pointed out) When they said they would get you home, that means technically if they get you to your door for 5 minutes, that is considered being routed through the house. That doesn't usually happen much at Maverick, but will happen throughout your career as a trucker.

2) "The only stupid question is one not asked"......"Guys, we can be here all night until you all start asking questions...." EXCEPT union-related questions. When we were on the topic of industry turnover and what Maverick was doing to solve that. I asked the question "So what do you think about union companies and their...." I couldn't complete my idea and the instructor promptly said that he doesn't discuss unions at Maverick. They do not operate in that manner and that nothing further would be discussed on the topic. I will start a new thread here to elaborate on this one. It is currently being "approved" for some odd reason.

- 50 dollars (of the $550 for first weeks orientation) is handed to you cash.

When I said no TV, I was referring to having TVs in the individual rooms. Once you go to the regular retail motel off-site, they do have TVs. Personally, I prefer there being no TV in the room. You can actually concentrate and develop your own ideas and imagination. But try to tell that to some people; they live and breathe television.