TMC Transportation, Inc. - Des Moines, Ia.

NO WAY! look at the posts...call Melton.

 

So what company do you work for?I live in GA and i'm mainly looking for a company with alot of frieght through here. Also i kinda liked the percentage pay for linehaul.

 

Weekend means home Fri afternoon or evening, back on the road Sun afternoon or evening to be at the consignee Mon morning. Its not pretty and I doubt its much different anywhere else. Also, is it Co policy to have the trainers show the trainees how to log ahem, shall I say "creatively" after all the fuss they make in orientation about logging legal? All my classmates had the same experience and I'm begining to think this is the case, or is it just the fact that they have learned this is the only way they can make any $?

 

RedSovine,

My husband does not log "creatively". He's about the most honest person you would ever meet. If it's not legal, he doesn't do it.

He went back to school was to refresh his skills. He hadn't driven in 20 years. We drove team in the mid 80's. And since his experience was so long ago, TMC put him with a trainer. In his case, he was actually the trainer, not the trainee. His trainer did not even know how to use chains. His trainer wanted to wait out the blizzard in Denver around Christmas time at the top of a pass. Hubby says "No way. I'm putting on the chains and driving this truck off this mountain." And he did.

Now, that said. It's true that all that shines is not necessarily gold.

My recommendation is to check out any company you are considering very carefully. Talk to other drivers on sites like this.

 

I wasnt refering to your husband's log, I was talking about the trainers. There is enough info on this site about TMC that concurs with my experience. I have no doubt what you say is true, after all, many of the trainers dont have much more than a years experience themselves. I suppose that is just the way it is when you have a high turnover rate and you are willing to hire student drivers.

 

so what happens if your doing linehaul for TMC and you don't make your 5 loads in a week? Say you only could get 4 in due to waiting to get loaded and your hos run out.

 

You just don't get paid basically. If you run out of hours while on the road, then you just have to sit somewhere until you accumulate enough hours to get moving either home if your close or keep on moving towards your consignee. I don't have any gripes with TMC, but their just like any other TL company. Basically, you give them a lot of time for free, and you don't get paid unless you're moving with a load. Do your homework and work for a company that pays their drivers for doing non-driving duties as well as they do for driving.

 

I DRIVE for TMC. Have for about a year and 2 months now, and all i can say is that the ONLY problem i've had is my fleet manager, ONE TIME i got in his ### and you know what? Working with him / TMC has been an absolute joy.

On a crap week i will still bring home 700 dollars, RUNNING LEGAL. 5 Loads a week? Yes, if you are regional, you guys are leaving the *Important* things out in your complaints. If you are regional, and you're hauling 5-600 mile runs then yes, your GOAL should be 5 loads per week, YOU WILL NOT GET INTO ANY TROUBLE UNLESS YOUR AVERAGE REVENUE TO THE TRUCK DROPS TO A REDICULOUS AMOUNT. There is no "TIME MANAGEMENT" Class unless you are constantly missing your deliveries without the testicular fortitude to CALL AND SAY "Guess what? I can't legally make this." (Yes, there are fleet managers who will TRY to push you.. The cure for that? Screw 'em. YOU ARE THE BOSS OF YOUR TRUCK, there is no forced dispatch, if you are tired in the middle of the day and need a nap... Pull it over. If dispatcher has a problem with it, call safety - problem solved)

Their downside is their fleet managers (dispatchers) being younger, mostly freshly out of college with logistics degree's, there are a few who used to drive for TMC. My fleet manager (Who i've had the entire time i've been with TMC) is about 3 years younger than i am, fresh out of college...Probably never even seen a truck before he came to TMC, and we get along great because for the first 2 months i coached him.

Do you know how i cure the problems most of you are complaining about? I SPEAK UP WHEN I NEED TO. If he calls me (Yes, he lets ME PICK MY LOAD) and gives me load options, i will pick the one that fits the amount of hours i have left. If i need to shower / wash the truck maybe i will pick a really short, or a really long run. I MANAGE MY TIME. Fleet managers have 40+ drivers to take care of on a daily basis, they do not babysit the weblogs, that's safety's job.

In short, to address this 5 loads a week madness, the MINIMUM to the truck per week should be $2800. If YOU AREN'T DOING 2800 you really need to find a different career. On a slow week i turn over 3500-4000 To the truck, and i am paid 31% of that AS A SOLO DRIVER THAT RUNS 100% legal.

As far as the sick kid, i had that problem once, my wife went into the hospital and do you know what i did? I called my fleet manager and TOLD HIM (I did not ask him) that i was driving my truck, home, to be with my wife and do you know what he said? "Ok, call me tomorrow and let me know how she is." The problem is that you guys are afraid of sticking your chest out, and it's sad to say but with any company you are going to need to flex your importance as a professional driver, in one manner or another. If you truely gave TMC your 110% that you keep boasting about, you could've flexed a little bit. FYI, that driving score that you keep throwing out there about means jack once you get into the real world my friend.

It is common practice, if you let them push you, they will. Draw a line, your first month with TMC you have to COACH your fleet manager and tell him how many hours you have, what Length of haul you'd preffer. After you've been doing it a while you can even say HEY! Get me a load out of this place, i'm 30 miles away and they will try and accomodate. Flatbedding is extremely rigorous, especially in the winter, it takes at LEAST 6 months to get used to it, and to get into a schedule, i do not always get unloaded first thing in the morning, I'd say that out of the loads i run, maybe 10% of them actually have a set delivery time, and if they do rarely ever will i miss it (and yes, i run legal) so you people complaining about missing deliveries are either lazy, or are just referring to not being unloaded early enough or something.

I am not going to deny that some of you have had bad experiences with TMC, for that i apologize on behalf of myself, and our other drivers, but in allot of these cases the drivers should have spoke up. Bad trainer? Get a new one, bad fleet manager, get a new one. DON'T BE AFRAID TO SPEAK UP, THEY ARE NOT GOING TO FIRE YOU FOR IT!

The fact is, reading about 40% of this is false. In the year and two months that I've been with them i have had a DOT inspection ONE TIME. And there were no violations, guess what? I got a 200 dollar check and a letter from TMC THANKING ME. Fact is, our rating doesn't ring any "Bells" until they take the time to punch our DOT number into their computer, and on a regular day they aren't going to do that, in fact when i was randomly selected for that audit, it was in a rest area in North Dakota and he didn't look up anything until after he was telling me how utterly impressed he was with the way my load was secured, the cleanliness of my truck, and the neatness of my paperwork.

The point is, who cares if you get pulled for inspection? It's what? A half hour max, and you make money and look good to the company (All the more reason to flex when you need to) Life is what YOU MAKE OF IT, And most of the time SO IS TRUCKING.

If there are ANY people here looking at going to TMC please do not hesitate to PM me on here.I will tell you anything you want to know, HONESTLY and i will never ask you to tell them who refered you. ( I have done recruiting visits and told the harsh truth at driving schools, needless to say the recruiter diddnt like it but that's life. I'm not going to lie to anyone, about anything) The good thing is she called me, and 7 out of 10 people in that particular class wanted to go to TMC because they appreciated the honesty and forwardness.) (I got 100 bucks for going to the school, too)

Meh. Im done rambling, questions please let me know ill answer truthfully.

 

eckz: hey man i can't send pms yet b/c i haven't met my posting quota yet. i'm hoping to go to tmc when i turn 23. i know flatbed is more "demanding" than driving a regular trailer. I wan that though. i don't want to just sit on my butt while i'm out on the road. that is not good for me. if you was trying to recruit me to tmc what all would you tell me? what are bad and good things about tmc?

 

It says a lot about the state of trucking when a student knows more about driving than a trainer. I bet the trainer in that situation wasn't even trained on how to chain up a rig, nor was HIS trainer someone who knew how to do it. And these jokers are actually training guys. I guess it's all good. Most will be gone from trucking within a year, so the small amount of knowledge a trainee takes with him when he goes solo compared to what he needs to know but didn't learn won't be as much of a threat.

With some training schools and trainers, a new driver learns just enough to get himself killed. It's a shame.