Avoid Trans Am Trucking

The fact is i went to Trans am and spoke with the owner about a job with the safety department and stayed there about a week learning the company in and out.
I can tell you now that the company drivers are hurting bad on miles. I spoke to i don't know how many of them coming in and raising hell about low miles.

I know 2 of the drivers got between 700 & 1300 miles per week! Now i didn't hear this from the lease drivers. most of them were getting between 2000 & 3000 per week. they are no doubt giving the miles to the lease drivers so they can pay for that shinny new KW.

 

i have had two buddies quit trans am one due to a brand new kw that was a lemon he was in the shop 28 days for the frist month he had the truck and the other one was tired of how the company was ran

 

Lack of common sense? yes - any fool knows that a L/O is a HORRIBLE route to take! I have a really good friend who is a company driver for TA, has been since 1/07...he has no complaints about his miles; says he gets 2200-3000 a week every week. He told me the only time the company mentioned anything about leasing was in orientation. Then all they said was "if you're interested in being a L/O go with this lady and she'll talk to you about it" He said he hasn't heard a word about being a L/O since that day.

 

In the shop for 28 days out of 30 or 31? I find that impossible to believe.

 

the first probelm he had was his wire harness went bad it took them a week to get it and another 3 days to install it then he had his with wheel locking pin break that took a week to get the part and fixed and then he had his exhaust stack fall off he was there for another 4 days to get that fixed then his door locks failed so he sat at kw for another 2 days to get that fixed it was pretty bad

 

I have a friend that has been there almost 15 years and is a coach. he gets 900 to 1500 per week. If your friend is getting those kind of miles there then he is a very lucky man. He's an exception not the rule. My neighbor who also works there was given 4 days to get from Omaha to Philadelphia. picked up the load Friday morning and was not due until Tuesday evening.
on the other hand they have alot of nice features on the KW's. on board APU's, air assist hook ups and auto trannys. but what good is all that nice stuff if you don't get any miles?

 

Why stay with a company 15 years if you're getting 900 to 1500 miles a week??

 

That's what i said.
Go to some truck stops and talk to about 10 company drivers and and see what they say. I've seen too many people work there that all said the same thing. Anybody wanna go work for them more power to ya. sure as hell not me!

 

haha all u have to do is go to the hold hitching post(now flying hook) in dodge city ks and look at the line of trans am trucks sitting there 80% or more been waiting for 2 days or more... it happen to me on a weekly basis and then they will like the other guy said give u 4 days to make a day in a half run example
i picked up a load in dodge and had 3 days to get to atlanta ga to the walmart distro there that is a day and half two days if u are a truck stop cowboy about 17 hours and if u know walmarts u aren't allowed on property till a hour before ur time so i had to sit for 2 days as a lease driver to get the load and then sit another day to delv the load and trans am does not pay det pay at all and since i dead headed over 250 miles to pick up the load i was not eigable for layover pay it was stuff like that on a weekly basis but hey that is why they say hurry up and wait.. and its funny whenever u would meet another trans am driver first thing they asked are u lease or company ...

and as far as there lease prog on the fuel surcharge they would never tell u what u where getting paid and it was never what they charged the customer i got anywhere from .13 cent a mile to a hight of .23cent a mile and this was this year around april and u didn't get fuel surcharge on dead head miles ever

 

I don't.
the week i was there i talked to several driver who had been waiting a good while. one Guy 11 days and another 16 days. Now i know this is not always TA's fault. some times they have to wait on parts from the dealer to come in and such. but they are VERY short staffed at the maintenance shop and their drivers suffer for it. hell one guy had to wait 10 hours for a reefer charge!