Question for TMC Drivers

Two years at TMC or two years of that type o' hauling?
I've been hauling heavy equipment for 6 yrs. I live in Sav Ga.I know TMC recently bought a small f/b co here in the south,would this be a decent area to try to get on with them.
Also,I've seen "12 days in orientation" thrown about.This can't be for experienced drivers can it?


No that's not me unloading that dozer.

 

No, experienced drivers do 1 week unless that's changed, at a rate of 100.00 per day.

You might be able to get on the specialized division right off the bat with that kind of experience, but from what i've been hearing from the drivers that are still with the company on the specialized division you might not want to get into that at this current point in time.

 

What eckz said, 12 days of orientation is for those of us breaking into OTR/flatbeddin. I think they determine how long your orientation is as an experienced driver once you get there and take some tests now.

 

Thanks fellas.
Eckz, why would I wanna stay away from the specialized right now....no miles?
Do they hire from my area? Inverters? Length of haul?
If I didn't do Specialized,do they have a long haul div. More than just the eastern half of the country?
APUS'? or can you idle within reason?
In your opinion could I come over there with 21 yrs driving exp,6 in heavyhaul,a willingness to work and be able to make $40,0000 my first year?

 

Keen there are no APU's at TMC, they consider them to expensive. You can idle, they want your idle time at 25% or less which isn't to hard. However, they calculate idle in a very deceptive way, rather than calculate your idle time as a percentage of the total time your truck is running they calculate it as a percentage of the time your truck is moving. So for example, if your truck's engine has been running for 1000 hours and you were moving down the road for 750 hours and idle for 250 hours, your idle time would be 33% as opposed to the actual idle time of 25%. Inverters are NOT allowed however it doesn't take a genius to keep one off their radar. You can definitely still run long haul, I've been running west of the Mississippi for the better part of the past two months. There is lumber in the pac northwest, drywall and pipe in the southwest, and all sorts of other crap in between. I was able to get runs out west with little trouble.

 

Keendriver,

Just to let you know that I am in the specialized division and while it is pretty slow in on the John Deere side I am keeping busy. There has been very few days where I have been laid over waiting on a load. With your experience it should be no problem getting into specialized. I have a buddy that did 3 weeks on Linehaul and because of his experience was able to switch over.

Because I don't have enough posts yet, maybe I can get the moderators to let me send you a pm so it can be discussed further.

 

I am from Mississippi i am set to go to training on aug. 3 just wanted to know how you liked tmc?

 

tmc has been very good to me. they are a fair company that pays you well. the freight is slow so your not going to get rich but it is a job with health dental and vision. there are draw backs to the company, they have alot of rules and goals they set for drivers and they expect you to meet them. as long as you can follow rules and do you job you will be fine at tmc. good luck and pay attention

 

thank you for the positive advice..

 

I think they are a decent company but have their shady practices but then again seems like a lot of trucking companies these days are. YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) literally and figuratively too with them. Some have been treated good some have not. If you read these forums you will see all sides, from those who proclaim TMC the best and those who proclaim its the worst for various reasons.

Bangngears advice is good,, pay attention and remember its basically a 2 week interview so be good even at the hotel, a lot of the jokers in my class were the first to get the boot. you don't have to be a stiff or a drone, but show them your serious about getting the job.


Good luck to you.