When was the last time any of you were at Griffin Pipe? I was talking to another driver the other day and we were descussing Council Bluffs and the Strike!!!! He was telling me that GP was talking about re-orging the company and might be looking at closing one of the sites at either Lynchburg of Florence... Just rumer though

 

All I can say is feel lucky to be on Glenda Miller's board. I have been on her board for the last 1 1/2 years. Love her, she will really take care of you. If you like to run hard then she will run you. I went out 2 weeks ago made it all the way out to Idaho and Oregan and delivered in Houston just to get a load down to Laredo and I am now sitting here until Monday at the Flying hook cant pick up the rest of the load until then.

 

Both of those places are old rat holes that just can't be efficient to operate. At Florence the yard boys, when they are pissed at management, will go so slow that it takes hours to load. Lynchburg is way faster. I will have no sympathy for the Florence guys. Typical "bite the hand that feeds you" union BS.

 

Your right it is a rat hole... I had to get a load out of there to go to CB about three weeks ago. So disorganized... long load times... you name it

 

I appreciate the thoughts guys. I didn't realize you were still here Cableman. I agree about the Florence NJ operation of Griffin pipe. A big pain to load at, and the operating costs in Jersey must be high.

 

We received a number of calls last week in regards to this bankruptcy thing. Not sure where this rumor got started but it's one of the best I've heard in awhile. I can assure you that TMC isn't going anywhere nor are we filing bankruptcy. I drop in from time to time to read, but I've never posted...until now. Just wanted to give some reassurance to any of you driving for us right now. Truth be told I'm more optomistic then I've been in some time. I know I'm just a guy behind a keyboard but you'll have your proof soon enough when next week turns out to be like any other. Take care and be safe!

 

It probably started with the competition. As a former Intelligence Officer I know the value of misinformation. As I said earlier, I did a check with the Iowa Federal District Court for Bankruptcy filed by either Annett Holdings, Inc. and TMC and nothing is listed for Jan. '04 to the current date. Anyone can check this out on a daily basis to see what has been filed. Let's put this rumor to rest.

 

While I'm in a blabbing mood I may as well lay one other rumor to rest that I've seen several posts on in regards to Tim Annett. Make no mistake, Tim is still very much the number 2 man in the company. I think where these rumors started from is due to Harrold jumping back in to the day to day to activities and Tim focusing more heavily on the customer service end. If you know the inner workings around here you'll also know that Harrold put a lot of committment into getting his youngest son, Michael, into racing. Recently Michael signed with Bill Davis racing and is on his way to making a name to himself. With that goal realized, Harrold has gone back to doing what he does best which is giving 110% to the company he created. If you guys have any other questions I can help you with I'll do my best to oblige but keep in mind that I'm limited to how much detail or personal info I can dish out and it could be a day or two before I may check back.

Thanks for all your hard work!

 

Thanks for posting.

I heard the original rumor from a TMC driver a few weeks ago. As TMC drivers hang out there in the great void, knowing what is going on in the company would be a good thing. With the recent nasty economic news, disseminating information (good and bad) to the drivers would be a morale booster. The only way that I ever knew what was going on was from other drivers...either at the Baymont or on the road; usually that information is a bunch of hokey rumor-cr@p.

I spent half my time telling my trainees and other TMC drivers, "Hang on, be patient, don't quit, the economy sucks and the freight rates are down." I truly think that the driver's attitudes and subsequent driver retention rates would improve if the company shared some of reasons why grosses were down. Many drivers were making assumptions that TMC was skimming money off the grosses and screwing the drivers. I knew that it wasn't true; shippers had (have) us by the balls.

Post here often sir (or madam) and keep squashing those rumors.

 

Id disagree with skimming money off aspect. I was told by my FM, that some load rates have dropped due to an increase in the way fuel price is calculated, which does indeed mean that a portion of fuel is coming from the rate, besides any fuel surcharge. I have pictures, which Im proud to share showing a preplan and an actual load screen hours apart, and a $20 difference in load rate. With the difference being my bounce was figured into the load screen, and not into the preplan equation.

Why can I take a coil from Point A to Point B with TMC for 580.XX and from another company for 737.50? same places on both ends, and had a friend take the same load last week, showing the exact same $$ still, 580 and change.

So if you would please explain the difference in a preplan and an actual dispatched load screen, because my FM could not. I will be glad to forward my pictures with load weights and amounts(which were correct on both screens, with my actual load)

Von, you said it best though, TMC drivers living in the big VOID, know nothing, ask nothing, believe that the company will look out for you, or I mean them. Sitting countless hours in the shop because TMC would never tell you how much work they had planned, nor would the shop. Oh and Hearing the T/A service advisor tell the tech that TMC said to search the truck for an inverter before replacing the cracked,leaking battery. Priceless. BTW, I didnt have one.