As I like to say the TMC recruiting and Orientation system is your first series of tests. Patience being the primary thing they are screening for, Persistence being another important quality. Continue to follow up with the recruiter and remember that your attitude towards them is a factor.

The high safety rating does not bother me at all. In one year and 140,000 miles on my own I have been DOT inspected only TWICE. One paperwork and check the lights walk around, and one paperwork only when the rookie DOT officer in KY was convinced that my air conditioners needed placards until he looked up the specific refrigerant code and found it was exempt in the quantities present. :roll:

Regarding Out of Route:

The first rule is don't sweat about what the remarks section of your load screen claims for the OOR of the previous load. The computer in that case does not take into account any adjustments for swaps/splits or going home. IT is almost as misleading as the "snapshot" paper that comes in your check every week that is based only on that week and isn't official. To get a true picture of your out of route you need to keep track of it yourself. Take the loaded and bounce miles and add them together to get the dispatched miles. Find the difference between the dispatched miles and the actual miles (that means subtract) Divide the overage by the dispatched miles and you have your out of route percent. For example if you were dispatched on 1000 miles and you traveled 1100 miles the difference is 100 miles. 100 / 1000 = 0.10 or 10% out of route. Your actual snapshot out of route percent is based on your total dispatched miles for each week plus how many miles more to go home plus any manual adjustments that your fleet manager authorizes you for.

The second rule is to squeeze any adjustments out of my FM that I can, preferrably up to 1% if possible. Now I don't go for anything less than ten miles anymore, it just isn't worth my time, but anytime that I choose to take a longer route I try to explain it away. A week ago friday I had a run from Gypsum CO to Holdredge NE, 15 miles south of the I 80 exit 157 Elm Creek Bosselmans. Now I loaded at the end of my 14 and my route contained a choice. For 390 miles I could take I 70, I 76, I 80 and be all interstate except for the last 15 miles, or I could make the run in 370 miles with 140 miles of US 34 accross Nebraska. I intended to take the shorter route until it took me 4 hours to cover the first 100 miles of my trip getting to Denver in the snow. That left me with 30 minutes to spare if I averaged 60 on the interstate the entire way, so I chose that rather than the shorter and possibly slower US34. Now I may have passed up a decent 4 lane highway with only two stoplights per hundred miles but I couldn't risk it, so I qualcommed my FM with "Out of Route Pro 0000000 20 miles to make on time delivery via I 80"

The last rule in my book is to take a safe comfortable familiar route for up to 2% more miles than the shortest my Delorme software can come up with. For example I had a run a few weeks ago from Hazleton PA to Southern UT. Shortest route took me out I 80, down I 76 in Colorado and accross I 70 to I 15 running in the cold and snow the entire way. For only TWENTY miles more on this 2400 mile trip I dropped down I 71 in OH to I 70 and ran that accross, finding a beautiful sunny 62 degrees in Salina Kansas one day.

So put all this together and I am happier with a 6% out of route snapshot than I would be if I tried to get it down to 4%.

Re: Bill Davis Racing - Michael Annett
 

He did do good but alas, many a good ARCA driver has never made it past ARCA. Frank Kimmel and Bobby Gerhart are good examples, Kimmel ran some Cup races but could not hook up with a top team, mainly because of his age. He should get a shot at the Truck and Busch with BDR this year if he continues to excel in ARCA. Good hook-up with BDR, he wants a 2nd Cup team and with Villenueve having problems finding a sponsor, could see Mikey fill that void. Hopefully his attitude has gotten better and he is a little more personable. The ARCA race at Iowa last year, finished 2nd or 3rd after starting on the pole and acted like a real buthead on TV afterwards.

Re: Bill Davis Racing - Michael Annett
 

He hasn't poled less than 3rd or finished outside the top ten in ARCA. The kid may have a decent future.

I heard about the incident at the ARCA race in Iowa. He is quite young and I am sure he learned from the incident. The only thing I know about the kid was his behavior at drivers appreciation week picnic; he was humble and respectful towards the drivers.

Your info doesn't say where your area is. There are quite a few dedicated jobs depending on where you live.

I'm over in east TX just north of Beaumont. Doesn't much matter now I bought a truck

Thanks a lot for all the great information. It will really help everbody, especially me in the long run. We all know better effeciency leads to better pay. Thanks a lot.

Jeff

So TMC denied me. No reason of course. gold helped me out with some info. It wasnt because of my work history.

Anyone suggest a way to get back on the road without being out for 2 weeks at a time? I am just south of Columbus , Ohio

Im so sorry to hear that Ben. Try not to take it too hard though. Maybe it was for the better, in the long run. Funny, strange things usually happen for a good reason. I wish you the best of luck in finding a secure driving job.

Jeffro

Hey thanks man. And thanks to everyone else here that has helped with information.