When I was with them you could if you wonted to. I did sometime when I was on the yard overnight, but it is part of a pm they do. I think it was every 6 weeks or so but not sure. They do wont you to stop and get a wash every week. When I was with them when you went to the yard they made sure you had the inside very clean as well.

too many msgs to quote on my blackberry...

it was 25 in my truck because my idle time is horrendous, I can survive down to about 15 with a heated blanket, actually its not bad as long as I stay under the covers.

minimum wage, no, $2800 to the truck in a little over 3 days, haven't hauled anything for under $2 a mile this week. too early to tell if freight is rebounding, but the last couple weeks haven't been bad.

they do not require us to polish our chrome, weather permitting I choose to do so because I take pride in having a nice looking truck. I suppose someone will take issue with that statement too.

some people will take issue with anything, hey look that guy has a nice truck, NO WAY would I ever work for a company that didn't pay me to keep it looking nice! people with this attitude typically don't make it here. personally I like getting my truck washed once or twice a week, if driving a dirty truck is your thing then more power to you. if I drove for anyone else I would probably try to keep their truck clean too.

You are correct....if you drove for anyone else you would have a clean truck also....clean people are clean no matter where they are or who they drive for. It's called self pride...well done.

Does high idle time really effect your paycheck that much? If so, how much on an average week?

No way would I be sitting with the truck off and 25 degrees inside the cab. Ask them to open their windows all day and keep the heat off to save on their electric bill in the office, bet it doesn't happen.

I don't mind having a clean truck or keeping it clean. Hey, if they(TMC) is paying for a weekly wash, why not use it? How hard is it to keep the inside clean? Not that hard, some paper towels and Windex and your set. Use a small little hand held broom to sweep the floor if need be. Takes me a whopping 5 minutes. I'd rather have a clean and shiny truck than a ratty looking one when I pass by DOT.

carterbeauford Did TMC ever start putting the APU's on? They talked about it before I left.

I supppose 25 may be a bit lower than my tolerance as well. But for last year I achieved idle time of 6% for the dead of winter. I only idled when I needed to, and I slept better with a cold truck than a running truck.

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I don't think that TMC has decided on any specific idle reduction technology. They have tested some APU's and not been impressed. They are currently testing a thermal storage type technology.

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The only chrome I have polished by hand is the chrome inside the cab, like door handles and trim rings around the guages. I let the truck wash take care of the outside of the truck.

I do not disagree with anything you said there. Everyone likes a nice clean appearing truck, I was just wondering if the drivers personally had to polish up their assigned rigs just out curiosity. Don't take it personally. Take an easy out there, and keep your hand out of your britches and your truck between the ditches.:moon: 

lol I was in a bad mood earlier, so used to people bashing TMC that I didn't realize your question was innocent.

6%! Rawlco, how about I head back to MA and we trade trucks for a few weeks... you can work your magic on my 35%. are you in a daycab now or what?

its about 8 degrees so I have to idle tonight. idle time is a small factor in determining our rate of pay, they use a matrix with more variables than I can begin to explain.

Freight is slow. Carterbeauford you must not be anywhere near Virginia. Last week was great, this week sucks. And yet, our company continues to pump out newbies, probably 10 to 12 drivers every week. Are we losing drivers as fast and we are hiring. Maybe they know something we don't.