Got accepted, might drink the kool aid. Trainers in Berks county pa?

Just sit down and look through a lot of different posts on here and you will find these answers. Good luck to you. We are all in the same boat.

 

Don't know about trainers around here, but I'm guessing you live in my general area.( I live in Schuylkill County) I do see a lot of their trucks here on the weekends on home time parked around the St. Clair area in the Wal Mart lot. Perhaps one of those guys trains? Also, I guy I went to school with at LCTI in Schnecksville started with them. I lost touch over the years, but I know for the 1st year he was with them he didn't have any major complaints. Good luck and stay safe with whomever you end up driving with!

 

Although I'm a few years removed from working at TMC some things are still the same.

Treat the 2 week training at TMC as a 2 week long job interview. Be on your best behavior, stay off the grass is no joke, even at the hotel during your off time be good. Be respectful and learn as much as you can. Try to improve each day during training. I believe they sometimes try to push your buttons to see if you are easy to upset and to see how you handle stress.

When I was there some guys were acting like they were teenagers away from their parents for the first time, goofing off and not taking it seriously, all of them were gone in the first week. We started with 30+ and ended with like 14 guys making it. There was one guy who bought all the TMC stuff he could (shirts hats mugs etc) in the gift shop and ended up getting booted after the first week for being an ###.

Going out with a trainer for 5 weeks can be hard, hopefully you'll get someone you get along with well. My trainer was awesome but I had to travel far to get to him (150 miles). If you never done OTR it is quite an ajustment as its a not just a job change its a lifestyle change. TMC is pretty good at getting you home on the weekend but there will be times when you won't get home. Also the weekend off can be as short as coming home Saturday morning/afternoon and leaving out Sunday afternoon/night.

Overall I had a good experience at TMC training and working for the short time I did. I think they are an excellent company to start out with and maybe stay on with. When I quit though there was a lot of people quitting too at the same time (Indy lot was full), Every two weeks they graduate a class of 20-30 guys and I'd be curious how many quit each week too. OTR wasn't for me for personal reasons associated with being away from home for extended times. Plus I wasn't making much money and sitting a lot. Some make more than others it seems. Some rave about how great it is some how horrible it is, I think its somewhere in the middle, but those who have had it bad I believe they have legitimate arguments.

I drive local flats now and routinely see TMC trucks and admire them some as I blow past them doing 70 mph

Good luck to you and post here often of your experience there as it helps others.

 

Most guys that quit TMC don't play the game. What I mean is you got to sacrifice to excel here. Get to your Monday delivery on Sunday night with a ten hour break by Monday at 7am. The rest of the week will fall into place from there. The training is kinda of a toss up. We have good and bad trainers. To me an average week on line haul is 1000 gross or more. Bring home to the dinner table at least 850 plus. To me if your not grossing a1000 plus being gone all week is it really worth it. If you have good work ethic and self discipline you will excel with us. But back to sacrifice. That's the biggest thing people don't want to do. If your willing to sacrifice your personal time for your truck you will excel. Anything else let me know

 

Im not with tmc but Im interested in how it works out for you. Been thinking about switching from boxes to flatbeds.
I can help with a few of your questions though.
New guys make mistakes, just try not to make the same ones often.
Ask questions. Even stupid ones.
Lastly, it seemed like what aggrevated trainers the most, was know-it-all trainees. Remember you are the new guy and they are trying to help you with their experience. Phrases like "I learned in truckin school not to do it your way," will get you on their bad side quick.

Almost forgot the most important thing, HAVE A GOOD ATTITUDE! Things wont always go well. Things will go worse if you're a big ol grouchy pants! Let the small things roll off. If you listen to the cb sometimes you hear drivers just gripe about every little stupid thing. I couldnt live like that myself.

Best of luck to you! Let us know how things work out!