New guy fresh in his truck

just want to say welcome to TMC and as far as the oor just keep in mind sometimes the shortest route isn't always the best. Lay out your route the shortest and best possible roads, it also doesn't hurt to ask for some info on roads from other drivers that may have traveled them to get a heads up.
Good luck

 

I will agree with Flatbedbob here. The shortest route isn't always the one I choose. I would take extra miles for a faster route when necessary. The way I worked it was to keep my oor miles down when possible so I could take a better route sometimes and it would average out.

Don't sweat it for the first few months, just take the best route and see what percent that gets you. At your earliest opportunity take the out of route class at Des Moines as well as the TQM class. That will explain a lot of things about the way the pay system works.

good luck, and welcome to the family.

 

Well I am just dropping into the post to say hi. I introduced myself on ladies board. My trucker guy is driving for TMC and is fresh out his trainers truck too. He will get is first load in a few hours.

 

Getting ready for orientation on Monday. I hear alot about double clutching. Is this TMC's way of shifting? I learned to shift by floating. Is there a big difference between the two ( other then the obveous )? I've been driving a truck for about a year. I wouldn't think it would be to hard for me to switch over. Thanks.

 

the only thing they taught us in schoolwas double clutching and if i go to tmc i should nt have any problems with that

 

TMC wants you to shift without grinding, that is all they care about. Of course they don't want you "hunting" for gears either and coasting down the road. They do give you some leeway because many people have never touched a 13 speed before so they give you some warm up time.

 

I've talked to guys with a million miles under there belt. They tell me they still grind some. Geuss it is to be expected.

 

I would not call it grinding at a million miles.
They will on occasion "scratch" a gear. Grinding to me is missing a gear completely and trying to force it in. If you scratch a gear it is usually that you missed it by a little, apply a little pressure to the stick, like fingertip pressure, and you can feel where it will go into gear.
With some miles you know exactly where it should go into gear. You may just miss it by 60 rpm or so every now and then. Usually due to terrain variation (hill), or you just get in a hurry and over rev pulling out of road/ driveway.

The 13 is just a 9 speed in disguise. Run it as a 9 till you are use to splitting, and you will be fine.

Getting use to double clutching is not hard. Down shifting will get you for a while though. Just make sure that you bump your rpm's a little higher than you are use too on the shift, to give you the second you need to finish the shift, and do not push in the clutch too far.

I have run so many shift patterns over the years now that I can figure any of them out fairly quickly. The ratio's will be different at times, but not by any real margin. A 2 stick mack will shift about the same as an 18 speed Pete. It is all in knowing the RPM's. They may sound different, ride different ect, but the basics are the same. Just watch between a 8, 9, 10 speed. Some will have odd patterns. Check the diagram, if none is there anymore do not be scared to ask.

 

hey congradulation....I have a couple of question if you don't mind. I'll be starting orientation next week. How long did it take to get a trainer after orientation? How was the training, and how hard was their test at the end? And one more question...are they really as strict as the military? Thanks a lot sorry for so many questions....just want to be ready.