TMC Transportation, Inc. - Des Moines, Ia.

I just finished my first week out with a trainer for TMC. I had read these posts but I am limited by being on the east coast as to which company I could work for so I figured maybe they'd be OK after being hammered by the DOT about logs and such. I really wanted to go with a flatbed company and I've been in the military and figured I could handle whatever they served.

During the two week orientation period safety and being legal were constantly stressed and I was happy with that. My former job (retired firefighter) was big on safety and I'm too old now to think I can cut corners and not pay for it.

All quoted phrases were what I was told by the trainer.

Day One - Sunday at 1700
Leave from the trainers home with a load of lumber he had picked up on Friday. Logbook filled out "put fifteen minutes in for PTI" but not once during the week was a PTI ever done. Do 420 miles and get to the lumber yard in order to unload first thing in the morning.

Day Two - Monday
Up at 0700 to be first to get unloaded. Got unloaded by 0900 and only have to bounce 25 miles. Loaded with steel joists by 1100 and travel 430 miles to a WalMart job site. TMC won't pay tolls on I-80 through Ohio or Indiana so to get to the job site that is within 2 miles of I-80 we had to travel something like 35 miles on a 2 lane route 57, going through towns and taking tight small town turns. Trainer was amazed when I told him that I had trouble seeing the trailer wheels when taking a right turn. Got there a little before 2300 with a stop for fuel and food.

Day Three - Tuesday
Up at 0700. Unloaded by 0900 and bounce 75 miles for load of steel pipe in Alliance, OH heading for John Deere in Moline, IL. Loaded at 1530 and on our way for a 540 mile run. Stopped at 0200 about 100 miles out from the receiver.

Day Four - Wednesday
Up at 0500. I drive. Trainer stays in bunk until we're near the receiver then gets up to give directions. Arrive a little before 0800 after a couple wrong turns finding the place. Unloaded by 1100 and get a load of foam insulation just down the road. Light load so it's a high load. Loaded by 1500 or so and headed 450 miles down the road. Stopped at 2200 at the Peterbilt dealer for a warranty item, out by 2330 and shut down at 0030 Thursday.

Day Five - Thursday
Up at 0500 for the final 150 miles to job site close to Cincinnati. Untarped and unstrapped then told to move truck a couple hundred yards. I told trainer we were told to never move a unsecured load but "they tell you that at orientation but sometimes we have to do it". I tell him then he will have to do it. Unloaded by 1030 and only a 35 mile bounce for sheet rock going to Newark, NJ. Loaded by 1400 and on the road for a 650 mile run. Shut down a hundred miles from receiver at 0200 Friday.

Day Six - Friday
Up at 0500 to be at receiver first thing. Trainer stays in bunk until we near the receiver. We miss a turn and I'm told to do a U-turn in the street. I refused to and we swapped seats and he did the turn. "Sometimes you have to do a U-turn even though orientation told you to never do one". We untarped and unstrapped our load of sheetrock and then had to go up a ramp into the building. I was sure I was going to jerk the truck starting off and lose part of the load. Again I was told that sometimes you have to move the truck with an unsecured load but I made sure he knew he would be responsible if some fell off.

The pattern for the whole week was I would drive until my hours were up and then the trainer would take over and push through until we were close to the receiver so we could be first to unload in the morning. He was usually in the passenger seat but when he had driven late the night before he stayed in the berth for the first couple hours in the morning. He would never start his log until he began driving. As soon as we approached the area where the receiver was located he sent in the arrived macro and as soon as we stopped the unloaded macro was sent even though it might be a couple hours before we were unloaded. At orientation we were told to never do this but "it's the only way to get our next load planned".

I was having some problems with downshifting and my backing needs some work. I was told throughout the week that we would work on it "tomorrow" but we were always pushing when "tomorrow" came. We certainly weren't going to take a couple hours to perfect these flaws when we could be driving.
It seems that in order to do a load a day there is no way other than fudging the log book.

Is this something that everyone does while the company preaches legal logs and safety but encourages and pushes for a load a day? We usually ran from 0500 or 0600 until at least midnight and when I was too tired to drive I had to take the upper berth while he drove. Is this common practice? I have been told that I should be in the lower berth when underway but the trainer has his sheets and blankets on that berth so it doesn't seem practical.

What an eye opener this has been. On the go almost constantly and when we do stop for the night it takes going though at least a couple of rest areas or truck stops to find a spot since we are so late to arrive.

BTW, this trainer is delivering 5 loads a week and usually ends up with a 3 digit gross pay per week! He usually only nets less than $700.

 

I asked for a new trainer after letting the training co-ordinator/fleet manager know this wasn't working out for me and I did not go out with the previous trainer this week. I'll just have to wait and see how it goes. Thanks for the feedback.

BTW, the problem we were told with making U-turns is a four wheeler not seeing it and going under the trailer, particularly a flat bed since the load is often low and not as visible to oncoming traffic.

The right hand mirror was adjusted OK but in the darkness it was extremely difficult to see the trailer tires.

Taking the straps off and then moving the trailer seemed risky to me. It was a high load of insulation and the move was from the road onto the dirt job site with its bumps and twists.

I realize there are times when acceptable risks are taken and experience helps guide one in assessing the risk but as a fire officer I would never have taught that they are OK. It is something that only training and experience will give the confidence for and I believe a new guy has to be taught by the book.

BTW, the trailers have spread axles but there is a switch in the cab to dump the air from the rear axle when making tight turns so it slides around the corner much easier. Is this something most spread axle trailers have? It works great when making ninety degree back ups also.

 

I have 2 relatives, one from my maternal and another from the paternal sides of the family, who are employed at TMC. One is an OTR driver; the other is a driver trainer. The dirt they have disclosed about TMC is right on the money with what others of you have experienced as drivers or it is consistent with the info revealed in the FMCSA website.

Drivers ARE routinely forced to run illegal; they aren't given ample time to fuel; logs are constantly being falsified; and vehicles are not being adequately maintained.

 

chronic fudging and the company safety people looking the other way while the driver runs 18-20 hours a day are obvious signs of a company that that doesn't "REALLY CARE" about safety. Until you are busted by DOT and then they care- by suspending you or putting something in your file to later put on your DAC.

Believe me, I have personal experience with this kind of behavior ( I drove for another company that figures prominently on these Bad Co. threads) and I need both hands to count the number of 900-1100 mile day I did (and I only drove for them for 12.5 mos).

 

Well Snake_Ize, it sounds to me like you had a trainer very similar to mine when I was with TMC. Pretty much the only differences was that I would be up and driving/doing load securement from 0500 until roughly 0300 the next morning while he sat on his lazy ********* playing solitaire on the laptop. He did most of the load securement himself using me only as a gopher which came back and bit me in the butt one day when I got out on my own and had a load of skidded coils shift on me since I didn't know how to secure them properly.

Even after I was out of his truck, I made mention to the training department that I felt confident in my driving skills, but I was horrible at backing and load securement. I guess that went in one ear and right back out of the other. (Still scored a 99 on my road test.)

Anyway within only a few days, my first trainer with Roehl had my backing skills corrected dramatically. And while I am still no expert on the process, I am no longer spending 30+ minutes trying to get into a parking spot. I was taught how to analyze the type of setup needed, how to set it up, and then how to execute and adjust as needed for "ALMOST" every situation.

Anyways good luck to you with TMC should you decide to stick with them. Oh and btw, what's up with your trainer's pay?? The guy I was with was taking home no less than $1k per week, and my driving got him two raises in the 8 weeks I was with him.

 

I will say this. It is up to YOU THE DRIVER to operate in a legal and safe manner. You don't have to run hard or illegal because some dispatcher didn't give you enough time for the run. It is not up to you to correct their mistakes and improper planing. Once you have your own truck then YOU and ONLY YOU are responsible for following laws.

If your trainer at TMC or anywhere is teaching you to run illegaly you would do well to call the safety department. Every company has a safety department and you should find out the phone number during orientation. The safety department audits logs and ensures law compliance.

It isn't the companies fault that some drivers and trainers like to break laws and have learned to hide it well. TMC has cracked down on the incorrect logging practices according to the drivers I have chatted with. I have chatted with several TMC drivers who are complaining that the safety department is calling them in for even minor log infractions, usually incorrect use of the split sleeper provision. There are lawbreakers at every company and that should not deter you from working there and "cleaning the place up."

One more time:
LOG IT AS YOU DO IT, AND DO IT LEGALLY!
No matter where you work.