Trans Am Still

Well said Panhandle , I see so much bickering throughout these forums that it gets a little old.
I have not had a chance to get on this forum for a while but thought it would be good to check back in.
Hello everyone , have a great day !

 

2,000 miles at .30 cpm = $600 per week. No need to put up with the hassles of OTR trucking for $600 per week.

I think you have the exact right solution, get in the minimum amount of experience that you need to move on and do so. Overall, I had a good experience with TransAm, they gave me what I needed at the time but I thought plenty of it was frustrating. You have a right to complain about what goes on at TransAm, there is a reason all of us on this tread are former drivers. Plenty of what TransAm does just plain sucks and it is not that way with all trucking companies.

Cranky Pete is both cranky and somewhat right. He does not like to hear complaints, we all know TransAm is somewhat of a substandard company so why complain, but they do offer some opportunities and a choice you can't find other places. Frankly, I don't think any of your comments are out of line but then again my nickname is not "Cranky" Passport220.

 

Say what y'all want about cranky that dude has given me a ton of relevant advice. One thing he's never heard me do, however, is complain. To paraphrase the great Forrest Gump....trucking is as trucking does.

To answer your question @HometimeQueen...I got out a few days ago and now I'm terrorizing my poor better half, who gets to irrigate and repack the wounds twice a day poor girl I feel terrible. Maggie is thrilled I'm home but I can't get out of bed so yay us lol the best thing about this whole deal is the Netflix binging I'm able to do, mostly cuz there's nothing else to do.

 

We all do know that TransAm is a starter company, right? That the majority of their drivers are students fresh out of school ....or those that went with other starter companies and didn't make it....and can't get on with anyone else for one reason or another?

They are like a two-wheel bicycle with training wheels. They know that the person riding that bike is somewhat wobbly......and most, not all but most, loads have a lot of extra time built into them. It is up to the driver whether he uses all of that extra time ....or if he plans wisely, gets to his destination, has a shot at delivering early or of doing a swap with someone that didn't plan wisely. It is a matter of logistics and planning on the part of the driver and of the company. The majority of TA drivers are new, it takes them awhile to get up to speed. Once they have developed their own style of driving a good DM and planner will use that to their advantage. If you get to your receiver with only a few hours to spare, they have no way of knowing how long it will take to unload you, how much of your time it will burn, and what traffic conditions are like in the area that your next pick up will be. However, if you have turned the wheels on that truck and are sitting in a position to deliver ahead of schedule and communicate that fact .....then it is far easier for a planner to make arrangements for your next load. It is, as Pete said, a matter of maximizing your time. You either learn it or you don't.

Yes, there are plenty of frustrations and some bad swaps.....mostly because of drivers that do not use their time correctly. TA is not only a starter company for drivers, many in dispatch are totally new to the industry also......and have never been inside a truck. Their idea of putting out a fire is to throw gasoline on it.....they also have a lot to learn. You will have swaps that make absolutely no sense. A few of them are just pure stupidity ....but most are to position the truck for someone they have a contract with. Contrary to popular belief, the world does not revolve around the driver and neither does the company.

They do not care about your paycheck .....drivers come and go. It is up to you to make it work . You either learn or you don't. But for all of you that believe that you can just hop from one carrier to another, like paper logs those days are coming to an end. Many companies are limiting the number of previous driving positions that you can have .....and there is a nationwide trend in that direction.

redneck, you are the one that has jumped to conclusions. No one here was being hateful. You have not been OTR long enough to be giving anyone advice on companies. If you think you know it all because you come from a family that has a couple of longtime O/O .....then you have a lot to learn. They don't work for TransAm.... and it didn't help you with Prime. The industry is changing. Everyone has bad weeks, everyone does bad swaps .....we have said that from the beginning. You can tough it out and look at the overall picture or you can quit.

 

And passport ....the reason we are former TA drivers is that there comes a point in time when you are ready to take off the training wheels. You stayed a little too long and let the frustrations build. You were ready to make a move long before you did.

 

I have a little different take on some of this, passport. Planning to leave before you even get started is not productive.....for you or the company.....and will not make for a good driver. Planning to take advantage of the opportunity you have been given is far more productive. Some drivers, if they were hireable, could drive anywhere right from the beginning......but most require some time and experience in order to move on and move up. There are those that will only require a few months and some that will require a year or better. Telling someone to just give them a few months and move on isn't being realistic or fair. Telling them to stay until they have learned all that they can is far better for them and every driver out on the road with them.

I disagree that TA is substandard ....other than on the leasing. Everyone starts at the same place with TA....the bottom. There are companies that pay a little better and companies that pay a lot worse. They are pretty understanding of rookie mistakes and pretty fair on your DAC when you leave them. Their trucks are nicely equipped and maintained .....that's not to say that you don't get a lemon every once in awhile. They get you home when you should be.

The cons are that they do swaps ....many of them....sometimes to get a driver home, sometimes because a driver made a mistake, etc.etc. Dispatch and planning can suck if you get someone that you can't work with or someone that is inexperienced. And then there is the LEASE.......

 

And jdmredneck, nobody questioned your knowledge of the legalities of HOS regulations.... ....it is your ability to make them work to your advantage that is in question.

 

That whole deal jus got strange for a minute.

 

Are you calling me strange???

 

Far better than me have gone before me calling you that lol