Current TMC Drivers

I am realtively new to the company and just finished all my training including the 5 weeks with a driver trainer. I still say that this companny is the top of the line "flatbed" company. If you dont mind the work that goes along with flatbedding, this company is one to consider closely when making your choice of company's to work for.

I leave tomorrow for DeMoines IA to be assigned my own truck and will start making some good money for the work I do.

Rob

 

I will just post it here for all to see, saves having to repeat myself later.

Driving for TMC is a job. It is work. It isn't like a vacation to see the country. Now you do get to see a lot of the country out your window, but it isn't the same. You will get hot and sweaty, or in the winter cold and sweaty (yes it happens). You may be tired and sore at the end of the week. If it was fun they wouldn't have to pay you to do it.

Yes they are. You will find many more happy drivers than unhappy drivers at TMC. There are some that complain and moan and groan, but they realize that TMC is better than other companies so they stay here. Also a lot of people like to complain and just want someone to listen. TMC has always treated me fairly and respectfully. I will not say that I always get what I want or that everything TMC does makes perfect sense, but I do not feel that I have been singled out for mistreatment.

Now there was a time this spring when I had not been home for a month (from running out west) and during that month someone new took over booking freight in the Northeast. When I finally was in New Jersey one Friday the new CSR told my FM that they never had any freight going to Maine and wondered how I ever got hired. It took a week to get that new CSR straightened out that I had been working for TMC for a year and had been home at least 25 times. I think it is because of me that TMC no longer claims to hire in all 48 states.

There is a wealth of information in this TMC section of the forum. If you have any questions after reading it all then feel free to ask.

 

1. Does TMC offer paid holidays?
2. Can I expect to be home for major holidays?
3. What is their lay over policy?
4. What about detention pay?
5. Who pays for tolls?
6. If something comes up while im with my trainer and he has to go home, where will I go?
7. Will I be forced dispatched?
Thanks

 

Good questions, I'd like to know aswell!

 

well i can ans a few for you, rawlco will have to ans the rest
1. ?
2. thanksgiving, christmas the rest i think you have to ask for
3. From what i hear they try to have you dispatched prior to unloading to minimixe layovers. This is trucking and you will have layovers no matter what you are pulling.
4. You are entitled to it after 1 hour from you appointment as long as you are not late and they get paid detention.
5. they pay for tolls but toll roads in ohio,indiana,florida,1/3rd of nj turnpike are restricted. In otherwards if a major road runs along the turnpike you cant use it unless the weather is bad or you are on a long run, 2 night trip i think.
6. If your trainer has to go home they send you home in a rent a car if you dont live close to your trainer.
7. Yes you are a company truck they have forced dispatch but if you build up a good relationship with fm they will try to keep you out of the areas you dont want to run.

I just got done with orientation in south carolina and i tried to give you the best info i have, i am sure if i am wrong on anything one of the other TMC guys will correct me, they are nice like that.

 

Line haul and long haul do not get paid holidays.

The entire office in Iowa must go through a truckload of headache cure on holiday weeks. They work very hard to get everybody home for the major holidays, and everybody goes home for Christmas. In two years I have been home for every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. Now on thanksgiving day of 2007 I pulled into the house at 1:30 pm after swapping trailers four times in a three day week, but I got home. Don't expect New Year's eve or day at home unless you take a one week vacation after Christmas, which is what I recommend.

You are entitled to layover pay if you are empty and not dispatched for more than 24 hours unless you are at home. That has only happened to me once in two years, so don't expect it.

Once you have been at a customer for TWO hours and loading/unloading is not finished then TMC will bill the customer for detention. If the customer pays for the detention then you get I think $15 per hour. I think I have been paid a whopping $50 in detention total in two years, so it is not likely. See the biggest customers say back to TMC: "If you bill us for that I guess we will find someone else to haul the freight" and so TMC doesn't want to lose a customer.

If you get a prepass plus device from TMC that will take care of any E-Z pass tolls, except for a very few unauthorized roads. The E-Z pass does require a refundable $100 deposit plus $2.50 per week. That is cheaper than the alternative of hitting a truckstop ATM with a $3.95 fee a couple of times a week for the cash and waiting a few weeks for the reimbursement for those tolls to show up in your paycheck.

It depends on the situation of course. Most trainers do go home every weekend. Most trainees are paired with trainers within a hundred miles of their own house, so you can leave your own car at the trainers house and drive home when he is home, or have someone pick you up. If it is too far away then TMC will put you up in a cheap motel. If your trainer is going to take more than a weekend off they may send you home for a few days or try to pair you with another trainer if it is going to be longer.

Well technically yes, but if there is a load you really don't want to do or can't possibly do than you can turn it down. Use this sparingly because the load planners may notice that you are difficult. If you can't legally complete a load let them know up front.

 

As a experienced driver who has been with TMC since Sept. I believe they are a great company. They are tight with their rules and they expect you to follow them. I'm fine with the rules myself, have spent too many years running for guys who say " log it as you drive it but this load really needs to be overnighted." or when you tell them you can't log that trip all they say is " don't worry we don't haul logs".

Its nice to be legal when you roll up on a scale, especially when the PrePass green lights you.