TMC Texas Intra-state route

I have not seen the add so I'm not sure which it is.

Texas Dedicated exist no more. It is now a southern regional route.

Rumor has it that the state of Texas came down on TMC and their Texas Dedicated for workers comp. or some other such nonsense. If you run exclusively, or primarily in Texas you have to meet certain requirements.

Unofficially, it still exist. It is hard work. You do the same loads over and over. Most drivers will take home about $1K each week. You may have to do some creative logging.

If you live at either end or in the middle of the routes, you may have the opportunity to go by the house freqently.

When I was hauling frames I was on the Peterbilt dedicated account. I am back on Line Haul now. Actually, it is a hybrid form of Line/Long Haul. When I choose to, I take longer runs out to CA, FL or where ever.

Austin is not necessarily the best place for freight. There is not a lot comming out. I have no problems getting freight inbound, outbound is another story. Other than the occasional chance of being sent home without a load late on some Friday, Austin is OK.

 

You are welcome.

It is the shadow Texas Dedicated as I previously discussed. It doesn't exist, but it does.

It certainly makes it more interesting. You have a different type of load every day, going to a different place. That is my greatest objection to a regional or dedicated route. The same load day in and day out. On the other hand your pay is consistant and you may get to go by the house more frequently.

Essentially, but it all depends on the loads available and how you work with your FM. If you make it know you want to be home every weekend no matter what, you will not get the longer runs. Communication is the key with opportunity thrown in.

I don't know. I have delivered to them a couple of time in Austin. Those loads were from shippers going to BMC West not BMC West as the shipper. I've delivered to Cashway's in Leander also. I deliver to Palm Harbor in Austin in a few. 7 miles from the house!

No idea, not many. Most of them are on "Texas Dedicated."

There is no such thing as a "home terminal." You can go by which ever is along the route. If you are required to stop at one, your FM will put you under a load that passes by the terminal. Ususally, you don't want to be directed to a terminal, it can be terminal! Actually, there are many reasons to go by a terminal and almost all are not bad. Most of us avoid them nevertheless.

Yeah, I'm going to have to start charging by the pound!

I'm glad someone figured that out!

Not a problem, I'm happy to help. Are you in CDL school now? If so where are you attending?

 

I cannot tell you about ATDS in Waco. I did attend ACC's school. It was OK. At the time I attended, there was a lot of turnover going on. The chief instructor was fired for changing the curriculum without authorization causing students to fail their driving test with DPS. They had other instructors being hired and quitting and were unprofessional to say the least. Some of the students attending did not help the situation out either.

At the time, about 1.5 years ago, the tuition was $3,500. and it was only four weeks long. You might want to check to see if you have your facts right. I'm not saying it hasn't changed, but who knows.

A major advantage to attending a local school is sleeping in your own bed at night as well as not having to deal with the knuckleheads on a 24 hour basis.

I don't know what you mean by "approved" and "certified." The only approval and certification you have to worry about is what the company you will work for accepts. Call TMC and make sure ACC/International Schools is still on the approved list. I bet it is, one of the Texas Dedicated driver's wife is the administrator of the school.

You were in the Military, you know about that 10% My best advice is to avoid them like the plague. Associate with drivers that are succeeding and are happy. The whiners can whine to their hearts content.

 

I gotta say a "Thank you Terry" for all he info you've given. Not just on TMC, but being a trucker in Central Texas.

One question, where do you park when home? Or, what's policy/guidelines you have to follow?

Oh, and another; do you think there's a particularily good or bad time of year to get into trucking?

And thanks Trendseeker for asking the same questions I had.

I'm getting ready to bail from my current job. I think ACC was a total of $3750.00 for the 4 weeks program. It's two 2-week classes, and misc fees that you pay all up front. That was as of about 2 months ago when I called them. Woman I spoke with said they basically have a class starting every other week. She said class size varied from 6-25. I'm trying to stay at my current job thru the end of the year since our open positions are "frozen" until then, I can't stand the CEO or director but don't want to short hand the rest of my department. But then again, after my sister's wedding in Oct, my callendar can open up real quick.

 

My family has a farm so I have a lot of space to park my truck at home.

Basically TMC allows you to park anywhere you have the owners written permision. If the truck gets towed away from where you park it without permission I think you will be responsible for the cost to get it out of impoundment.

I started in the fall just because that fit my schedule. I started orientation at TMC the first week of November. I got Thanksgiving week off at home before going out with a trainer. I also got some time at home for Christmas since my trainer also took that week off. Now I caution you that this might not work out for you, so if the holidays are important to you I suggest you start in January. Starting at that time of year you get to learn how to drive in the snow from a trainer, which I think is better than learning in the summer and then having no clue about snow.

 

Hey yall, I'm a Texan so naturaly this thread caught my eye. I'm lookin to get back into driving after a 4 year brake (2 of wich were spent overseas for Uncle Sam, 1 spent training for the deployments or the aftermath of returning home, and one as a mechanic) and TMC is at the top of my list. I just wanted to say howdy to the Texas drivers who might me lurking around. I live in Round Rock, it's cool to see locals here. I see a TMC truck parked by the Home Depot in Hutto now and then too.