TMC Transportation, Inc. - Des Moines, Ia.

let's face it we all wont as much money as we can make whether we drive a truck for a living or work any where else . i agree that nothing is perfect in just about any kind of job so we need to start out with a understanding what we expect we will make and what is asked of us to do as employees of a trucking company . there's a lot of talk about bad company's on trucking forums much is caused by not getting correct information from these hired agents that make commission every time a company hires some one on as a new driver ..when looking for a company and you talk to one of there agent tell them you wont the truth about what you will make ,how many miles guaranteed you will run and tell them up front before you go travel a thousand miles then here oh we cant do that this is what you need to get in writing before you pack your suit case .[1] first of all you need to no if you will get payed for all miles driving the truck including deadhead .[2] will you get the same amount of pay for dead head as loaded .if you are responsible for the truck and your driving it regardless empty or loaded you should be payed the same .your not there to give them free service ,if you drive for less than loaded pay for dead headed your giving them free service and that not acceptable .you should always be pay the same empty or loaded .[3] before you walk out the door tell them you wont a conformation in there letter head a fax sent to you telling you how many miles the run is this would be a life saver if they say it was only 400 miles for the run but the broker is paying 500 miles there's a big difference .so have them send you a fax with there letter head on it and information about how many miles the load pays ,if you don't do this you have no poof as to how many miles the company is paying you for the run .and never get started on a new run till you get this . i lost a lot of money due to not having any tangible proof of miles i was to be payed for by the company for some ruin's . if you don't do this your not managing your pay and they can say no it only payed another amount ,I've had runs that never was payed for at all because of dispatch was to busy to give me a PO number ,i was told just put the fuel on the last ruin's PO ,this caused me to have a fuel bill more than the load payed me. so i wound up not making any money for the run and never getting the PO number furthermore messed me up in my pay checks .never start your truck till you get the correct information for the run Waite and get it in writing's is what i was told by my lawyer when i sue ed one of the company's for messing up my pay check not paying me for runs i made for the company.just writing down in a book does not give you a leg to stand on in a Court of law. my lawyer said to me ,it a business your in whether you are least on as a owner operator are a company drive he said . get it in writing .if you don't give a dam about your money ,or you just wont to trust them that's your decision but for me i wont run a load till i have it in writing from the company are from a broker ,.also find out if the company takes out a escrow account for possible damage to the truck are any other property if there is a escrow how much is it , does it draw interest by law they are sub pose to have it set up that way ,.some company say even if your not at fault that you are responsible for repairs to the truck or property in any accident ,don't syn this .walk away from any company that say that .that's what they pay for insurance for ..have the company send you all the paper work on condition of hiring what they expect from you and what you receive as a company or least on driver be for you find out that after riding on a bus for a long trip that you will be hired when you get there .they can send you AL the information to you instead of you siting a round 2 or 3 days to find out they wont hire you . a fax machine can give them all the information they need in mins,not days of possible not hiring you for one reason or another .also tell them you are going to your doctor to get the physical ans to do a piss test at your doctors .your doctor can send all the information directly to them by fax. if this isn't agreeable to the company tell them you will check out another company your doctor is good enough to give you your physical hes not going to just give you a green light just because you have him for a doctor its your choice who does the physical test ,.he probably noes more about what you can do and cant rather than some one you've never met before.

 

After you are loaded and driving you must check your load at the 50 miles/one hour mark and every three hours thereafter. If you do not stop for 7.5 to 15 minutes all you have to do is flag it.

 

Exactly right. With five minutes here or there you need to make sure you are taking advantage of every minute. When I was on a long run I could turn 700 miles in 12 hours, logging a pretrip, fuel, and a couple of 15 minute breaks. That is with a 65 mph truck. Usually those breaks were only 7 or 8 minutes, but the logbook only shows increments of 15 minutes, so make the minutes count.

 

I dont even log load checks unless im taking a break too, I just stop once in however often and check em out depending on what Im hauling..

 

on a long run if you log 4 stops at 15 min each thats an extra hour
you have added to your log

 

I've been with them for 6 months now.I will be looking for some place else to work.Depends on the dispatcher if you make any money. If he likes you you'll make money if not you won't bottom line.I started driving the same time as a friend.His 13 week avarage is one thousand a week and mine is sixx hundred a week and after taxes and insurace its not enough to live on.I've asked and asked to get better loads and he will not listen.
I don't think you should have o beg to make a living.And i now you can fire him and get another one but should i ? No i should'nt
As the instructor said Quote ( You are no different than the driver thats been here 15 years and you will not be treated that way.) Thats a load of crap!.

I would not recomend this company to anyone and if you go to work here i would get my hopes up .

 

I do not know all of your circumstances, so it is hard to comment on what you should do. Yes, you should fire your FM. He is not doing his job.

There are other things you can do to increase your revenue.

If you are line haul you can request longer run and stay out a weekend ever once in a while.

You can shift properly, learn to progressively shift, be easy on the pedal, accelerate and decellerate slowly, this increases you fuel economy and thereby increases your mileage points.

Plan your trips better so your out of route is low. I average about 4%

Turn your paperwork in on tiime, keep your truck clean, keep your log books accurate and up to date.

All this affects your percentage points.

Most importantly, you have to communicate with your FM. If he won't listen, talk to his team leader. You need to take control of you career. Don't expect someone else to look out for you.

 

dose it make a difference if you take mileage pay or percent of haul or is it pretty much pay the same?

 

lyion quote /. i Haft to disagree with what your saying a bit '. if your driving a flat bed yes your sub pose to stop and check the first 50 miles, to check the load. this is be cause of using chains when you drive a flat bed. when driving a box van you dont stop and check the loads like that . a lot of loads have special shipping ties on the back door are even locks to prevent the driver from going in the trailer or for any one else for that mater .tell your fellow class mates about this info .if you stopped every 3 hours to check a load and the rig it self you would lose 45 mins. in the aloud 11 hours of driving time /remember now once you start the clock on your driving time you can't stop it .so there you have 45 mins and don't for get your pre trip time must be a minimum of 15 mins. then you have your post trip inspection another 15 mins.this comes up to 1 hour 15 mins a day in total inspection time.times what ever you do 60 hour or 70 hour week .i guess what im trying to tell you is with all that supposed time you spend every 3 hours with your mandatory pre and post inspection you wood eat up your allotted time a week quick and if dot sees you doing this you may get a ticket for out of service running out of hours +money out of your pocket right there on the spot ,i no i was taught that way and got in trouble in the mid west for it .coast me $86:00 for the fine i had to pay the dot on the spot ,before i was aloud to move my truck completing the out of service time down.the pre trip and post trip time in on the line on duty not driveing ,dont for get that . oh by the way it does go on you record too.

 

This is a thread on TMC. TMC is a flatbed company. Therefore, I stand behind my statement of when you must do a load check. At 50 miles/one hour and every three hours thereafter. A load check might take only a minute or two at most. All you do is check to see if there has been any shift, if the strap and/or chaines are tight. If it takes less than 7.5 minutes you only flag it not drop down to line 4. Losing a few minutes on a mandatory check is better than losing your load and killing yourself or someone else.