but TMC will ALWAYS go out of the way to make a new guy feel like the company is working for him, meanwhile senior folks sit without a trailer or have to give up their truck to a new driver so they can be fat, dumb and happy. when i quit yesterday, i got 5 calls until 10 pm and 2 calls today asking me to come back. all stating that this was a huge misunderstanding. 7 senior drivers quit yesterday alone. just look at the ext. hoods sitting on bobtail row without drivers. and these are newer trucks not tradins. maybe one day Harold or someone else will stop that revolving door. yes this is a large company and buracracy runs rampant in large entities, however even the government checks itself for balance and when things are going wrong people are looking for the answers to the questions. not getting answers before you know the question and trying to fix a problem after ties have been severed. as far as im concerned, "too little too late" ought to be on the back of those sleepers instead of "destination excellence". but i did make a lot of money with TMC and enjoyed running, my FM was great, but above him they all sucked in operations all the way up to aimee. i would still be there if 2 people didnt have their heads so far up the @ss's and more worried about kissing harolds butt for putting them in management positions.

 

Mudflap,

Sorry to hear that you resigned at TMC. I am just curious where your headed. After making good money at TMC I am curious what other companies your considering that will offer the money TMC does? BOL

Longsnowsm

 

Fred, I sent you a "PM"....check it out when you get a chance and get back to me. I included my email addy. THANKS

 

If you look at many of the failed companies in the past, they didn't change or adapts to change. Companies such as Bethlehem Steel ands Emerson are gone now or at least much smaller than they once were. They didn't adapt, innovate, and change. Their management, employees, and practices were all at fault. Companies like GE and Motorola have adapted and continue to thrive. TMC is another company that is in a growth mode that they may not understand even within the company. They have adapted with technology and equipment modernization as they should. In this competive market for drivers and frieght, they may or may not be missing the boat. One thing they must focus on, and have in the past, is driver retention. Schlepping in 100 new drivers a week, hoping that 25 of them will be there in a year is not the way to go. Veteran drivers, that are doing a good job, must be retained and nurtured also.

As a fellow TMC driver told me, "TMC is turning into the Swift of flatbedding." I don't know that I agree with his assessment. My trainees are mostly good guys that want to make a go of the business. They have to be good boys and girls in my truck because I run a tight ship of efficiency and "by the book" securement. I also want them to succeed financially. If they don't want to play by von's rules they won't be in the truck long. As TMC is as desperate for trainers as they are for trainees, not everyone will do it like I do.

The big flaw in TMC's recruitment process, as I see it is with the trainers themselves. If you have a pulse and six months under your belt, you are a trainer by simply going to a one day class and given a book and a T-Shirt. You get what you pay for. The untrained being trained by the sort-of-experienced, who will once train the the untrained, who will train the untrained, etc, etc. I wonder how many good recruits were lost because their trainer was miserable and demeaning, or, how many recruits were not trained properly because their trainers were not trained well themselves. I had the luxury of being an educator in vocational training and having a trainer that held himself to high standards.

As to TMC's management, large organizations are not perfect. TMC has it's flaws but on every level, TMC soars over most trucking companies in every aspect. That, however, just isn't good enough; most other companies just plain suck. TMC to continue growing needs to go from being a really good medium size trucking company to a really great large company. Like every other organization, the Peter Principle takes effect. The Peter Principle states that "In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence." Within TMC's senior management there must be a few people that shouldn't be there. They maintain their positions by licking the shoes of the king. Both Mssrs. Annett must see this, if indeed true, to ensure that the company grows and succeeds. They then must act accordingly.

Mudflap, sorry you aren't happy and had to leave. I hope that the company sees how important it is to retain good veteran drivers.

 

Something i have found interesting in my travels, with swift with jb schneider you name it there are happy veteran drivers. I think the main thing is to find a fit for you within the company that you are with. Do not give up untell you have that fit. If you have exhausted all the options then its time to move on.

You all know how i feel about tmc so I wont go back into that but for now i have a good fit. I damn near quit to find it but i did find one. Lets face it if your unhappy with a job either change it or move on, cause nothing in life is worth being miserable over.

 

im going to passmore next week. i considered melton and maverick but melton was pushing the flease/purchase and passmore called back pretty quick and offered good pay per mile. plus i ran with a lot of passmore drivers who where happy,stayed busy and had some insight into the company.

Thanks

 

I sent a letter to Mr. Annett along with a statement from safety, who was working on this issue with me before i left. Im sure that the man doesnt understand how much competition the left hand and right hand are in for his graciousness and money. but perhaps he will ask a few questions. the day i left, his office was open but he was not in so i didnt get to speak to him personnaly. but i do agree with your statement.

 

Let us know how it goes over at Passmore. I am looking very hard at them and right now they are at the top of my list.

just need to find out the "real' story so to speak by talking with some of their drivers.

p.s. since you were with TMC and soon to be with Passmore, what is really the best pay......percentage or cpm???

 

10-4. there is a passmore thread on here. not much info on it but some are passmore drivers. but i will update the info.
i had percentage at TMC and did really well. never figured up the CPM but very rarely had 2800+ mile weeks, so i figure that cpm would have been less than % for me.

 

It's unfortunate for you but it's exactly what I was saying a long time ago. TMC is a good training company but they just don't know how to keep their senior drivers. Hopefully your statements will open some other eyes on here. Everyone thought I was just a discruntled ex-employee with an axe to grind. But your statement mirrored mine nearly word for word. I see Fred is still waving the TMC flag proudly....Only because he has only been there 7 months or so. Once he gets a couple years in he will also be here saying what you and I said. I know how he feels. Hell I thought TMC was the best thing since sliced bread too. But as you move up the totem pole and your % increases you are actually moving closer to the exit door.