TMC Transportation, Inc. - Des Moines, Ia.

With % most make better, but you need to know how to cut thru the woods. When you are deadheading on % you are driving for nothing. With cpm some co's are paid for all miles.

 

You can do well as a newbie (Apprentice Driver.)

TMC is a good company. It has its faults. I find it a good fit for me. For others, it isn't as good. I am single, I'm not anti-social, but being out on the road, alone is a plus for me. I have had jobs much harder than this. I have a good attitude and do not let obstacles get in the way.

For your first six weeks, TMC will guarantee $600.00. My first six weeks I easily earned more than this. On long haul my take home was almost always more than $1.000.00 per week and usually average $1,200.00 and as high as $1,8000.00. I was on percentage. On line haul my average is about $800.00 take home. I am home almost every weekend.

In my opinion, percentage is the way to go. Some drivers will be on percentage for most of the year and switch to mileage for the slow months. You will be out with your trainer for five weeks (I think they changed it to five from six.) Compute what your trainer makes, both mileage and percentage and use those figure to decide which way is best for you.

 

thanks, that gives me a good idea....one more question. the long haul how long are you out for those runs and can you change up when you don't want to do it anymore?

 

On Long Haul, you will be out for two weeks, longer if that is what you want. I usually stayed out for three weeks at a time. Of course, there are many factors that will decide if you are home when you want to be. I suggest talking to your Fleet Manager and let them know what your needs are. While on Long Haul, I was home every time I asked to be. Line Haul can be a little more challenging at times. In theory, you can change as often as you want, I would think they would put a stop to it if you were changing every couple of months.

 

Blah...

What a poopy week last week was. I dropped off in Kansas City, KS with another 2 drivers that i ran down there with from Michigan.. We diddn't get Empty that early because of the weather, we had to take the driving easy through Indiana and Ohio. We got there about noon, and were empty at about 1:30. Scraped the ice and snow off our decks and were ready for dispatch.

206 Mile bounce up to Ankeny to pick up deere. Horray. It was a 206 Mile bounce, 177 Miles loaded and paid 600 and some dollars. Pretty nice run. I headed up there, the problem was that i had to stop in DSM and drop off my 96" trailer, and pick up a 102" to drop in the Ankeny yard.

So, I get to DSM. As i'm turning around to back the truck in i hear... "Pop.. Pssssssssssss...", the low air warning was next, and then the breaks. My emergency pigtail had cracked in half during the turn around, probably from the cold..The tractor protection valve did not kick in.. Which would've been a bigtime problem on a DOT inspection. So I head in to the shop to let "Smiley" know he's got another truck that needs to be fixed, and headed over to the hotel. 5AM they had it fixed, but my 10 hour break wasn't up until almost 7am, so i slept in.

FM calls me at 7:30, i was in the bathroom sick again (With the flu) told him what was up, and that i would probably need to deliver the load on Friday and then head home, and that i was sick again. Ok, run up there and get hooked up and go ahead and take a nap. I'll call them and let them know you'll be there on Friday.

Ran up to Ankeny, got hooked up, swapped out, tied down and said screw it. Started the drive, got about 100 miles out and laid down for about 4 hours, got up and drove some more.. Slept at the Walcott Pilot (15 mins out) because i couldn't park at the consignee.

Up at 6am, ready to roll. I run into a bunch of other deere drivers going the same way, so we run in there together which was good. Got reconsigned, had to drive over to an overflow lot to get unloaded.. No problem, we run over there.. After about an hour they had us ready to roll again. Very, very friendly bunch at the xpac plant in Milan Illinois. I doubt I've had more of a pleasurable experience being loaded or unloaded anywhere else.

Sent in my empty macro, waited an hour and called FM.. Inbound satellites were down. Calls me back 15 minutes later, start heading to Chicago, we have no loads out of the quad cities area headed home.. Ok, no problem.. At least Chicago is alot closer to the house.. Praying that i'm in, and out before 5:00.

I was. Went over to wheatland tube to get a coil going to the warren ohio plant.. Pays 3.00 Per mile to the truck.. wow, a coil!? Anyways. I missed 2 loads last week, and my freakin' doctor isn't open on weekends so i'm still sick.. Oh well, guess i'll have to tough it out and make some money next week.

Just thought i'd ramble a bit. Hope you all had a great new year.
P.S i might be getting a 388 soon. I complained to my FM about the 387 and it's electrical problems, and told him that i diddn't have time to replace 2 or 3 headlights a month, or the money to blow on them while im waiting for my refund on my next checks.

Rookies, stay away from the 387 "football helmets" or "pregnant peterbilts" It is a very, very nice truck. There is alot of room, i could do jumping jacks.. But it's like driving an airplane, it's almost TOO big, and they are all notorious for their electrical problems. Including the CB going "PSSS" really loud in your ear every time you hit a bump!

 

Terry, another reason that i switch to long haul during the slow months is because i can do less tarping and strapping in the cold, and snow.

Hope you had a great new year!! Still waiting to run into ya out there.

 

Do you really have any say in what truck you get

 

Eckz,

You might be reinfecting yourself with your own toothbrush. Think about it, germs get into the holes where the bristles are secured, it is always wet and warm, they live, even thrive. Your immune system kicks in, you get better, immune system winds down, and the germs reinfect you.

Throw your toothbrush away and use a fresh one. Maybe even buy a couple to have on hand.

And to keep it on topic, once you discard your toothbrush, you can use it to detail your truck.

 

Hey Eckz, you say your driving a Pete 397, i was just wondering what the turning radius is like on the 387.

Nero

 

Not much. You can put in your preferences and if you do well on your driving test and you finish before everyone else you will get the truck most closely matching your choice out of the pool of available truck.