Flatbed companies
 

Whats the difference between different flatbed companies. Any drivers here for these companies.
Give me some opinions.


1. Melton
2. Maverick
3. TMC
4. Boyd Brothers

Or tell me some I didnt list. I live in Southwest GA

IMO, you have the cream of the crop in the flatbed world listed right there, but not necessarily in that order...

There is not a lot of difference in Maverick, TMC or Boyd when it comes to pay and hometime. From the Melton folks that I have talked to, they tend to keep you out a little longer than the others. The other 3 will have you home pretty much every single weekend and they'll give you the opportunity to earn 45-55K per year, including your first year. Boyd and Maverick both pay by the mile and TMC is largely percentage.

I have firsthand knowledge of Maverick and they're a great company, but have done a lot of research into TMC and Boyd and know a few drivers at TMC personally. There are several threads on here discussing the good and bad at TMC and Maverick, but not much info on the other two that I have found.

A very good list to start from. Now make a list of questions that are important to you and call each one and ask them the same things to make a comparison.

Good luck.

appreciate it. Never done flatbedding is it really hard to do. Tarping, weather etc.

"Hard" is gonna be different for everyone. I'm an old farm boy so I don't find the work too tough. Others may have a different opinion. The weather can suck, but for me it's not a big deal.

If you've ever been exposed to much manual labor at all you should be fine.

Doesn't Manuel Labor drive for an outfit from El Paso??

im trying to decide between Melton or Maverick.

Hey NEEDALOCALJOB, look in to Coastal Transport out of Savannah, might be another good option for you with guaranteed weekends home, and a good earning potential, also might look in to Cypress, both companys are close to you and will run through your area and get you home on the weekends, i worked for Coastals sister company Commercial Carrier in early 05 and they were a decent outfit, with good miles, and i was home every weekend. Just a couple others for you to look out for.

No, I think you have him confused with someone else. Manuel Labor drives for Celadon now. As a matter of fact, he's the main driver recruiter for Celadon/Mexico Division.

I would say between those two your 2 biggest questions would be:

1) Do I want a brand new blue KW or a brand new maroon Columbia?

2) Do I want to be home every weekend or every other weekend?

I loaded and unloaded beside several Melton trucks and they seem to be a really good outfit with very nice equipment. Most people I talked to were quite pleased with them. The only downside I found with them was that I could get better hometime and pretty much the same pay with Maverick, TMC or Boyd, but then again not everyone is looking to be home every weekend.

I totally forgot about coastal. Talked to cypress drivers and they were not very happy.

i drive for roehl and they have a terminal in ellanwood, GA just south of Atlanta there a good company to work for and alot of different fleets you can pick from.

well, Im another happy Maverick on here needalocaljob. Redsfan is right about what he says. Every driver for each of those companies has spoken to other drivers that work for the other companies. And most will work together side by side. I have no problem with any of the mentioned companies, just a few individual drivers that represent the mentioned companies. I actually think TMC has a rule that if they see a Maverick, get in front of him at all costs (on the highway not at the mills) :lol: TMC drivers seem to run up fast, get in front of me, then go about the same speed as me. I love TMCs trucks tho. They are always so shiny and clean. Its just a shame they dont let drivers put pictures of their families in the trucks. Honestly I was looking to go to TMC or Maverick when I was first looking and that was honestly a deciding factor in the company I went with. Maverick said they were very family oriented and here was TMC saying drivers werent allowed to even have a picture of their families put on any part of the interior. Once I told my wife that she said, well, I guess theres that decision huh? But, it is a tough decision because they are all quality outfits and you just have to pick the one that has the most qualities that you are looking for. The one thing Id probably throw out the window is the truck. The will all pretty much give you a newer one, and if it matters if its a pete or ken or liner, your in it for the wrong reasons, ie to look good.

Wow, and Elvis is alive and living in Roswell, NM waiting for the aliens to pick him up.

TMC does not have a rule that says to get in front of Maverick trucks.

You can have all the pictures you want IN your truck as long as you don't drill holes in anything. You can't have pets. One TMC driver got busted for having what they thought was his pet Rotweiler; turned out that it was his wife and she was just ugly.

They are fussy about things on the outside of the truck. No bumper stickers, decals, or replacing the TMC plate on the front. However, I have seen, parked in the Des Moines terminal, trucks with "Support Our Troops" ribbons and a guy with a Ranger plate where the TMC plate was supposed to be. I doubt anyone would have the balls to question those displays of patriotism.

I personally have helped out Maverick, TMC, and other company's drivers at times. Maverick is a fine company. TMC is a fine company.

I gotta admit that I never ran into this with TMC either. Sure, there are some guys there that act like that, but I met Maverick drivers that acted the same way that you are describing to other Maverick drivers. I've had TMC drivers help me out on more than one occasion and I returned the favor on several occasions. My experience was that there was a little jabbing here on there from one to the other on different things, but mostly there was a sense of respect between drivers of both companies.

Personally, I've seen more animosity between the two companies on this board than I ever saw out on the road. IMO, both are excellent companies. Don't know about the pictures on the inside, but Maverick is darn near as anal about outside appearance as TMC is. They give you a Maverick sticker in orientation and then tell you that you cannot even put that on your truck. They expect you wash it regularly also and provide you with wash bays at terminals and regular Blue Beacon washes. Nothing wrong with that in my book, they give you more than ample equipment to do the job and it's nice looking as well.

Never experienced a TMC driver hurrying to get in front of me either. Not saying it doesn't happen, just wasn't my experience. Besides, if I didn't want him to, I wouldn't allow it as he was in a 65 mph truck and mine was governed at 70 mph... Truthfully, it was never a race to me. Granted, I didn't loaf around, but I always had plenty of time to complete my run and make good money. If I was held up somewhere it wasn't the guy in front of me's fault it was the shipper or consignee.

That's your experience steve, and that's fine, but that was never my experience. Both seem like very good companies and they give their drivers the opportunity to make a good paycheck. There's plenty of a**holes at Maverick also. TMC's not alone in that department.

I agree with you 100 percent about that. They are both good companies I have no doubt about that. Its just the occasional driver here and there in any company. And it just may be they are having a bad day but are good guys as well. Too many variables in this world to take everything at face value. BOL

I like Falcon, home every weekend and 1 k a week average.
7 months and got an 07 truck.
One motel room a week paid for.