TQM and Driver Issues meeting this weekend

Only name I remember off the top of my head is Pat Patterson. I'll take a look though. I don't think so though, I would have recognized it.

 

Just saw the new driver issues meeting posted up. There are several bullet points that are inaccurate. The TWIC proposal I made was entirely misrepresented. In the bulletin it says I suggested we be deducted twenty bucks a month for the TWIC, what I actually suggested was that we pay for it up front and TMC reimburses us twenty bucks a month until it is paid for, that way they can be confidant that their work force is not going to leave once they get them as they ridiculously claimed was their concern in the first place. It also states that I suggested we we have directions sent with the load screen, what I asked was that we have ADDRESSES sent with the load screens. Seems kind of stupid to send people to pick up and deliver loads without an address, most of us can find our way to a job with just the address. It was also somewhat amusing that they said " A driver was upset that some of the tools that are needed aren’t paid for by TMC. Another driver spoke up to answer the question. He said that the issue of TWIC and Hazmat are also like your tools. They are just things that you have to have to stay current." That is incorrect, a driver most likely bangngears or strnspeed decided to pipe up and say they don't understand why drivers expect TMC to pay for the tools a driver needs to do their job, and that he used to be a mechanic and his tools were never paid for. I spoke up to explain it to him and to Travis and Damon and Todd. Travis implied that the TWIC and Passport care are endorsements the same as HazMat which is of course not true. I also asked if a scales section could be added to the fuel book for places where fuel stops are scarce and scales are necessary, this was shot down almost before it came out of my mouth. I wish I could say I'm surprised at the way they rewrote the Issues meeting to jive with their plans, it's really disappointing. I left the Issues meeting with a very high opinion of the process, and then they go and trash it. Most of the rest of it was pretty accurate.

 

I definitely wouldn't let our experiences be THE deciding factor for you, just more information to put on the scales. A lot of drivers have no problem being taken advantage of, and even more don't consider it that. There are good things about TMC as well, they kept me moving and the truck got a lot of compliments. I think any big company like TMC is going to have similar problems but they won't all have similar upsides.

 

It's also nonsense that mechanics always pay for all of their tools. There are plenty of shops that pay a tool allowance.