TMC Transportation, Inc. - Des Moines, Ia.

Why did you leave them after such a short time?

His name is Phil and yeah, he is a good instructor with great skills.

Did you get your own truck? How come you didn't stay with them? Orientation does push safety but when you're doing five loads a week you start to fudge things. Every driver I have talked with say that they run fatigued a lot of the time in order to get to the receiver by the early morning.

 

As a former driver for TMC.. I can say that you are right. You have to lie on the log book in order to make money with this company. I was a trainer for the company. I spent many nights without sleep and driving way past the legal time. They expected a lot out of their drivers. Not only does that effect the driver it effects their families as well. You may get to go home for your "3 days" though it is not 3 days. You go home that one day and spend hours sleeping to catch up, wake up to be at home maybe a full day, to leave out and reach your destination. At first you can make money with them so that they can lure you in. You then learn that it is not so unless you never want to be home. They have knocked the trucks down to 65 mph.. driving slow like that cuts down on the loads you can make and the miles to drive. All the cuts it takes affects the pay check. Not to mention that you pay for insurance so that if you get hurt you can work.... Well it is okay if a doctor does not put you out of your truck for more than 30 days. They tell you even with a doctors excuse you have 30 days to get into your truck... if not then you're fired, though they don't word it that way!!!!!! Sooo.. you go along to the doctor to get injections.. and get notified that you have no insurance.. go home and call the company to be told you were terminated..... If you may get hurt at all.. WORKMANS COMP, even if you do it at home that day you get in or that weekend... You can do the slightest bit and hurt yourself in many ways that won't effect you that day. You can call once you get released to work, but they will not hire you back. So the year or more you had with the company driving and training goes down the drain. They do not care about the driver's like they claim to.

 

sorry it has taken me so long to reply to your questions lmh. i've been working for a local company without much time to play on the internet. as far as the company goes, my main beef with them was that they refused to get me out of that truck and insisted that i stay out with that jerk another 2 weeks without getting home. i told them i would get with another trainer when they got me home and that i would stay, but they refused my plan. my thought was that if they won't help me now, what will it be later. and yes, i did report these things to my fm to no avail

 

I had been in my own truck at TMC for 3 months. I had an EXCELLENT trainer that was usually #10-20 on THE BEST OF THE BEST list and he is a line haul driver. My logs were always legal and I was bringing home $900-$1000/wk gross, sometimes even more.

I do think drivers should get more than $10 for tarp/untarp, but with so many drivers not properly caring for their tarps I could see why TMC doesn't want to pay more.

EVERY COMPANY CUTS THE FREIGHT! This should come as no surprise to any veteran driver. Certain areas of the country have cheap freight - tell your dispatcher you don't want to go there, and he should be able to work with you - mine did.

Now this is where my problems with TMC start......I got home on Aug. 3. The night of Aug 4 I was a passenger in a serious car accident. Contacted Safety Sun morning to tell them I was in hospital. They came and got my truck and took it to the Colunbia, SC terminal with all my personal belongings still in it.

Aug 29 I was released by DR to return to work. As of this time I still am not back into any truck, let alone my truck. I have been getting the runaround as to what is holding up my return. I just want a plain yes you can come back or no you cannot so I can get some money coming back into my house. I had no AFLAC and my wife is a part time substitute teacher, we have two young children so I need to work ANYWHERE at this point! Hopefully by tomorrow I will get an answer!

 

TMC_Driver

I am sorry to hear about your problems since your accident. I am the wife of a TMC driver and have access to the TMC web site.

Have you checked the policies on the TMC web site for your situation? It is on the web site under Policies and Forms, then Drivers Manual. I read the driver's handbook and there is a policy that addresses your situation.

Please check and be sure you have followed the correct procedure for a return to work. The policy number is 4.3.

I hope everything works out well for you.

OldLady

 

TMC_Driver

Also, have you checked applying for the Family Assistance Fund? We contribute and your situation may qualify you for assistance according to the documentation on the web site. I am going to check into the AFLAC insurance now after hearing about your situation. Again, I hope everything works out well for you.

OldLady

 

Old Lady,

As the wife of a TMC driver is the home time good. I'm applying for TMC after school, and want to make sure that TMC is a good company. You can't always believe what the recruiter says.lol

 

gerjamr,

My husband is in the long haul division. He is generally out for about 2 to 3 weeks, then home for 3 to 4 days. It was difficult to adjust to in the beginning, but we are coping well. We talk several times a day via cell phone and I alway know where he is by tracking the truck on the TMC web site. Hope this helps.

OldLady

 

Yeah it does. I didn't know you could track the truck via internet. thanks.

 

Slick trucks don't always make a slick company! My company has X-TMC drivers coming over by the "truckload" lol no pun intended. My company pays us well and we absolutely never have to drive illegally! I used to be a cop...I wouldn't work for a company that would make me a law breaker.