TMC Transportation, Inc. - Des Moines, Ia.

I asked a recruiter who came to school if TMC had any 389's in yet......he stated that when they come in, the 389's were more likely to go to line haul (versus long haul) because they are 2,000 lbs. heavier than the old 379's, and therefore could carry 2,000 lb. greater load toward the 80,000 lb. limit. That doesn't make sense to me; line haul has gross limits as well.

I haven't heard anything yet about the shorter-BBC 388.

Eckz....do you know anything about this?

 

We're getting 388's. Basically a short hood peterbilt with different headlights and some extra's inside.

The weight issue has to do with long haul having more drop and hook, some of that is on steel trailers which are much heavier than the standard aluminum bensons that we pull.

 

Heres the new TMC 388 Pete, courtesy of Brian *******, one of the few of us who have one.. He just traded in his old KW for it. Turned over 400,000 Miles.



Lots of gauges and rockers inside. You can even purge the soot from the stacks, and turn off the ABS. Although i'm not sure why you would want to do that.

There is a interface with a 'roller' switch that you can turn to get it to display the information you want. Including idle time, MPG, amount of fuel in the banks (by gallon) and things like that. Theres ice warnings, temp warnings, traction control and anti-roll stabalization.

The bad thing is, they need special 'ultra low sulfur' deisel fuel, so we need different fuel books for them (where we can fuel up at) and with only 85 gallon tanks that could become a real pain in the ###. Also, i prefer duals over those xones... Especially in the winter time. Other than that, it's certainly puuuurdy and i'm going to request one when i get back to Des Moines this weekend.

Back on the catwalk theres also a couple of extra step boxes, which i've been begging for since i started with them. I imagine they will eventually have APU's there as well, thanks to New York. The cab has been raised up, somewhere between 3-5 inches. And the hood is about 6 inches longer than the 06 shorthood 379. I believe they have a slightly larger engine in them, although this was not confirmed. The outlet on the stacks are much wider than on the traditional models.

According to the owner of this one, it rides alot nicer and is much quieter.

 

Yeah. TMC is picky about having stuff left out. It's actually easier that way if you have a winder, if you leave them threaded through you'd have to throw the hook over the load, which can be dangerous to anyone on the other side of the trailer.

 

"and i'm going to request one when i get back to Des Moines this weekend. "

Eckz,

When did you go back with TMC? I thought you had left......

 

I did. I am working on getting back out there to get another truck and get rehired (gotta take another physical and drug test)

I refuse to ride a greyhound. So i have to wait until other guys from Michigan are going out that way, or hitch a ride from another driver.. Because i'm not taking 16 hours for an 8 hour trip. =)

 

Not really. Leave your brand new straps and chains out at a truck stop. Wake up the next morning and see if they are still there. Definitely worth the trouble. Keeps everything organized and neat.

 

lol, we had a driver in El Paso TX. He was sitting at some lil store on a 2 lane somewhere. Woke up without doing a quick PTI or looking over the truck, got about 30 miles down the road and his tarps blew right off the load.

Someone had taken every one of his bungee's off the load while he was sitting. Keep an eye on your stuff rookies. Watch that 5th wheel, too, you might be one of the unlucky few that drive off without your trailer in the morning.

 

If a tractor is 2,000 pounds heavier, how can it carry a 2,000 pound greater load??