TMC Transportation, Inc. - Des Moines, Ia.

Hey KMLAQ,

Have you heard anything regarding them opening the hiring area to east of I95? I am in Elizabeth City, NC right below the NC/VA stateline. I only ask cause I see you are located in Wilmington.

R/

Frat

 

It makes sense they are turning them down.

I stopped to visit my girl freind's son who is a mechanic at T/A. There was a truck in there from a major carrier that had 80,000 miles on it and never had an oil change. He didn't do it then either! it was having problems running right.

Kind of scarey. Once upon a time I was 1000 miles over on my oil change. I started loosing power. I had to change my fuel filters, then all was good!

 

One reason they might be getting rid of it is if they are found to have frequent safety violations.

A friend told me that the DOT will automatically pull you for an inspection if you company has a record of being in violation nearly evertime you are inspected.

Evidently they have a points system. One company (not TMC) has a "100" rating. So the DOT pulls them every chance they get!

Not saying that TMC has safety isssues as I would not have any knowledge of it. Just saying why pay for it if you are going to get yanked for inspection a bunch?

I know they have lots of pretty equipment out there. Flatbed doesn't interest me one bit.

 

I'll give you one reason. Who wants to carry around hundreds of dollars in Pennsylvania.

 

TMC's safestat is 38, they are in the not mandatory inspection category. Even so, your safestat recommendation doesn't change when you get rid of the EZPass.

 

I dont agree with having drivers pay tolls out of pocket. If you want your truck to go someplace then you pay to get it there. I have on occassion needed something for my truck i.e. gladhand seals and just paid for it out of pocket and turned in the reciept and was reimbursed the very next check. They dont make us wait for the money, As soon as they get the original reciept, Not a faxed copy, They reimburse it. But to have to pay every toll every time. No thanks.

 

Not having ezpass gives them a GREAT excuse to get drivers to pay tolls, and then screw them out of the money. Companies LOVE doing that. But turning the trucks down to 62 is just ignorant. It has to be so they can show they are being green or somthing lame and qualify for a government grant.

 

Ok, I realize I'm still just a student and not officially a "trucker", so I probably don't really know what I'm talking about yet, but I don't understand all the crying over TMC turning their trucks down to 62. If there is any kind of fuel milage gain to be made by it, it does make good business sense, as long as their customer service isn't affected. And it seems to me that just about every other company on this forum is doing EXACTLY the same thing, so TMC isn't really going to be any slower than anyone else. Sure, TMC has a reputation as being a cut above the other companies, but I really don't see this as a step in the wrong direction. Maybe I'm just foolish and don't know my ### from a hole in the ground, but I still think TMC is a good company and I'm seriously thinking of giving them a shot after I get my CDL. They've given me a pre-hire already and they're at the top of my top 3 list (which the other 2 have also turned their trucks down also).

 

I dunno about the actual benefits but one thing that makes me very nervous is running slow when all the traffic is flowing around me at 70-80mph. I would not want to drive a truck limited to 62.

 

Some states have trucks limited to 55 mph while cars are allowed to go 65 or even 70. Ohio, for one, is like that on certain highways. So that's not really all that different.

I can't really say for sure if there will be an actual benefit as far as milage savings or not. I keep thinking back to the seventies when the govment decided we should all drive 55 to save fuel. That worked out so well we are back to 65-75 (depending on state). Maybe someday, hopefully soon, they'll turn the trucks back up. But until then, we have to live with what the companies want...or get a job flippin' burgers.