Texas Dedicated
 

[quote="nobotox I am considering moving to Midland-odessa and signing up for the tex dedicated. How long a waiting list they got for that??[/quote]

I don't know how long the list is. We just added 3 drivers this week. We run mostly Houston to Midland/Odessa and back and most of our drivers live in that path or close to the sheetrock plants in Sweetwater. If you are interested in joining us my best advise is to stop into Joplin and introduce yourself to Dave Price. He's our coordinator. Dave, Dale and Rick are in the middle of the dispatch floor. I will say this...it's not easy dealing with pipe loads out of Houston and the looonnnnng wait times. I was at a shipper yesterday for 9.5 hours and had to be 500 miles away by the next morning. :shock:

Re: Texas Dedicated
 

And of course TMC rescheduled your delivery time,because you went on break,right?

Re: Texas Dedicated
 

Not. I got my 10hr break at the shipper and then I got to Midland this am and now I am getting a real 10 break at the TA in Sweetwater. Atleast it looks legal.

3 Weeks
 

Well I got a whole 3 weeks under my belt, been running around like a chicken w/ my head cut off :lol: Went to New York for the first time ever hahahahahah :D . If a dedicated driver didnt pass me on the side of the road while I was looking for directions into the LaFarge plant I would probably still be there. What a place to send a Newbie. :lol: My ditchpaster (sic) said "gotta break you in some time", it was all good any how. :D Speaking of Dedicated Accounts is there some kind of list anybody might have that people could look at and see whats available, I know alot of NC drivers are dedicated to the Griffin Pipe out of Lynchburg VA. Might consider it after some time goes by getting experience as a line hauler.

Yall (thats NC talk for "you all") drive safe, I tell ya its a 4 wheeler conspiracy, a 4 wheeler conpiracy :wink:

Re: 3 Weeks
 

Welcome to the northeast. Yes, the way in and out of Buchanan is quite exciting. I hope that you went down through Tarrytown to head home; that way you can pretty much tackle anything short of NYC.

Well, I'm stuck here in Tulsa. I had a run from LA, CA area to Tulsa, even taking my time I'm more than a day early. At least I will get to sit at the Flying J and get my 34 hours reset, what joy.

I had a delivery in Huntington Park, CA. I was there during rush hour traffic, it wasn't so bad. I was coming down 395 to CA 14 and because time was so short , I had 30 minutes to play with, I was going to stop at the first truck stop I came to. I never did find one, so I kept going I arrived at the consignee with minutes to spare.

I had a tentative pick up in Rancho Cucamonga so I headed for the Ontario, East TA truck stop, before I drove 2 miles I was offered another run, Norwalk, CA to Tulsa, OK run. I was less than 5 miles from the pick up address so I drove over there to check it out, I thought I would still have to go to Ontario to spend the night. When I got there everything was shut down, it was about 2000 hrs. by that time. They had docks, so I bumped one and spent the night.

I wish I could have spent more time there. Years ago I was stationed at Camp Pendelton, El Toro and the Helicopter Station in Tustin. I spent alot of time in the area, mostly just south of there. I lived in Santa Ana and Fountain Valley. I spent a lot of time at the beaches.

Re: 3 Weeks
 

Yup went through Tarrytown and Sleepyhollow (thats where the dedicated driver found me).
Never seen so many 9 A's in all my driving career. :shock:


Gotta ask a ?. If a driver can, at the most do 5 drops a week, (which I think is very hard to do and drive safely at the same time if there 5/600 mile runs (not considering logs being creative, but just the fact of falling asleep at the wheel), I only can see a driver making at the most $650 unless he gets up to 26/28/30 %. So, if you only drop 4 times a week at lets say 28% thats only still going to be $750/800 a week. Where is my math wrong or what am I not seeing? Why would I want to run like crazy and do 5 drops a week and possibly fall a sleep at the wheel driving with creative logs? To me it seems like I would be able to find a local job which might pay the same as 23% and be home every night. I guess what saying is I dont think a driver is going to be able to run legal and make $.
Can a driver run legal and make $850/1000 like I have heard?

Re: 3 Weeks
 

I'm Long Haul, so it isn't exactly the same. I have longer runs that pay more, but I have less runs. Without doing any math, just my impression, I would think it equals out. Shorter, but more runs, vs. longer, higher paying runs, but fewer runs. I jumped up to 29% my first snapshot. I missed 30% by three points. I had -5 points for not turning in my paperwork fast enough, so it was my own fault. I am grossing over $1,000.00 per week. My highest so far was over $1,500.00. Some weeks are a little high others a little low, it averages over $1,000.00. I am a brand new driver, I have little more time in my truck than you. I am living proof that these claims are possible.

"The majority were fresh out of school drivers, easy to pick out in a crowd with their deer in the head light stare. Out of the 75, 25 of us were experienced 50 were no experience. "

I was in this same class. I didn't have a "deer in the head light stare."

"I instantly had flash backs of MCRD San Diego."

Here's your problem, you went to MCRD, San Diego, Not Paris Island, SC! :D Is it true that they issue sunglasses to the Hollywood Marines? :D All we were issued were sand fleas.

"I have been in my truck for 7 weeks now. I have put close to 20k on it. My YTD gross for loads is $5071. That is a little over $700 a week gross. "

I grossed over $819.00 per week in my first month, even with my "deer in the head light stare."

Your experiences are not my experiences, I am extremely happy with TMC and can recommend them to anyone without reservations. Is it a perfect company, no. But the good far outweighs the bad. I have found the claimes by TMC and those on flatbed fred's website, so far, to be true. I really don't expect my opinion to change as time goes on.

Re: 3 Weeks
 

Wait until you get your first snapshot to see where they bump you up to. After that keep track of your loads and pay and paid miles. If you compare percentage and mileage and find that one pays better than the other then you can switch twice a year. Alot of percentage pay depends on you and how you work.

I personally can not get percentage because Texas Dedicated doesn't offer it, but I have been keeping track of what loads pay because I want to buy my own. Most times short runs pay better per mile than longer runs but you make more on longe runs because of more miles and less time to load/unload. Each area of the country is going to pay different and have different kinds of runs. Ie...Texas has alot of short runs that pay $2/mile but they are 2-300 miles. The desert SW has a lot of low paying loads like copper at 96cpm. Florida has very few loads and they don't pay worth a darn. The general rule is the worse the weather the better the pay. So do you run the NE for percentage or the sunshine states for mileage? That's your choice.

Ps. I make $1000 a week and not always legally. My truck grossed $15,200 for march and $10,400 so far this month.

Re: 3 Weeks
 

First of all, 23% will be short lived. Most new TMC drivers get to at least 27%, if not higher, the first snapshot. Doing 5/600 mile runs per week is next to impossible. Your FM should be taking it easy on you. Long hard runs are not always where the money is either. Learning the plan and the ropes is VERY difficult the in first months. There were times that I was almost in tears during the first three months. You will find that the things that are squandering your time now, will come automatically in a short while. Things that take you an hour or more will soon take you a few minutes.
I don't know what your trainer showed you. It's more about a good system than just driving and loading. I beat the system aspect into my trainees. They may not always like the method I use but my trainee retention rate is 100%. Hang in there and see what happens in a few months. Three weeks is not a long time.

JQ

Howdy Terry,sure enjoyed the company the other night up at DM and thanks for all your advice,I managed to survive oreintation and am home for the week waiting on my trainer,just hope I get a really good one as this is like most things I've gotten into in my life the more I learn the more I find out I need to learn.If you happen to be comming thru central Mo. give me a holler ,I've not got much going on this week just some piddling chores on the farm and such.
Cadet if you get a chance give me a call and let me know how things are going,and how you made it in the big metropolis of Rolla.
Jim

Jim,

I don't know where I'll be going after Tulsa, I'm certainly in your area. Maybe they'll send me to TAMKO in Joplin. I'm glad to hear you made it through orientation. Too bad I'm not a trainer. Your six weeks will go by quickly. Try to drive every opportunity, some people are being released early if they have their 10,000 miles completed.

You should give ANY company at LEAST 6 months. With TMC most guys can't even BEGIN to realize their potential until then. It takes time to "learn to earn". You need to get to know what shippers, loads and areas pay well and which ones don't. Load securement gets much easier and faster too. Three weeks is NOTHING. Be patient.

Fred,

I was wondering if you have ever heard any response from Des Moines to my questions. The only official respons was from the recruiter TMC that refered to the tarp pay.

On a side note, I had absolutely no problem getting another job. Funny thing is I am paid a lower % hauling the exact same freight I did at TMC, but I am making more money. Just reinforces what I was saying about TMC taking money off of the top.

I have no issue against any TMC driver that I come across at these shippers. It is funny though the difference in how the customers treat me now compared to when I was at TMC. They would never say it to your face, but trust me TMC is not thought of highly at your customers. TMC as a company is no different then SWIFT, they rely on a revolving door of recruiting new drivers with no experience to fill the trucks. Actually that is not fair to Swift drivers, they have a better safety record then TMC. If any dispute this it can be easily confirmed based on safestat scores. But TMC along with Swift and all of the mega carriers continue to drive rates down by undercutting. In the end all it does is hurt the industry as a hole. If none of you can see this fact, then you are just as much of the problem as the people on the top.

Buzz,

who are you pulling for now?

Quote of the Day:

Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

Does anyone know where if there is a tmc terminal close to chicago? Or what would be closer besides the iowa terminal if any?

Toss up between TMC and Roehl
 

Hey there everyone, I am new here so I wanted to start out by thanking everyone for all the great post on here, there is alot of great info on here. Here is my problem, I have it down to 2 choices, TMC and Roehl. I live in the South East, (Go Ga. Bulldogs! :) ) and I am looking to run OTR flatbed. Any advise or help on picking one of these two companies would be greatly appriciated. Thanks again and be safe.

hey cuff, i used to work for roehl, and as far as I know from the time I was there, theyre a really good company for people starting out. They keep there word, big on safety, decent equipment and a variety of fleets. I trained on the flatbed even though I was supposed to be van but from what the trainer taught, I could tell there serious about load securement. In my opinion u cant go wrong. As far as tmc is concerned, im currently looking into them myself. Hoping the application process goes smooth and fast.

Not sure. Why is a terminal in Chicago important to you?

Thanks for the info JR, if you don't mind me asking, why did you leave Roehl? Also, goodluck with the app process hope it goes fast and easy for ya.

Just talked with my FM. We have a terminal in Champaign, IL.

cuff, the only reason I left was because I was experiecing some difficulties on the home front and needed to be there more often. Otherwise I had absolutely no problem with them. There terminal in ellenwood Ga was in the process of some updates and construction last september, not sure if its complete yet though. The terminal in WI is huge and the one in indiana,gary has its own backroad/training course for new recruits to brush up there skills on.

Vonseggern, i live in chicago and just had concerns on the commute to the tmc terminal when it comes to getting off on friday nights. Thats all. Thanks for the terminal location. I couldnt find the terminal listing on the website.

Your hometime is not dependent on being close to a terminal. If you have a place to park your truck near your house then you should be great!

Really? I was under the impression that once u were done with your last load for friday, they route u back to the terminal, drop your truck off for the weekend, hop in your car and drive home.

By the way von, during the 9weeks of training at tmc, when do you get to go home? or once you show up for orientation and get assigned your first trainer, youre in it for the looooooooooonnnnnnnggg haul?

Not in OTR jrdriver, truck goes with you. If your a local that would be different. The only car driving you might do is if you can't park at home and have to park in a secured lot a few miles away from home.

Nope you can park in your own driveway if the truck fits.

It's actually 8 weeks of training. Training is tough. 2 weeks str8 in orientation. Then home to meet trainer for Sunday or Monday. The training hometime depends on how close you are to the trainer. You should be quite OK in IL. I am the only trainer in New England and the poor ba**ards that don't have me have to travel many miles to get to a trainer. Being a trainee wasn't my favorite time for sure.

Good luck.

I'm going to start my orientation with TMC this coming Monday. I didn't know about the truck parking thing until a couple days ago. I live in Fredericksburg, VA and they don't let you park a tractor-trailer around where I live. I might be able to park it at my truck driving school that's about 15 minutes away but I'm not sure. I tried looking it up on the internet and I couldn't find anybody that way. Any suggestions?

WO HOO!! My trainer called again today and said we leave his house saturday evening for Ontario Canada! I'm tickled to death,I've been stuck on this farm all my life and made up my mind when I got it payed for I was going to get the heck off of it and see some of this world before they stick me in it. Looks like it's finally gonna' happen!I asked if I needed a passport,he said I don't know but that he didn't have one either and hadn't ever been out of the country in his years with TMC???? Hope this doesn't fall through I'm really pumped. Jim

Hey Von, how soon can a rookie get on a dedicated account that gets you home every day and off weekends because i was going through the archives and found out that flatbed fred got into a dedicated some time around october/november 06 perhaps??? But he started in April of 06...I was thinking that thats pretty quick to go local. Does tmc even offer dedicated in chicago?

TMC usually requires 6 months experience with them before they'll consider you for dedicated.

Sup fred, thanks for clarifying that. I was looking in the archives and noticed you were saying you were dedicated in oct/nov even though you started in april. So whats up with dedicated in chicago or vicinity as of right now?

Segafan, have you gone over and talked to the manager at Wal-Mart in Central Park?? I know they have signs that read No Semi Parking but if you ask, they may allow you to park around back. Or go down to the one off of Rt. 3 South in Stafford, the Ferry Farm Wal-Mart and ask. I'll keep an eye out for anymore possible spots for ya on my daily runs around the metropolis of Fredericksburg. :D

New Travel Requirements for U.S. Citizens

Under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI)

The proposed implementation timeline has two phases:

* Beginning January 23, 2007, ALL persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda will be required to present a valid passport, Air NEXUS card, or U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document, or an Alien Registration Card, Form I-551, if applicable.
* As early as January 1, 2008, ALL persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda by land or sea (including ferries), may be required to present a valid passport or other documents as determined by the Department of Homeland Security. While recent legislative changes permit a later deadline, the Departments of State and Homeland Security are working to meet all requirements as soon as possible. Ample advance notice will be provided to enable the public to obtain passports or passport cards for land/sea entries.

No idea on Chicago. You will need to contact TMC direct on that one

I'm jumping the gun here considering I haven't been to orientation but does TMC have dedicated routes in VA? I keep craning my head around looking for TMC on 95 but I haven't seen too many. There are a bunch of truck stops between Richmond and Fredericksburg that I will visit tomorrow when I go to pick up my Motor Carrier Atlast so maybe I'll see one down that way. I guess I want to go "regional" but after reading all the posts on this thread it seems like it might be less stressful and more profitable to go long haul because you aren't always struggling to find some way to get home and make money. When I add in paying for truck parking somewhere near my house it makes even more sense. Any thoughts?

Sega, they run out on 29 all the time usually out of Lynchburg where they had a dedicated gig about 6 months ago. Seems they have a gig pulling the "black gold" steel pipes because that's all I see them hauling on 29 except for the occassional lumber load. I see alot of TMC trucks on 17 and 3. Dunno know if they still run that way but they were running down towards Montross to get loads. Run with a number of them on 95 everyday. No worries on if TMC is in the area or not, trust me they are there, they just do a good job of blending in. Go sit at the new Target being built up on 17. You will see at least 10 go by before lunchtime either on 95 or 17 or even dropping in to get a truck wash at the Blue "Streakin" Beacon.

What exactly can you have in a truck with TMC? I'd like to bring a set of dumbbells with me on the road and my guitar. Do they have a fridge in the truck or do you hook up one of those cigarette lighter coolers? I don't want to eat a bunch of fast food junk all the time. The recruiter that came by the school said there was no microwaves but I think she said something about a fridge.

I hope I can pass my road test at the orientation because its been about a month now since I passed my CDL test and I haven't been in a truck since. I know I'm going to grind some gears until I get used to how the truck downshifts and get the general feel but I'm confident I can handle it all if given a little " " not sure the right word. I picked up the backing manuevers pretty good in the yard we just didn't get to practice anything besides curve and straight backing because that's all we needed to get the CDL. I did a little bit of parallel parking and I got that down almost right away. Its interesting how you can still have that "sixth sense" of where the truck is just like a car. This was a fairly short trailer though. I'm getting a little nervous. :o

Dumbells, guitar, 12 volt fridge yes. Microwave not sure, definately not a 110 as they don't allow inverters.

If TMC wanted perfect drivers they wouldn't hire newbies like us. Show a great attitude, do your best, and you should do fine. You can't be the village idiot of driving but just be proactive.