Transam trucking-no good

trans am company channel is 37.

 

Jonboy, To add insult to injury, I was given the option of getting help from our good old government with my Cobra insurance payments which are $415.00 a month. Well, I filled out the application which has if you were let go you could get help. I was medically terminated, and guess what... Transam denied me. They said it was policy!!! I did not quit. So now we know just how bad they can treat a person. I have cancer, and am just barely able to keep my head above water financially. So now I have to continue to pay that extremly expensive insurance premium. Thanks so much Transam.. Your company will get yours someday.....Hopefully soon.

 

I have been driving for the better part of 9 years,most of that time as a lease driver.i have been with T/A since Dec 15,08.I am on my 2nd truck.the 1st truck i only had for 3 weeks.I received my 1st positive settlement after 5 weeks.After 3 months of 1800-2200 miles a week i was forced to start coaching in order to get the miles i needed to make an ok living.now there is no students no miles.I am on home time now,only 2 earlier than i requested.T/A is a joke and a fraud.my lease is up in july,i will be takeing what little money they will give me and i'm leaving.

 

tcole99,
Do not hold your breath on TA being there for you because of a prehire letter. On one of the last days of April I was told to call on Monday morning, May 4, at 0700 Central to get a slot in the May 20 orientation/training class. Started dialing at 0700, on the dot. 45 minutes and over 100 dials later I got through. They had over 500 drivers calling for 15 seats. Needless to say, they had filled them by 0710. Like another on this forum told you the letter only means you meet the minimums to enter the game. Pardon me, but if I am going to win a lottery I would prefer it was the Powerball or Mega Millions! I am an understanding person. I know why they have resorted to this tactic. They are just inundated with drivers looking for a job. Still, it doesn't make it right for them not to tell you whats going on until the 45 minutes was over. How many people started dialing before 0700? Did TA clear the the switchboard at 0700 so no earlybirds got ahead unfairly? In my book TransAm is now officially tainted. Bye.

 

I heard from a friend that USA Truck was doing the same call-in BS. It's like trying to win concert tix from a radio station and I never had any luck with that. Why can't they schedule you as you call in to begin with or just tell you they don't have any openings at this time? What a joke this industry has come to be!!

 

I think I would enjoy driving a truck and am really looking forward to the chance to get started but it doesn't look like there is going to be much of a chance of that anytime soon the way people are talking on here. At least Trans Am did give me my prehire and I had to have that to get started at the local driving school. At least I have the chance to my cdl license and maybe after the economy picks up there will be better chances of getting a job driving.

 

I'm currently a driver for TransAm. I'm a rehire. I first worked for them back in 2002. It was all company trucks back then. I left after 4 months because I needed to be home more. I drove for a few other companies since then. I rehired with them back in July as a company driver. I did get a company truck right away but I was a little surprised to see that they were in the leasing business. I drove company for a few months, had a good dispatcher. He got fired back in November I think, which wasn't surprising to me because he was a bit loud mouthed which I thought was a bit humorous but apparently some in the office didn't. Anyway, I got called back to the yard because my company truck was due for a trade in. No big deal. I figured once I got back to Olathe they would be taking my old truck and I'd be getting a new or different company truck. That would be the logical scenario. Well there weren't any company trucks. They said I could lease a truck and be back on the road the next day otherwise I would have to wait a week or so for a company truck. I don't have time to sit and wait which is the same for alot of other drivers too. We drive, thats what we do. Any time spent sitting for a prolonged period of time means we're not making any money. So I leased. It was a red 660. It was a bit of a lemon though. It had 150k miles on it when I got it. A little banged up on the inside which sort of bothered me because it was still kind of a new truck. Anyway, I had this truck for about 2 months. Put in the shop twice for a vibration it had when under a load climbing a hill. It felt like the truck was gonna vibrate itself apart. It was pretty bad, but nobody could seem to find the problem so I put my name on the list for a new truck and got it the first week of December. I'll get to the punchline now. Since my first dispatcher got fired, I've had 4 different ones. My miles went straight to the crapper. I've been home once since January 5th because I've only had 5 positive paychecks. None of those over $400. I've been broke down 4 times in THIS new truck because of the DPF. Two of those times I had to be towed. The first 3 times at the KW dealer they said it was the fuel filters not allowing the DPF to do a regen and that the fuel filters weren't covered under warranty so I got the bill the first 3 times. Finally this past week the KW shop there in Olathe finally figured out the problem and basically rebuilt the whole engine side of the DPF system. We'll see how long that lasts. None of the lease drivers I have spoken too had anything good to say. They're all broke like I am. I honestly don't see how they keep hiring people as company drivers because they simply are not bringing in any new company trucks. All of the ones they have now are due for trade in and those company drivers are being told the same thing as I was. Sit for a week or so or lease and be gone tomorrow. Kind of a shady tactic if you ask me. I think it's almost criminal to let a student lease a truck after they test out. You future students out there, never lease a truck right after school. You simply must drive in this industry a few years to learn the ropes before you should even think about owning your own truck. And really, in this economy right now, you'd be foolish to try and buy a truck and go at it yourself unless you all ready have deep pockets. I'm giving my 2 week notice tomorrow. I have orientation with another company lined up on the 24th. It's a company I drove for before as well which in hindsight I should have went back with in the first place. I have a really good dispatcher now. I'm always preplanned. I never sit waiting for a load. Unfortunately it's a little to late I'm afraid. I see bad things for TA's future. They're firing alot of office people. They just fired Ron that ran the saftey department and Lee who also worked in the saftey department. Ron had been with TA for at least 15 years or so. I was really shocked to learn those two were canned. If you're a TA driver thats leasing, why are you not allready looking for another job? TransAm will most likely be an all lease company by this time next year like John Christner Trucking is. Screw that. Like I said before, it's really puzzling to me that they keep having orientation every week, taking in students, and hiring experienced drivers as company drivers when there are NO company trucks to give out once orientation is over. They're running a leasing operation! I'm gettin out so I CAN go make money. Tired of being in the hole every #### week with a new truck that constantly breaks down. I can't wait to be a company driver at $.37 a mile with a DIFFERENT company!

 

Sorry to hear things turned out so badly at T/A. I drove for them for 15 mos back in 07. My dispatcher out of texas was also fired, great guy. I'm supprised they fired Ron and Lee, they were good guy's to me, alway's called back if I had any questions. Hope things work out for you with the next company. Good luck.

 

I have been with ta now for 17 months, the last 8 as a lease driver and haven`t had issues like the ones I am reading here. I can only say that so far I have run consistent miles...2900-3100 a week. I also stay out 8-10 weeks at a time..your hometime of course is tricky but you can figure it out and of course saving some money for the rebound off of hometime is the key..that bill is still there to be paid no matter what..my truck is just hitting 100,000 this week and have been lucky..I dont have any major bills to deal with other than child support and a few minor ones so it is a little easier for me to deal with the weeks coming off of hometime..I would definitely not go straight into a lease if you have never driven before cause hell, how do you know you will like being out on the road, away from family and friends all the time and living in a small sleeper all the time..mine is set up sweet, but it is starting to get old and I am of course missing my kids just like all drivers do with children. Have been applying to local jobs alot, not recieving many call backs..its seems like they are getting picky with who they hire I guess...just trying to get some time under my belt..

 

Hewb, if you can try to hang in there for atleast 2 yrs. Most local companies are'nt hiring with 1 yr otr exp.