hello everyone, i'm currently in school at NTTS in syracuse, ny. just a week into the program but am very interested in tmc as a place for employment. i really don't have the time to read 166 pages of posts....can you guys give me some high and low points of the company?? it would be very appreciated.

 

Ken Gollnick - out of Cour'd lane.

 

Hey all,

Made it home this weekend, as promised. Although it is still raining here and almost did not get to the house. The road going to my house had high water, and the wife could not get to me for almost 3 hours. It finally went down enough for her to get thru.

2nd week was not as good as the 1st, but still not bad. The truck grossed $3812. Took a load out of NJ to Miami, FL. And everybody knows there is no good paying frieght out of there. Also, I think somebody messed up and had me on linehaul this week. None of my runs were over 600 miles this week. Although there was a method I guess, the load I picked up Thursday was into San Antonio, then I picked up a load yesterday from CMC going to Laredo for Monday. Will more than likely get a Deere load out of there going somewhere. Ray was in Laredo yesterday and said the yard was full of Deere loads. One paid over $3000 going to NY state.

The truck is still running great, averaging 6.4 mpg on paper/6.72 mpg according to the dash readout. Lost some of my idle time Thursday night parked on the side of the road in Lufkin (had to leave the running lights on so people could see that black rig on the side). According to my calculations, OOR for the run from Dodson, LA to San Antonio, TX should be 0.5%. I love running in my backyard, ran some roads that others avoid for some crazy reason. Texas has some of the best secondary roads in the country. The company routing would have had me at over 7%.

The pay information on the Qualcomm for this pay period showed me with just under enough points for 30%. Sure hope I can keep that up and get at least 30% on my first snap-shot.

Will update the blog later in the day. Will monitor throughout the day, enjoying time with my little one.

Louis

 

Good morning TT,

Good luck with your schooling!

As far as large companies go, TMC is above average as far as I am concerned in the high points. And the majority of it can be looked at in the individuals attitude at what high and low is.

TMC is for the most part very structured, not quite but almost military like. They have policies they expect (sometimes demand) to be adhered to. We have the best equipment on the road!! The 379's are a dream to drive and 90% of the trailers are less than 2 years old. The maintenance program is top notch, and if something needs fixed, typically it will get taken care of at the next full service. Unless it is critical, then they will get you into a facility and have it fixed immediately.

Most of the newer trucks have built in Siruis satellite radio, and for the ones that don't, you can have one, but must use approved mounting of the antenna, and only suction cups on the window for XM or Siruis. All trucks are equipped with Cobra Nightwatch Radios, and we are not allowed to switch them. Power Inverters of anykind are not allowed. They are testing onboard APU's at this time and could start installing them by winter (at least that is what I have heard). We are required to wash the trucks/trailers once a week (this adds points to certification also).

A new driver, fresh out of school, that applies themselves, can be at the same percentages as an experienced driver at the first snap-shot (certification). You would (if I remember the structure correctly) start at 23%, and could actually jump to 28-30% easily. Although, it is just as easy to drop back if you slack off and do not take care of business.

I would say that out of 3000 +/- drivers, over 95% are on percentage pay. Some loads pay more, some pay less, but in the overall scheme of things comparing mileage vs. percentage - averaging percentage always pays more.

You being fresh out of school, will spend 2 weeks in Des Moines for orientation and load securement training, and lots of backing and maneuvering practice. Then you will spend 6 weeks with a trainer OTR. With any luck, you will get a trainer that lives in your area, and should (not always) get home each weekend while training. That really helps relieve the stress of training and being stuffed in a truck with another driver for 6 weeks. As with any fleet, we have great trainers, good trainers and those that are not so good. It is up to the trainee to critique the trainers, and be honest at that, it is the only way to weed out the bad ones. If I remember correctly, the first 3-4 weeks, the truck can only be run as a solo, then at the trainers descretion, weeks 4 - 6 can be run as team.

Linehaul is basically regional - although where you are at in NY state, check with the recruiters to make sure you are eligible. We do have some dedicated oppurtunies up there, but you would have to qualify after 6 months - 1 year. Linehaul is all 48 and some Canada. Linehaul is typically expected to make 5 loads a week, as most are less than 500 miles. Longhaul load count can very from 1 to 5, just depends on mileage of each load. This last week I made 4 deliveries, the previous week 3.

Once you are in your own truck, good communication with your fleet manager is a must. As with trainers, we have great fleet managers and not-so-great fleet managers. This stands true with any large fleet out there! There is no perfect fleet! Most of our fleet managers have recently been required to go through HOS training, so they now have a better idea of what we can and cannot do legally. IF you find yourself with a fleet manager that for whatever reason is not working for you, you can request a FM and/or Team change.

If you are willing to apply yourself and follow procedure and protocols, you can and will make a good living with TMC. IF you have any specific questions, feel free to e-mail me privately or request them on the group.

Good luck,

Horseman (Louis)

 

HEY, where is the ALCOA you guys pick up from in Grand Rapids, MI and what freight do you haul out of there? Thanks !

 

Well I broke down this weekend while at home and purchased a air card for my laptop. Really got irratated with TA and Flying J last week trying to get online.

Absolutely needed to get on Wednesday with my bank, and fought with TA trying to get past a security protocol issue, that is still not fixed.

Anyhow, tested it here last night, and the speed is not much below that of my wireless here at the house. Will be heavily testing it the next couple of weeks along my travels. Sprint has a 30 day return policy, so if it does not meet my expectations I can take it back and stop the service without penalties.

Despite some billing issues with Sprint (PCS) the last couple of weeks, I decided to keep my air card with them to simplyfy billing. Will keep all up-to-date on this.

 

Is anyone from the list going to be in Laredo tommorow? Delivering around the corner from the yard in the AM.

 

I deliver in Austin in the AM. Who knows where I will go after that. Laredo is better than Houston.

 

Well, I will have to give you a call in the morning, maybe we will cross paths somewhere. Pretty sure I will get a JD load out of Laredo going somewhere.

 

I'm delivering in Austin, I will probably go to ALCOA, but who knows.