TMC

McElroy, tomorrow will begin my 4th of 6 weeks of in the truck/on the job training with TMC. So far, I like my job and I like TMC. Actually, I love my job.

I'm driving a 2 year old slope-nosed 387 Pete that my trainer has been driving since it was new. I've met several TMC drivers at truck stops and at delivery sites, and I've seen many driving down the highways....all the trucks I've seen, whether 387s or 379 Petes, or the rare KW, appear to be in tip-top shape and CLEAN. TMC policy is a weekly truck wash at company expense. Contrary to what one post said, drivers do NOT have to polish all of that chrome.

My trainer is very good and wants me to be the best that I can be....after all, he gets a very nice bonus when I've been there 6 months and one year. Why would he not do his best at training me as one poster wrote? And yes, we run LEGAL!

I'll tell you this much, load securement is VERY IMPORTANT! If you don't want your load coming through the cab or off of the side of the trailer, you'll learn and employ proper load securement.

I'm driving short-haul so that I can be home on the weekends with my family. My first weekend I arrived home Friday evening before the sun went down; last weekend I arrived after midnight, and this weekend I arrived when the sun was coming up Saturday morning. Friday we had four deliveries in 2 states/4 cities on one trailer; the only multiple load in my three weeks. The upside is that you get per-stop pay and extra tarping pay. My trainer tells me that what has happened on our past two Fridays is not the norm, but that it does happen occasionally. TMC tries to schedule you with a Friday delivery and Friday pickup for Monday which is close to home so you can be home at a decent time on Friday. Ideally, the Monday load will also be at a close destination so you don't have to leave out so early on Sunday. Yes, if you want to stay ON TIME all week, its key that you arrive at your Monday delivery with that 10 hour cushion on Sunday night. This weekend is my shortest yet, and I'll be leaving out in time to be at my trainer's home so we can leave out by 5 PM CST. TMC pays me a fuel allowance for my trouble, but it could be higher.

As of this week, we can officially drive as a team and run round the clock instead of the 18 hours we've been running the first three weeks. We're leaving out at 5 PM and giving ourselves plenty of time to make the 700 mile run to Fort Worth, TX by 7 AM Monday morning with a load of sheet rock.

The loads I've hauled and those I'm yet to haul give me a feeling that what I'm doing is important and helps build America. I've hauled steel coils to GM in Detroit and to the Toyota plant in Kentucky; PVC pipes for a waterline in the mountains of West VA; steel mesh for a coal mine in Indiana; lumber and pre-fab housing for apartments in TX, AL, and FL; and much more during my three weeks. I love what I do and I'll be glad to get my own truck soon and start making much more than this $350 weekly training pay. Sure, we start out at 23%, but our trainers teach us how to quickly escalate that percentage to higher levels. My trainer stays at 30-31% each month and I've seen his take home pay and his average pay which he pulls up on the in-cab computer. He's been with TMC less than three years and he makes around 70K. This past Tuesday we arrived at a jobsite in Austin, TX and the customer couldn't accept the delivery until Wednesday. My trainer received his daily average in pay for that Tuesday and we spent the entire day enjoying ourselves in the nearby Cabellas store. TMC takes care of their drivers, and help and support is always just an e-mail or phone call away. I wish you the best and maybe we'll cross paths out on the road.

 

hey Rebel,

I have just arrived at Columbia SC for Orientation, could you give a little insight as to what to expect there?


j-mac

 

thanks rebelyeller for keeping me in the loop. i start cdi in oxford al. this weekend,so i should have my class a almost on xmas. tmc is still my goal, prehire is already done and approved. when you get home next, if you have time , could you tell me what to expect when you first get there? i know some people have covered this in the past, but things change some times. thanks

 

First time poster long time reader trucker wannabe. I start my first day of school to get my CDL on Nov.12. I was pre-hired with TMC 3 weeks ago the same day I singed up for school. I think that after reading this post I am convinced I am a great candidate for TMC. The only worry and concern of mine is that I have a little problem of SNORING. Ok it's a big problem I dont know if the guy I will drive with during the training is going to like it. Please let me know what you guys think of this. I am really emberest about it and that thing is really got me worried. I do not want to be a pain in somebodies ...uh... ears. Thanks Martin

 

As a driver for TMC please here me out.
-Yes TMC is a GREAT company to work for.
-You can make money here.
-Keep in mind that every trucking company has its problems.
-please for your own sake DONT think that you are going to make the
money that your trainer makes in your first 6 mo. in this time you are
just getting started.
-Now that you and your trainer are in team stat. it is still up to your
trainer to test you in your wit about doing the job the way tmc wants it
done.
-Please do not get upset with him if he turns to you and says:
( this is your load secure an tarp it and he dont help you with it)
-Remember its his job to see if you can do the job.
I do wish you the best of luck and hope to see you out on the road after your final road tetse in DesMoines

 

you need more info b4 you start to think that everyone at tmc is at 23%

TMC IS A PERFORMANCED BASED COMPANY you start at 23% with no exp. for your first 6 weeks in a truck by your self after that your are based off a number of performance points to raise Your rate most guys jump 27% to 30% after there first 6 weeks

 

It would be better for you to get your own schooling this way you are not tied into a contract to stay this goes for any company. besides if you get your own shooling TMC gives you the money back $100.00 per a mo. once you get in your own truck.

 

TMC has a driver with this condition and he is still driving with a mahine in his truck.

 

what can you expect to make with tmc in your first six months. thanks

 

You'll probably do your orientation for two weeks in Columbia, SC. We had some idiot who flunked a drug test there. Did he really believe that after he passed TDI/CDI's drug test that he was home free? We had another student sent packin' because he had sex in the hotel where we were stayin'. Another fella was sent home because of his lack of driving skills. So, just because you make it to orientation in Columbia or Des Moines doesn't mean you've made it. I reckon it doesn't mean you've made it with TMC until you actually pass your road test, which I won't take until after Thanksgiving. If I drive like I do on the job I'll do fine, unless I get all nervous and screw up. Your first week is mainly in the classroom and practicing securing loads, while your second week is spent backing and road and city driving.

TMC's trailers have an air dump feature that makes maneuvering the trailer much easier than traditional trailers, while making much tighter turns in limited space, and allows you to make turns without running over the curb and to put that thing where many other truckers can't put their trailers. On my second day driving I watched a driver fail repeatedly and give up trying to back into an empty spot in a truck stop, and me, in my "great experience" just whipped that TMC rig back on in there turning the trailer dump on and off as need be.

As far as the on the job training, you'll get a lot of driving in various states/conditions, as well as haul, secure, and tarp a variety of loads. Right now we have a no-tarp load of fire hydrants on the truck, and they were loaded faster and secured easier than anything I've had. Most everything I've hauled has been tarped, and there are various ways of tarping. My trainer really takes pride in his tarping, comparing it to a woman wrapping a Christmas present, and compares his tarp jobs to those of other drivers. He gets on my ### sometimes, but as he points out, he's doing it because he wants me to be my best and pass with a high grade. Each week has brought another challenge and more responsibility and performance on my part and less performance on his part, as it should be.

I'm enjoying my weekend much more so than the last two, which were short. Last weekend saw me arriving home Saturday morning when the sun was coming up and leaving early for a 700+ mile drive to Fort Worth, TX for Monday's 7 AM delivery. I got home yesterday before 5 PM and my Monday delivery is less than 150 miles away in the Atlanta metro area.

I know I won't make the kind of pay my trainer makes for some time, but I'm still hoping to make some good money. I spoke with a 4 month TMC driver a couple of days ago down in Palatka, FL. He told me he lives in south Florida and does all of his runs within the state and brings home $700-$900 weekly. That's pretty good, because I've heard several TMC drivers complain about the low-cost loads available in Florida....great pay going in, but cheap loads going out. I realize the fall and winter months will bring lower income than the spring and summer months. Combine that seasonal decline with my inexperience and I don't expect to make the TMC money everyone speaks of....but I will, eventually. I've just got to do my best and I'll make good money. I've heard several drivers inquire for applications from my trainer at various delivery sites and truck stops, so they must realize from talking with other TMC drivers that TMC pays more than they're making. Well, lots of luck to ya, and keep'er between the lines.