It is my goal to chronicle our (hubby-driver and I) experience with TransAm. They are smaller than we thought, at just at 1000 units (think this includes tractors and trailers?) and a little over 1000 drivers.

My husband took a greyhound bus to Kansas City and arrived Sunday evening. TransAm had a taxi waiting for him to take him to Olathe (around 45 min drive) to the hotel he'll be staying in. He had no problems checking in, and was told to be in the lobby the following morning for the shuttle to TransAm.

His first day of orientation included a physical. He said they mostly checked for hernias and such, and took another drug test. The thing that impressed him is that he met the owner, who had one-on-one meetings with all of the people there to discuss what both sides could do for the other. They also went over safety, and he was pleased that they said to not hesitate to pull it over if you didn't feel safe. A lot of other general information on the company was reviewed, they were encouraged to let us (those at home) know phone numbers to the dispatchers, etc that can get ahold of them. My husband said he has found nothing so far to be contrary to what he was told before he got there, and is pleased with the company so far.

FYI: When a company says the have 1000 units, 50 units, or 20,000 units they are referring to trucks, not trailers.

Other than that I am sure a lot of people would be interested in hearing the first hand experiences with Trans AM (or any other company for that matter).

Would that apply to the safersys.org site as well? He was only told a driver number from the company, not units, we're getting that from fmcsa's site.

Yes. It is still power units (trucks)

Ok, thanks, just wasn't sure on that one!
I am hoping people find this interesting and maybe informative.

Day 2 of orientation was paperwork and more paperwork, along with a lot of information, mostly on benefits. Found out he did a road test yesterday (Day 1) and had some issues adjusting to the automatic transmissions (what TA primarily runs). He also was not used to driving with a 53' trailer as the school ran 48's. They had no problem with his minor issues (curb checked once), and assured him he would get better with time.
To our surprise, he will not be back in his hotel room tomorrow night as he is supposed to go straight out with his trainer at around 4 tomorrow. This was a nice change from other companies talking about the gaps in between orientation and being sent out to training. After he finishes training he will be brought back to do several days of testing before he is given his own truck and sent on a run. At that point he may request time off, for 8 days out. He will be gone Thanksgiving, but this was something we knew about, and is not a big deal to us. He was given the option of starting orientation next week or skipping Thanksgiving.
My updates may be sparce from here for a bit, unless he has a super nice trainer with a cell phone or laptop and lets him borrow it. We could not afford to get cell phones before he left, so communication is a little bit unknown at this point.
He will have $100 cash advance available to him on a Comcard once he goes out with his trainer, for his food and personal expenses. This is very helpful for us right now, as our finances are less than stable.
TransAm is 98% no touch freight, and he found out that when a lumper is required the drivers are not "allowed" to do it themselves, the company expects them to hire a lumper, something about safety and they don't want the drivers getting hurt.

Day 3 of orientation was more paperwork, and getting set with a trainer. My husband really likes his trainer! Said he was very respectful. His trainer has a cell phone he's going to allow (actually told him he was required to! LOL) my husband to use to call us every evening, so we don't have to worry about communication!! That is a huge relief for me.

They have a load to pick up and take to Michigan (from Kansas), 600 mi run. They were going to head out yet tonight but changed it to leaving tomorrow morning early, as they are both tired from the day. His trainer has some hometime in Michigan this weekend for a belated Thanksgiving so my husband will be in a hotel for several nights, then back on the road sometime Sunday I believe.

MW,

Glad to hear that your hubby is off to a good start. That is very nice and considerate of his trainer to offer (demand) your hubby use his cell to keep in contact with you.

I hope all continues to go in a positive direction and look forward to reading more about his adventures with TransAm.

I wanted to go ahead and post another update even though I haven't had the chance to talk to my husband very much.
He called late last night (can you call 1:30 am night?) saying they were just starting the day LOL. It will take us some getting used to regarding weird sleeping schedules. My husband drove 6 hours straight yesterday, and was somewhere in Indiana. They are supposed to have dropped off the load at 9 am this morning but weren't sure they were going to make it. After they drop that load he'll be in the hotel, so I should have a more complete update.

It will be interesting to hear what sort of mileage your husband gets with TransAm. Will he be sitting a lot for reefer load/unloads or will it be mostly drop 'n hook? I wish you both good luck!

From their website: "Our first year student drivers earn more than $46,000 per year."......
Well at an average of $0.3175/mi (I took 6 mos @ 0.305; 6mos @ 0.31 PLUS assuming he makes ALL performance bonuses) he would have to drive 144.9K miles per year to equal $46K.

Maybe they should revise that website statement to read: Our first year student drivers CAN earn as MUCH as $46,000 per year.