Percentage or Milage Pay...Whats better?

Sorry to hear that. Wish you luck with whoever you join. I intend to visit this thread to let all know how the training is going. Not sure how much time I will have at oreintation but will try my best. Good luck to all. and lets hope this s---hole economy turns around soon!!!!

 

I would definately be interested in your assessment of the training there. Thanks for the offer.

R/

Frat

 

Hmmm. It could be anything from an excess of drivers in the MI area right now to something that they didn't like about your application. Don't get your hopes up but I was initially rejected by TMC and re-applied two weeks later and was approved. The same may work for you.

 

We are allowed to fuel at the TA in Southington CT exit 28 from I 84. Actually I think it is in the town of Milldale CT, but it is called the Southington TA for some reason. They are a pay to park truckstop but 24 hours are free with fueling, and usually they don't charge on weekends anyway.

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I agree with everything that Terry posted in this thread previously, so I will skip the questions that he already answered.

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My short nose pete 379 holds over 180 gallons of fuel. I know this because I have put in 179 gallons before and I wasn't quite empty.
I can get 1000 miles out of full tanks if I have to. I rarely plan on going more than 800 miles between fillups in case the next stop is out of fuel, or really busy, or I didn't get it as full as I thought I did.

Also keeping out of truckstops means that stopping for fuel should take 15 minutes from start to finish, including fueling, transflo-ing in your paperwork, washing your hands, and updating the logbook. You don't really have time during the day to sit down and have a meal, take a shower, and chat with other drivers while playing the arcade games.

Of course some people will also stop every two hours for 15 minutes, but you don't get very far doing that. I stop every 3 hours for 5 minutes or less, unless I have the time to kill.

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When I stop to get fuel I fill them to the bottom of the lip, about an inch and a half from spilling out the opening. There is still some air space above the opening as well for expansion of the fuel in hot weather.

I don't like guessing weather it was almost full or just a bit less than almost and running low on fuel.

Only if I am running very close to 80,000 pounds gross and a full tank will put me overweight. Once I have a CAT scale ticket (paid for by TMC) that shows me under 80,000 pounds I don't worry unless I scaled with less than half full tanks.

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They have several different styles. My trainer had one he got at a truckstop, a cheap 16 quart chest type and I was extremely unimpressed with it. It didn't seem to keep things very cold in my opinion and was suited only to cooling drinks off a bit. If you want to keep perishables fresh you will want to look at at RV type, perhaps from Walmart or Sams club.

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My own speed average guide:

Rural interstate midwest and south = almost 65mph average, add 15 mins per city, and 30 mins for rush hour in a city combination.

Northeast interstate, OH, PA, NY, MD, NJ, NY, and New England = 55mph, add 15 mins per city, and one hour if traveling between 4 and 6 pm or 6 and 9 am. Technically I usually average 57 mph for the day staying in New England, but I avoid rush hours mostly, and I know where I am going.

WV, CO, ID, WY, and other serious mountain states figure 40 to 45 mph.

Off interstate you may find some US routes that are just as fast as interstates, but I figured about 50 mph out west, 35 to 40 mph in the northeast or small mountains like in AR, and KY.

IN city off interstate I usually planned on 30 mph. The exception to that rule is any part of New York City where I only managed to average 20 mph, and Washington DC which was about the same as NYC.

So 20 miles between stops along the interstate in Rural Iowa means 20 minutes, but 20 miles between stops on Long Island NY takes over an hour.

 

Rawlco,
Thanks! Southington is about 45 min out from home but will work in a pinch since I have friends in that town. Milldale is just a district of Southington, like the Bronx is to NYC. I did find a place to park about 8 miles out at no charge if you can believe that. How has the freight been with this economy? what does TMC have to say if anything on the near future re. loads ? Alot of infrastructure repair and rebuild is planned for the northeast do they handle this type of freight on a regular basis?
Was that you I seen on I84 just west of Hartford yesterday? Two pete's loaded running close to each other.

 

Nope, I am currently dedicated to the Home Depot dist center in Norwood MA. I run from there to stores in ME, NH, VT, MA, and RI, then return empty for my next load. There are 17 TMC drivers there, mostly in daycabs. We haul steel fontaine flatbeds without sideboxes, so we are distinguishable from the line haul/long haul drivers with shiny aluminum trailers.

Freight for us has been steadier than last year, perhaps even more loads per week than last year. The line/long haul drivers that I have talked to recently have not complained about lack of freight.

The futue is always unpredictable. Of course it will be a little slow during the winter, but that is all the better to learn with. There are good weeks and bad weeks, there are also good months and bad months. When I averaged my whole years pay I did quite well even though I had some very short weeks.

I would not say that we "regularly" haul anything in the Northeast. TMC seems to pick up whatever is paying good at the moment in the NE. We do haul a lot of drywall and shingles.

 

Thanks Rawlco,
Yeah I've seen those day cabs around also. They still have a position in Norwood posted on TMC website. Are they still hiring? Norwood is about 90 mile from me. I am going longhaul with them but would be nice to know that there might be an option. TMC have any other dedicated terminals in the NE ? You seem happy with them. How are the hours and pay compared to longhaul ? I believe you worked LH when you started ? Sorry for all the questions just want to be as prepared. Things seem to happen pretty quick in this industry both good and bad.

 

We have about one driver quit a month it seems like, so they are always looking for people to put on the waiting list. Since most of our drivers run daycabs and park the trucks at the Norwood facility I think the commute would kill you. We don't serve any stores closer to you than Auburn MA or North Kingstown RI. The other option is for you to keep a sleeper truck, but they do not want anymore than two sleeper trucks at norwood and we have that now.

Longhaul will be good for you to get some experience. Drive safely and treat your Fleet Manager well because Norwood will ask your current FM for a reference before transferring you over. TMC usually wants new student drivers to get some experience driving over the road before assigning them to a dedicated position where dependability is of the utmost importance. They also want you to be able to remember the downsides of OTR when you are faced with the downsides of dedicated.

TMC also has some dedicated drivers at Lowes in Westfield MA. I have heard rumors that there are some TMC daycabs there, but that is unconfirmed. Most of those dedicated drivers at Lowes run into NYC every night which would go right down I-91 through Hartford.

TMC also has some dedicated drivers at a Drywall plant in Buchannan NY. That is on the east bank of the Hudson about halfway between I-84 and I-287. Either of these two locations would be better suited to you than Norwood.

The pay is more consistent at Norwood. I am earning perhaps $100 more per week on average, but the paychecks don't fluctuate as much. On Longhaul you might earn $4,000 for the month, but one paycheck might be $600, then $1500, then $800, then $1100, and my wife got frustrated trying to pay bills with that unpredictability.

I am also working fewer hours, ranging from 55 to 62 hours each week with a full 48 hour weekend at home. On longhaul I was logging 65 or more hours each week.

Yes I was longhaul from Nov 06 to March 08.

Don't apologize for asking questions. Information and preparedness are the keys to success in this career. The more you know the better off you will be.
I find that most of the people who come away hating TMC do so because they were not prepared with the right information to succeed.

 

First day at oreintation in the books. In a word "Proffessional!" Now Iv'e been around the block once or twice with some big companies so I know the first few days will be full of alot of BS about how good it is to work for them, bla bla bla!. However they stated right up front that flatbedding is not for everyone and we will probably loose a good portion of the drivers in the first few months for various reasons, mostly the drivers own choice whether they admitt it or not. Two were let go today. If you dont like to work hard and put in a long honest day then TMC may not be for you. They are up front and blunt on expectations they expect from a driver and have little tolarance for non compliance. First day was Dot phys. drug screen and ppwk. Most of the ppwk.(90%) is all computer based and it is just a matter of signing off electronicly. A Dot test and Practical test for those with no prior exp. Anyway very positive feedback from all seasoned drivers I've spoke to so far from 15 years to 5 months. One common theme was you are gonna work hard but the pay is good! I'll keep you up to date when possible. If any questions do not hesitate to ask.

 

Hey RED! Glad to see it went well. Keep me updated! I will check into seeing if I'm still a possible with TMC or not soon..