Crete, TMC Or Roehl?
 

Hi All, 1st. post here...As a new driver what company will I make the most money at in my first year?
Thanks for any help

Off the 3, Your highest first year earning potential would be at TMC. They key is "potential". A driver making .28 cpm can make more than a driver making .32 cpm, if the driver making .28 cpm drives more miles than the driver making .32 cpm.

Your ability to manage your time will be the key factor in you making money. So keep your left door closed and the pedal to the metal and you will make money. Spend all day playing video games at truck stops and you will be broke. The choice is yours.

A TMC driver at 32% by definition is driving more miles than a TMC driver at 28%. Otherwise he would not be at 32%. This level is very hard to achieve and he has to be putting in his miles and not taking weekends off. Long Haul is more likely to be at a higher percentage than Line Haul. Don't let me put words in your mouth if you didn't mean percentage than cent per mile. Almost all TMC drivers are percentage rather than mileage. The number given us was 100, out of almost 3,000 ,are on mileage.

I was just talking to a Roehl driver the other day and he seemed pretty satisfied. He was telling me about all their different programs which all sounded pretty good, then he said "but there's a down side". Just like that the receiver came in and signed his bills and he left. I never DID hear about the down side.

Anyway, Lots of recruiters used to come in where I worked, and I always thought Roehl's deal sounded pretty good. They seemed to understand that this is a family thing, that it wasn't just the driver that had to be satisfied. They had programs in place to help your family adapt to the new situation, so you could be successful on the road and keep peace and stability at home. I don't know how well any of this works, but the other carrier's guys never even breathed the word "family" in their presentation.

Yes, I am aware that TMC pays by percentage verses cpm. The point, I was trying to explain to hstern, is not to get overly worked up looking at the rates that companies pay. Because this is only one factor in home much money you will make.

How does the percentage-based pay work? Is the percentage-based pay on what TMC charges the shipper to ship the load?

I also called Crete and Roehl to speak to there recruiters. I ask what does a new driver out of school make the first year with at there company.

Crete said $45k - $48k and Roehl said $33k to $38k(but with more home time). What would a new driver make at TMC in the first year for all the extra work in flatbedding?

Choices
 

After all the research and meandering around on CAD and on other sites and getting all the info I found that TMC was the choice for me. Career change at 47 you do a LOT of pondering and contemplating and do PLENTY of homework, believe me a lot of research went into my choice.
1st. PAY-% always pays better in the long run. I had my own business for 10yrs and after all is said and done % wins.
2nd. HOME TIME- 46 out of 52 is very generous, unless of course your a dedicated account. To me kind of boring, same ol`same ol`type of runs. I gotta see and do different things everyday. I guess I"m ADHD LOL.
3rd. RIDER PROGRAM- Can have my family ride with me at times. I have a 6 yr old grandson and TMC's policy is 5yrs old.
4th. NO TOUCH FREIGHT- I unloaded tons of Sh!t working for WallyWorld, if i never touch a pallet of freight again it'll be to soon.
5th. TMC is flatbedding, keeps you in shape, I like to be able to see my vital organ....... you get the picture.
6th. I guess I could go on and on but one more.
7th. BE THE BEST, EXPECT THE BEST, DEMAND THE BEST, WORK FOR THE BEST!

Thanks AsphaltBound for the post...very helpful

Comapny to Work for,,,
 

Hstern,

I'll second Asphalts comments below. I am on my last week of training with Tmc and I am glad I made the choice to Flat-bed with TMC. I am an ex-driver albeit 25 plus years and the refresher course, along with TMC's 10 day orientation and out with a trainer has been a good experience. Pm me if i can answere any other further questions. However, so far so good !!

After all the research and meandering around on CAD and on other sites and getting all the info I found that TMC was the choice for me. Career change at 47 you do a LOT of pondering and contemplating and do PLENTY of homework, believe me a lot of research went into my choice.
1st. PAY-% always pays better in the long run. I had my own business for 10yrs and after all is said and done % wins.
2nd. HOME TIME- 46 out of 52 is very generous, unless of course your a dedicated account. To me kind of boring, same ol`same ol`type of runs. I gotta see and do different things everyday. I guess I"m ADHD LOL.
3rd. RIDER PROGRAM- Can have my family ride with me at times. I have a 6 yr old grandson and TMC's policy is 5yrs old.
4th. NO TOUCH FREIGHT- I unloaded tons of Sh!t working for WallyWorld, if i never touch a pallet of freight again it'll be to soon.
5th. TMC is flatbedding, keeps you in shape, I like to be able to see my vital organ....... you get the picture.
6th. I guess I could go on and on but one more.
7th. BE THE BEST, EXPECT THE BEST, DEMAND THE BEST, WORK FOR THE BEST!
_________________
If you cant find time to do it right the first time, how do you expect to find time to do it right the second time.

Thanks "Back on the Road"

What would a new driver make at TMC in the first year for all the extra work in flatbedding?

Hey "Back on the road" How did they handle your training? How much class room and how much with a trainer on the road? Are you gonna have to do the full six weeks with a trainer?

That would depend on several factors. Such as what division you are in. Long Haul, Line Haul or Dedicated. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Generally speaking, the more you run the more you make, giving the advantage to Long Haul. Other considerations are how clean do you keep your truck, did you have a safe month, years of service, extra training, miles per gallon, out of route miles and how much did your truck make. Some loads pay more than others. Some truck get better mileage per gallon. Long Haul has a better chance of getting 32%, Line Haul seems to get 27% to 28%. There are always exceptions. These are just a few things that effect your pay.

Line vs Long
 

Correct me if I wrong, but if you choose to do Line Haul I think the option is still there to do Long Haul. So wouldn't you still be up there in % wise? I think the best scenario would be to be a Line driver doing Long Haul then still have the ability to be routed back home when needed. I understand that if you drive Long Haul you have no option to drive Line. Please correct me if I'm wrong. :roll:

My husband works line haul and makes an average of $895 a week which will go up because some of that time he was at the starting percentage. He has been at 28% for a few mos now. So that comes out to $46,500 a year with that average.

TMC Info
 

Ok,

I will try and answere the questions to the best of my current knowledge with Tmc.

I did a 10 day orientation at the South Columbia terminal. (I have been to Des Moines with my Trainer while running the road and that facility is state of the art compared to Columbia), anyhow, there was classroom work along with skills pad and road tests. I felt like I was back at trucking school however, that is the way TMC operates, and probably for good reason.

Your pay at orientation is 300 per week, it goes to 350 per when with a trainer, then once assigned your own truck it will be 650 per week minimum for 4 weeks, of course you can make more. I elected to get paid percentage so I will start at 23 percent of the weekly gross to the truck. After the first month, Tmc will look at your performance, snapshot if you will and your pay could be raised accordingly. Like one poster commented, there are several factors that could raise your percentage.

My trainer claims to be at 31 percent. I have no reason to dis-believe him, he also has stated he grossed 74k last year and on track to gross 70k this year. He runs hard, delivers on time, and is moving to the next shipper to load. After running with him for the last 4 weeks, I believe it. I will be testing out after week 5 for those that asked. ''I guess that means I'm doing ok,,, :) No really, I am an ex driver and I expect more from myself than TMC has asked for, so I am my biggest critique.

Now, there are more guys on here that know a lot more about TMC than I, i.e, Flat-bed Fred, so there is lots of info regarding TMC here. I enjoy flat-bedding and I expect to gross atleast 50k my first year, hopefully more. I have elected ''linehaul'' although my trainer and I have been out more than 2 weeks since I have been running with him. TMC has stated to me that they can guarantee me home 46 weekends out of 52. If I could, I would be home more,,, Well, lets just say I have more of a life than trucking, I guess we all do for the most part,,,, :) I.e, like boating and fishing, if you know what i mean.. Oops, back to Tmc. Hope this answeres some questions. ..and thanks Flat-bed Fred, you answered lots of mine !
Joe

Re: Line vs Long
 

If you are Line Haul you certainly have the option to do a Long Haul run over the weekend. You will still have Line Haul runs during the week. One problem is when you take that Long Haul run on Friday it will mess you up on your Line Haul runs that coming week, you do have to get back after all. If you are Long Haul, you will spend more time driving, you will have more drop and hook and you will have less tarping, you still may have to tarp every load, but because you do fewer, but longer runs it works out to be less.

First of all, I just went through what you're going through . . . trying to decide between two companies. So while not a driver, I can try to give you some advice from that perspective.

Stop "going crazy trying to decide."

The decision will be easy once you have the right facts. If you can't decide right now, it's because you don't yet have the right facts.

What are the "right facts?"

Well, they're different for everybody. They depend on your personal criteria.

You're actually in pretty good shape if you're trying to choose between two. Be glad. :D

Make a list of what's important to you and your family. Try to prioritize it. Keep going back to that list because it will change over time. It should. Let it change. It will change as you think more about driving and "see" different things.

Also, try to change where you think about driving and where you and your family discuss it. If that's normally in the living room, for example, try going for a walk in the park and talk about it there. Or go walk through a Wal Mart and talk about it. Changing location also helps you "see."

Try building a data base of information about the two companies. Start with your questions about medical care. Call up the recruiters and ask them plenty of questions. Do the same for Pay, Education, Rider Policy, Home Time, etc , etc . . . whatever is important.

PM posters here . . . I PMd over 20 people while researching companies and trying to pick one.

Forget about trying to "decide" right now . . . just focus on learning the most you can about what you want and what those companies will offer.

Believe me, if you do that, the right choice (for you) will pop up and will be obvious once it does. Whatever you do, avoid adding extra pressure by "going crazy trying to decide." Relax. It will happen. You'll make the right choice when the time is right.

Well, I have just over two years of driving experience and have been driving for Crete for about seven and a half months making their minimum pay per mile. Now, I only averaged around 10,200 miles a month for my first six months, which is just above the minimum miles per month Crete expects their drivers to run and have done about the same if not less the last month and a half due to being home for the holidays and such. I don't kill myself working in other words, but could run more miles if I wanted to. Now, from mid May to September first I was only making .38 cpm then with the raise went to .41 cpm. I have grossed $30,000 since hiring on with Crete. I fully expect to gross between $55,000 and $60,000 for 2007. The amount of drop and hook I do here is just plain silly and I've yet to fingerprint a load. Hell, I can count the number of comchecks I've had to write lumpers on one hand! Needless to say, I'm very pleased with Crete. Hope that helps and good luck. :)

Does any TMC employees know what your medical coverage terms are? Is it just a small co-pay at a in-network doctors office?

I may be wrong with this but I think with Crete's medical insurance I must pay the deductible first then 20% co-pay(mine would be $1500.00 deductible per year then 20% co-pay ) I would also need to pay $245.00 a month for this insurance. I would be paying a total of $4440.00($245.00 x 12 months=$2940.00+$1500.00 deductible =$4440.00) a year.

As I remember (it has been 6 weeks since I looked at it) It is $25 per week for an individual with a $500 per person annual deductible. $25 x 52 weeks = $1300 + $500 = $1800 out of pocket for the year. There is also a small co-pay. It seems like I am missing something :? Perhaps one of the other TMC guys who went through orientation more recently have more details.

I couldn't tell you as I am on my wife's Federal plan, so TMC takes O out of my check as I have declined the coverage. I thought my trainer told me his portion was 75 dollars per week for Family coverage. He didn't mention nor did I ask about co-pays. I do know that health coverage is extremely important and I have been fortunate that I have been covered while working for the Fed and now my wife's plan. I would think that the co=pay would be competitve with other plans but don't know :?:

If you still want to talk Rohel, PM me your questions. I will try and answer them. I now have been with Roehl a full year as of yesterday. Made the first year of hell !!!

Soladad

Hi Soladad, What does a new driver make in there 1st year. Thanks for your help

I drive for Crete and having a fair amount of experience with flatbeds I gotta say I don't see an advantage going that way when you can make just as much or more pulling a dry van. Who needs the headaches of tarping hen the wind is blowing hard and the temp is hovering near zero? Been there done that and it ain't worth it. Also going straight into flatbeds right out of school isn't the wisest choice IMHO. A rookie has enough to worry about without having to concern themselves with load securement et. al.

www.roehl.net website has everything you want to know pay and benefits. been with them 17 months (flatbed) no complaints big on safety good equipt. good home time