Thanks for an awesome thread. I've always wanted to go with TMC but the negative posts that you can find on just about any forum (about any company) causes me to second guess my choices. I make good money as a machinist but I'm bored to tears with it. I've been wanting to drive trucks for a long time, just afraid "paying my dues" the first year would cause me to commit financial suicide. Anything ever come of that incident with the 4 wheeler?
I haven't heard anything more of it. I asked to be kept informed and have yet to hear anything. As far as second guessing your choices, I totally feel ya. I was there the whole time while in orientation and during training. Even now, I still wander if I could've made a better choice. But when I sit down and think it through, weighing what I know now from what I didn't know when I started, im confident in right where I should be.
When I went through orientation at TMC they made us list the basic tools a truck driver should carry. If you can't change a headlight on the road then this isn't the career for you. I'll agree with you TMC is a joke in pretty much every other regard, 2 years with them and I'll never do OTR again as long as I live.
Again if you arent willing to change a simple headlight, rather than wait for hours on the side of the road for road repair to get there, then you are lazy and its underatandable why otr isnt for you. By you taking the inititive and changing that headlight, tail light, turn signal, or marker light, you are effectively increasing your profitably. As an owner op you would be straight up stupid to pay a shop exuberant prices just to change a headlight or something minor. Whye not do it yourself?
I like how you say a simple headlight.. it took me 45 minutes to change it.. its not a simple twist and install.. first of all on the 388's you have to take the back of the plate off with the two screws that also holds a chrome plate. Then, they don't make the wire long enough and you have to figure out how to get the bulb into the socket without breaking a 18 dollar bulb. When your pressed for time on a clock that you barely have enough time to get to your destination without the problems then to have to fix a light bulb in a dark truck stop, not so simple. It has nothing to do with being "cut out" for being an over the road truck driver, it has to do with being compensated for the time you put into it. When you do everything in your power to try to get the job done and your constantly running into problems, and then on top of all that you have to do extra work on top of extra work to get the job done who is willing to deal with that bull? YOU ARE! haha
I am not familiar with this light assembly, but could you not install the bulb into the socket and then connect the wiring? Short wiring solved.
No, then it wouldn't twist tight into the socket. But, anyways i'm done talking about this place/job. If nobody wants to see the point of view I had working there then go work for TMC and find out first hand for yourself. I though TMC was great, that it was going to be the greatest job making all this money and everything else and then you see what's really going on once you get the keys to your truck.
What is their plan for getting you guys home for Christmas? Will you guys be home Christmas Eve and not go out until that following Monday or will they make you work on Friday?
