[Mr. Ford95]

Malcolm, here is what I have noticed with truck brands

Freightliners are the poor man's truck though some of them look mighty nice nowadays, not so bland anymore.

Volvo's are for the yuppies.

KW's and the former Mack's are supposedly for the working man, they look tough and are tough. Mack's are no longer true Mack trucks though, think they are under the Volvo flag now.

Pete's are the middle class drivers who are insecure about their image, particulary the 379's. The truck market is flooded with Pete's.

Western Star is somewhere in the middle of all of that.

Think we all can agree that both companies are good one's to work for. Like I said, they are much the same.

[redsfan]

Trucks these days are just like cars, they're all built the same using the same quality of parts. It all comes down to your preference.

The design and the chrome does make a truck flashy, but it does not make it any better truck. I personally, do not like the looks of a Pete 379, but the Pete 387 is one sharp truck. My personal favorite truck on the road are the Kenworth's that Melton and CFI drives. I really like the color of the Melton trucks, it catches my eye. Now, I drive one identical to theirs nearly every day and I hate it.

The thing that impresses me more with TMC, Maverick, Melton, CFI and the likes is that all of their trucks look good regardless of the make. You can tell that they are all fairly new and well maintained and, to me, that says a lot about the company.

Yes Fred is trying to recruit, but that doesn't make him a bad guy or TMC a bad company. If you are willing to put in the work, you can make a good living with either one. I, honestly, fail to see where either of them is much better or worse than the other one. Just my opinion.

[malcolm96merc]

Originally Posted by Mr. Ford95

Malcolm, here is what I have noticed with truck brands

Freightliners are the poor man's truck though some of them look mighty nice nowadays, not so bland anymore.

Volvo's are for the yuppies.

KW's and the former Mack's are supposedly for the working man, they look tough and are tough. Mack's are no longer true Mack trucks though, think they are under the Volvo flag now.

Pete's are the middle class drivers who are insecure about their image, particulary the 379's. The truck market is flooded with Pete's.

Western Star is somewhere in the middle of all of that.

Think we all can agree that both companies are good one's to work for. Like I said, they are much the same.

I feel like your absolutly right, Pete's are just more known because when most folks see them at the truck stop they are all dressed up in chrome with all the bells and whistles. People really don't dress up these newer body styled trucks, that right of passage seems to be reserved for only the classic styled trucks, that's why they draw more attention. That's why i like the Coronado so much. Freightliner took that century class/columbia style, and with a little creativity and placement of chrome the truck shouts out: "Hey look at me, i can do it just like the big boys do it!" but the way u got that stated yes i agree with u totally. :wink:

[malcolm96merc]

Originally Posted by redsfan

Trucks these days are just like cars, they're all built the same using the same quality of parts. It all comes down to your preference.

The design and the chrome does make a truck flashy, but it does not make it any better truck. I personally, do not like the looks of a Pete 379, but the Pete 387 is one sharp truck. My personal favorite truck on the road are the Kenworth's that Melton and CFI drives. I really like the color of the Melton trucks, it catches my eye. Now, I drive one identical to theirs nearly every day and I hate it.

The thing that impresses me more with TMC, Maverick, Melton, CFI and the likes is that all of their trucks look good regardless of the make. You can tell that they are all fairly new and well maintained and, to me, that says a lot about the company.

Yes Fred is trying to recruit, but that doesn't make him a bad guy or TMC a bad company. If you are willing to put in the work, you can make a good living with either one. I, honestly, fail to see where either of them is much better or worse than the other one. Just my opinion.

I feel like that's a big reason people favor TMC over most other companies, all those nice, shiny, black and chrome petes. Hell im not even going to lie when i first started looking around these threads and started seeing how fred talked then saw pics of the 379's i said "where do i sign" :lol:. I would be lying to everyone in here including myself if i didn't say that i wasn't impressed with TMC's equipment, hell i love pete's just as much as any other man does, maybe a lil bit more. But i can't let that be the only determining factor in just choosing TMC or any other company for that matter. I kept on researching and found Maverick lot less flashy trucks, but just as good a company as TMC. Besides i really don't like the 387's as much as the 379's and i wanted to be regional, so that kinda made me feel a little better about not choosing TMC.

[arky]

I can't argue that TMC's black and chrome Pete's and KW's aren't sharp looking trucks. I saw several of them on the road last week and they were sharp. Personally, I just don't want to drive a truck with a big hood. That's a personal preference. I did talk to a TMC recruiter and he told me point blank that I would be assigned a truck and wouldn't have a choice as to what make or model. That's when I ended the conversation. I like the visibility of the Columbia tractors as well as the 387 Pete and the T600 and T800 KW's. I truly hope I am never in a position where I'm forced to choose between driving a 379 and looking for another job as I'll probably choose the latter. If they would have given me a choice for a truck I liked, I would have put them on the short list with Maverick for further research, but i was told different which left maverick as my final decision. I knew I liked Maverick's Columbia tractors and personally I think they're a pretty sharp truck too. In the end, I couldn't care less how sharp the truck is, I just want to make a living working with a good company with a good, safe and well maintained truck.

I have no bone to pick with Fred other than he posted on a couple of Maverick related threads with what I took as being "less than nice" comments directed toward myself and Maverick. I failed to fall over and play dead for his amusement. If fred wants to be friends, we can be. If he doesn't, I'll still be a Maverick driver and proud of it and I'll still be on here whether he likes it or not.

Have fun everyone and be SAFE!!

Arky

[GoldiesPlating]

Originally Posted by malcolm96merc

I'm not saying that i'm lying, I hate even being called a liar (one of my worst pet peeves) and i know exactly what u mean by having those lil skeletons in the closet that may come back to haunt u if you're not careful. I have no dui's or felonies, i'm 5'10" and 142lbs, so i know i'm not overweight for my height. Worst case scenario is how far they go back on the MVR.

You should be FINE then! :wink:

[wonderman]

Fred quit being a crybaby and realize that the people who visit this site dont all fall for your tactics. I work for Maverick and I am proud of that fact, however I am on this site for recreation not profit like you seem to be. New drivers need all the help that they can get when making a decision about their lives and they really dont need people preying on them for a buck.........Wonderman

[GoldiesPlating]

OK, from now on I'll begin all my replies with IN MY OPINION.

IMO I feel BOTH are great companies to work for. I didn't mean to come off as bashing Maverick which I still believe I didn't. As for Arky, the only negative thing I said about you was I disagreed with your avatar. It touched a nerve with me as I knew a nice girl once who got divorced after being a battered wife. She and I grew up together. She tried everything to make ends meet and finally became a stripper. Less than a year into it she became a drug addict and died this spring of an overdose of cocaine, which is VERY prevelant in the topless dancer industry, leaving her 9 year old girl parentless. I didn't think it humerous to refer to single moms as pole dancing strippers. Other than that, I have NO problem with you OR Maverick.
Maverick and TMC were the only two companies left on my list of companies to work for when all was said and done.
Maverick didn't get chosen for several reasons and here they are in order of importance IN MY OPINION:
They don't hire out of NYC for Line Haul
TMC advertised $60,000 first year earnings (which I will exceed this year) while Maverick advertised $52,000 first year earnings.
TMC's LOH (Length of Haul) is usually shorter than Mavericks which means less driving for equal or better pay overall.
And FINALLY, IN MY OPINION, side by side a "decked out" black Peterbilt looks better, TO ME IN MY OPINION, than a plain maroon Freightliner.

Now, as far as my recruiting efforts. I sincerely believe, IN MY OPINION, that I can (and have) helped drivers get more answers to their questions than any regular recruiter can (or will) provide. And that INCLUDES TMC's recruiters. I use over 1400 minutes a month on my cell phone just talking with guys about TMC or trucking in general.
As far as those 700, 800 or 1000 mile loads getting you home on weekends. Please remember it's a LOT easier to do when with your trainer as you are running TWO log books. Try that solo and it will be TOUGH! Do-able? yes. Hard? VERY. I don't know about you but I HATE doing trailer swaps. First there is the drudgery of switching out all of your securement equipment. Personally, I like my OWN securement stuff I've accrued over the months and never swap it with another driver. Second, there's the waiting and logistics involved with meeting another driver at such-and-such location at such-and-such time, to do the swap which can be a pain in the butt. I like having my OWN load that gets picked up AND delivered by me alone. No hassles, no waiting, no having to check the other guy's securement to make sure the load isn't going to kill you, etc...
I guess it's just a difference of opinion and that's cool. Maverick is (as I've said time and again) a FINE company to work for. For ME, TMC was just, and continues to BE, a better choice.
The important thing is we are ALL FLAT BED DRIVERS, and THAT, makes us (YOU and me) a cut above the rest. (IN MY OPINION)

[GoldiesPlating]

Originally Posted by wonderman

Fred quit being a crybaby and realize that the people who visit this site dont all fall for your tactics. I work for Maverick and I am proud of that fact, however I am on this site for recreation not profit like you seem to be. New drivers need all the help that they can get when making a decision about their lives and they really dont need people preying on them for a buck.........Wonderman

What's your problem driver? TACTICS??? PREYING ON THEM??? What tactics are you referring to? Find ONE post or place on my website where I have been dishonest. I've posted pictures and names of people at TMC, my truck number, my loads, my problems and successes,I've even posted .jpg images of my actual checks. How on EARTH could this be seen as "tactics" or "preying"? I answer any and all questions asked of me as honestly and thoroughly as I can and I doubt weather you can find anyone here who has actually SPOKEN to me that will have anything bad to say about me. Don't believe me? CALL ME.
This site is not just for recreation. It's HEADING is "What about This Trucking Company?" Which I assume means new drivers probably come here for real ANSWERS to their questions and not just to "bull$hit". There ARE threads for that, this is NOT one of them. And here we go AGAIN with another driver worrying about MY income and that I am on here for profit. Not the case, have PLENTY of money, own my own businnes, home and three cars. ALL paid in full. No debt whatsoever. Maverick's a great company TOO. Maybe if YOU felt that way in your heart you would spend more time promoting them instead of bashing me. Just MY OPINION.

Besides, aren't YOU the guy who's just USING Maverick for your OWN benefit? NICE employee YOU are.
You said, and I quote,
"I want to eventually work for a certain company in Little Rock arkansas...but I need school/or a year OTR... I have been accepted for school by everyone ive tried and I am going with Maverick ( I already have CDL just need experience) My question... is it ok to call the tanker company I want to end up with and just ask if they will help me with school on exchange for time/contract... I want to work for Miller tanker because they have the same pension I already have 16 years in. I really dont want to start over, if it works 14 more years til retirement if it doesnt who knows..." wonderman

Just curious, did you ever even APPLY to TMC? If not why not?

[arky]

Fred, I appreciate your willingness to be civil and not turn this into a flame fest. I have to agree that TMC and Maverick both have their strong points. I didn't look to either company simply because they were flatbed, I looked at the overall pay scale being quite a bit higher than the van companies I see advertising at .26-.28 cpm for newbies. I also looked at the great reputation of both TMC and Maverick.

I will state for the record that Maverick's training trucks are not operated as teams with two log books. Yes, each driver must keep a log book, but the trainer MUST show himself on line 4 (on duty, not driving) anytime the trainee is driving the truck. The trainer must also be in the jump seat at this time. We ran somewhere around 2600 miles this week and every mile was ran as a solo operation.

I can't say that Maverick doesn't have ANY trainers that try to run the truck as a team truck, but I can tell you that when their caught, their fired as trainers...at least that is what my trainer told me. From what I've seen so far, Maverick is VERY strict with safety and HOS regulations and I am very happy for that. I have no need to work more than 14 hours a day to make a living. If it can't be done in 14 hours, you won't see me hanging around the trucking industry very long. From what I have seen so far, I see no reason that I can't run a legal logbook and still make a good living here at Maverick.

As for swapping trailers, I don't see it as a big deal to swap out securements with the other truck if the swap gets both trucks home for the weekend. I can't see it taking more than 1/2 hr at the most plus whatever time is spent waiting for the other truck. I've not done a trailer swap, but it seems to be a non-issue to me...especially when it means getting home for the weekend. I'm just amazed that there is a company out here that will go to the lengths that Maverick does to get their drivers home. It is definitely not an easy task. They say that their a trucking company monday through wednesday and a travel agency thursday and friday trying to get everyone back home. Maverick truly does commit a good deal of energy and expense to getting drivers home for the weekend. That 98% hometime avg. is no accident and I'm sure the cost associated with it would be a scary number.

I also disagree that shorter loads would EVER be better than longer loads in flatbedding. The only real work you do in flatbedding is securing and tarping the load...and then unsecuring and untarping of course. I would much rather secure and tarp every other day as opposed to every day on shorter runs. As a new driver I do expect to get my share of the 400-600 mile runs once I'm in my own truck. I have not been told this, but I expect that I will have to prove myself to the company before I'll be seeing any of the 800-1000 mile runs that the vets are getting. That's just part of any job.


Arky