Being at a company's terminal has no effect on much of anything, IMO. Your terminal is your house. As long as you are in a decent area for freight, life is good.

SnakIze hit it on the head about training and schools.

Mileage pay is only for long tenure long haul guys. I haven't had a % load that would have paid me less than $0.45 in a long time.

I took part in the new Train the Trainer class this last weekend. TMC has purchased the Schnieder terminal in Ankiney (sp) IA that will strictly be used for training. 28 acres of space to get improved yard work backing practice. Sounds good to me.

I didn't have a trainee for three weeks last month. In that three weeks I had to tarp 14 out of 15 loads. In the 3 weeks with Steve, I have had 2 tarp loads. Go figger.

They seem to be running out of space in DSM. Growth is good.

Good luck.

I just got off the phone with TMC they said they start out at .30 that is far lower than I expected, I can go to millis and make .34 pulling a Van

Plus you don't have to climb all over dirty trailers and throw tarps in the rain, snow, wind, cold, heat, etc. Millis is a good company and I would work van over flatbed for the same money or even a little less.

You are looking at just the mileage pay formula, for linehaul drivers percentage pay is by far the best way to go. Gross on load varies greatly, but based on my pay the last two months, my average if figured by mile would be .39 cpm. A new driver(newb out of school) in 6 weeks (typical time to first snap-shot) in his own truck can be easily at 29 -30 % and with work can actually hit 30 and 31%, although those numbers take dedication to the TMC way of doing things and taking care of business.

TMC does not do orientation for newbies in SC anymore, only at DM.

Good luck on your decision.

who pays for the truck wash ?

Does TMC have accounts at some of the truck washes ?

I have been seeing quite a few just on I-5.

HeYa West Coaster , How ya Been ? I see you pop on boards ever once in a while too . . I see your thinking of getting back to driving again . .
I took a short break from driving and causally looking for local after driving for Sherman Bro's ( I like long Vacations as long as I can afford them 8) :wink: ). . but seems I needed more time OTR for the local hauling companies in Oregon . . I decided last night to reply to Fred . . just to get online today to receive a undeliverable mail . . had to do a lot of reading just to see when he left , which has been a while ago ( I see still on the boards by another name) . . and at the same time I found out Matt has left too :shock: I was keeping contact with Matt Via PM's or email every so often on the hiring status, if I had ever decided to leave Sherman Bro's . . I should read the boards more often :?
Oh well guess I'll just start with a new contact tomorrow

TMC pays for the truck washes, once a week, unless your truck gets really dirty, such as mine is right now from sitting in dusty dirt lots. We have dedicated truck washes around the country, they would be in the fuel stop list.

from TMC website
so is that 2 days a driver gets off, is that just the 34hours? or is it actually 48 hours I know on another page it reads , Drivers average 48 hours at home on weekends . . but when I see a comment with the word 'Average' in it, I feel that looks like a pretty picture, and there is something that is being hidden behind it. (not sure that sounded as I meant it to sound like

When I started driving I found out that weekends in the trucking world meant just 34 hours off . . I like my time off, I work to live. :wink: So I like my whole weekend off, not just half and one night in my bed, 2 nights yes

I am also guessing that the 2 days off after 14 on, may not actually be on the weekend ??

Many weeks I get home on Friday and leave Monday, often it is 3 nights in my bed. There are weeks that I have to leave Sunday or don't get home until Saturday. Those are rare.

Home time is dependent on freight and your location. If your have a lot of freight going to your area, you will usually leave on Monday or late Sunday. If you have a lot of freight coming from your area you may get home real early Friday but have to leave Sunday. If you get a sweet and long weekend...enjoy it. If it is short, get over it. They average out.

Good luck.

Where did you hear that? I was redoing a Train the Trainer class in DSM and all the SC people were part of the presentation.