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boblett
Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Posts: 2
Location: ky
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| Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 6:04 pm Post subject: TMC or Werner (For a veteran Marine) |
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I just graduated from A good CDL school in Kentucky. I am going to start work the first of September. I have picked two companies that sound the best to me. It will be Werner or TMC. My biggest need is money.
I just got out of the Marines, the VA will do an apprenticeship program with Werner, and Werner is the only trucking company they will do this with and this means I will receive $9300 from My GI bill from the VA my first year working with Werner.
At TMC it is said that I would make more money then I would at Werner even with the $9300 from the VA. After 30 days with TMC I can get 25% to 35% of what the truck makes. Werner would be 26 to 28 cent per mile $75 to off load the truck and $15 for every stop plus the big $9300 from the VA.
Both recruiters is telling me that I will make about $1000 a week and home every weekend. I do not like to take the ward from just a recruiter but for now that is all I have to go off. I am not scared of hard work or home time. I just want to make the kind of money I use to make.
Any advice I could get from here on this matter will most likely be my deciding factor on who to go with.
Thanks to anyone that answers, and thinks to the webmaster of this website. Your website was a big help on picking my school. |
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mudflap276
Joined: 02 Feb 2006
Posts: 377
Location: China Spring, TX
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| Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 8:15 pm Post subject: |
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| i retired from the navy last year and went to work for tmc and have been very satisfied personally and financially. they keep me busy and when i want to run over the weekend, i get pretty decent and easy freight. plus the extra $450+ for a weekend of work is not too bad. the equipment is not too shabby either. |
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Fenderstrat72
Joined: 16 Aug 2006
Posts: 12
Location: SC
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| Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 8:33 am Post subject: Re: TMC or Werner (For a veteran Marine) |
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boblett wrote:
I just got out of the Marines, the VA will do an apprenticeship program with Werner, and Werner is the only trucking company they will do this with and this means I will receive $9300 from My GI bill from the VA my first year working with Werner.
I didn't know this. So the MGIB will pay you as if you were in school while you are actually on the road? If so I would say the answer to your questiion is easy. That is nearly 10,000 dollars of free money. I know what I would do. |
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Cyanide
Joined: 01 Mar 2005
Posts: 436
Location: Demotte, IN/Jacksonville, FL (Superior Carriers Truck #3110)
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| Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 9:01 am Post subject: TMC |
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Go with TMC Devildog! At least there you stand a good chance of actually grossing $1,000 a week once you're on your own. TMC seems to have very good standing from what has been said by those who drive there here on this site. Attention to detail ring a bell :wink:?
Werner at .28/mile would require you to run 3,571 miles a week to do that. Even running food-grade tanker as I did that's not anywhere close to being realistically achieveable, regardless of how much compressing/cheating/bending/fudging the log book you can pull off. Also, that's not going to happen being a new driver trying to learn a system, unless you have a very good partner and ran as a team after training :nervous:... |
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Templedawg
Joined: 05 Jan 2005
Posts: 284
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| Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 3:26 am Post subject: |
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| Gi Bill can also be used at Vo-Tech schools. That was an option to me when I came home from being on of Uncle Smedleys Mud Cadets. I opted for a company training program since it started before vo tech school. |
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BIG JEEP on 44's
Joined: 09 Jul 2005
Posts: 1342
Location: Fixing something under my jeep
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| Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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You said money ......That pretty much narrows it down to TMC over Werner..........However driving flatbed at Werner is easier to get miles than Van ..as they only have like 300 trucks designated to this division , so freight is far better for the drivers as oppsed to their van division.....
OH AND STARTING PAY FOR FLAT BED IS NOT .28 CPM AT WERNER........................IT's only .......Drum ROLL PLEASE..........24 CPM...that's right .........24CPM.... |
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Kintama
Joined: 12 Mar 2006
Posts: 273
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| Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 11:15 pm Post subject: |
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BIG JEEP on 44's wrote: You said money ......That pretty much narrows it down to TMC over Werner..........However driving flatbed at Werner is easier to get miles than Van ..as they only have like 300 trucks designated to this division , so freight is far better for the drivers as oppsed to their van division.....
OH AND STARTING PAY FOR FLAT BED IS NOT .28 CPM AT WERNER........................IT's only .......Drum ROLL PLEASE..........24 CPM...that's right .........24CPM....
What a **** joke!! :roll: |
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BIG JEEP on 44's
Joined: 09 Jul 2005
Posts: 1342
Location: Fixing something under my jeep
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| Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 4:03 am Post subject: |
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Kintama wrote: BIG JEEP on 44's wrote: You said money ......That pretty much narrows it down to TMC over Werner..........However driving flatbed at Werner is easier to get miles than Van ..as they only have like 300 trucks designated to this division , so freight is far better for the drivers as oppsed to their van division.....
OH AND STARTING PAY FOR FLAT BED IS NOT .28 CPM AT WERNER........................IT's only .......Drum ROLL PLEASE..........24 CPM...that's right .........24CPM....
What a **** joke!! :roll:
Yes it's a joke ,and CL and his boys face's should be the punch line........ :lol: |
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keeso
Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 258
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| Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 6:47 am Post subject: |
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| I cannot say about TMC- BUT I CAN TELL YOU THIS FOR SURE: The reqruiters @ Werner WERE LYING TO YOU ABOUT 'expected' early earnings. One (extremely unusual week- actually had 4234 pd miles) I got paid in this range...surely the average paycheck was a good deal lower- and I am a 'hard runner'. |
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Tilar
Joined: 27 Mar 2006
Posts: 34
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| Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 6:58 pm Post subject: |
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At Werner, for starters Van is not .28, its .26, and if you choose to take the Per Diem, it drops to .25.
I've been with them a couple months now, and I get close to 3k miles a week on a pretty regular basis. I have a pretty good dispacher so far and she has been very helpfull if I run into a situation. But dont expect 1k a week to start. ALSO dont expect to be home weekends. I get home every 17 days on average for a couple days. |
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BIG JEEP on 44's
Joined: 09 Jul 2005
Posts: 1342
Location: Fixing something under my jeep
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| Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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Tilar wrote: At Werner, for starters Van is not .28, its .26, and if you choose to take the Per Diem, it drops to .25.
I've been with them a couple months now, and I get close to 3k miles a week on a pretty regular basis. I have a pretty good dispacher so far and she has been very helpfull if I run into a situation. But dont expect 1k a week to start. ALSO dont expect to be home weekends. I get home every 17 days on average for a couple days.
I've been with them since Aug 05 ...you will struggle to make any money here..........you will need to run anywhere from 800-1200 miles more than most companies to see the same pay... I don't know about anyone else ..But I don't want to need 3k+ miles to reach a decent pay check ,as running those constantly burns you out....And if I do choose to run 3500 miles I would like to see my pay-check reflect this effort..at Werner it doesn't.......in fact even at the 1yr mark in the van division you will not even touch a grand gross for 3500 miles and flat bed is even less money than van.....
I only went with Werner because I only knew about the companies the CDL school I attended were pushing....Had I researched my options ,and pay I would probably not have ever been a Werner employee..But I did not ,and only stayed so I wouldn't have more than 1 employer for my 1st year... |
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BIG JEEP on 44's
Joined: 09 Jul 2005
Posts: 1342
Location: Fixing something under my jeep
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| Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 4:51 pm Post subject: |
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| However Werner does offer the choice of training which you can get as many as 5k miles per wk ,and the miles seem to be had easily in flat bed...With a student on your truck you will almost always be guranteed 3500 miles weekly ....So you would alweays be close to 1k weekly ,as you the trainer gets 100% of all the miles the truck rolls.....while it's not as good as making this money and driving solo the money is pretty much a gurantee, and werner does have the freight...And I can not complain about hometime if I put in for it 7 days in advance I'm home ...If my truck needs repairs it's done ....Werner has many bad pints ..i think all OTR companies do ...But they do have some good , and there are ways to make money here ....But it's super tough as a SOLO driver ...however 3500 miles with a student is like running 1500 miles as a solo ..... |
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boblett
Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Posts: 2
Location: ky
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| Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:22 am Post subject: TMC or Werner (For a veteran Marine) |
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I would just like to say thanks for all the advice. I have read all that has been posted here and other forums as well and I have talked to every TMC and Werner driver that I have seen here in my small town in Kentucky. I am really leaning my decision to go with TMC at this time. I have listed some of the articles that others has said and put my thought with them. If anyone can think of any thing that I should consider that has not been listed, please post it. As of write now, I am set up to start 12 days of class in SC. next Tuesday
TMC
Encouraging-
Equipment (seen it and like it)
Reputation (not one TMC driver has ever said TMC was a mistake for them)
A retired navy person said, has been very satisfied personally and financially (retired navy people don?t lie to there simper fi brothers)
Get home most weekends and grossing $1000.00, a week is possible (that would be $52,000 my first year driving a truck)
Neutral-
Your truck has to be squared away (I am a very clean and squared away as long as this is not like putting on Alfas and working in them everyday then this would not be to bad)
Will work you to death (as long as it is legal, safe, and the money reflects this would be very good) (Iraq did not kill me and I don?t think a truck company will ever work me that hard)
Discouraging-
The load securement class is like "boot camp" for flatbedders (did boot camp before and did not like it)
You will never have the proper time to rest (have to keep it safe)
Flat bedding is BS work tarping a load in the dead of winter with high crosswinds, bone chilling cold, and iced flatbed decking you will slip off. (I am sure there will be hard times that I will have to suck up)
Werner
Encouraging-
Nearly 10,000 dollars of free money (Waste valuable VA benefits when I could use this later but I do not think I ever will)
Neutral-
Two former Werner drivers said, they were with them for aprox three plus years and would refer new drivers to them, had no complaints with them.
Two Werner drivers have said this, only stayed so I would not have more than one employer for my 1st year...
(If three people say the same thing about anything, it must be true)
Discouraging-
Doubt seriously that you could get home every weekend or gross $1000.00 with Werner. (Possible...not likely)
Other Companies and not driving at all-
There was a lot said to me about this. I have did the home work for this to and as far as another company that is better then these two in Kentucky I have not found it and I really like these two a lot. Driving a truck is something that I have wanted to do all my life and now that I am out of the Marines, I have that freedom to go and try it out. |
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