Pros
-Good training, especially for someone starting flatbed first time (I personally went through Tennessee Truck Driving school first before being hired on directly with TMC--great way to go if you're trying to get into the industry. -Great truck and equipment. Trucks are well-maintained for company drivers. -Great medical, dental, vision, and misc. insurance package benefits--affordable for a big family. -Had a great fleet manager and operations manager. Heard that isn't always the case everywhere, but if you have any issues, you can always bring them up to TMC. They DO listen if you are doing your job correctly. -Good home time for OTR. They do get you home every weekend. Stay out only when you ask to or when it's time to get the truck serviced at one of their terminals, unless you live close enough to one of the four terminals. Being given the option to earn CPM or a Percentage of the load is great. If you get hurt, TMC will go above and beyond to make sure that you are taken care of and receive as much time as you need to fully recover. Driving one of the best-looking company trucks and trailers in the entire country does give a driver some pride in knowing that they look good going down the road. I would know since I have seen 44 out of our 50 states, and I have not seen a better-looking company truck out there besides privately owned Owner Operators.
Cons
No holiday pay is received unless you take time off using your PTO, or unless you participate in the holiday run, where you stay out for a month and have some days off for a little more than a week around Christmas time and a little into the new year. It is a gamble when doing a trailer swap that you will receive bad tarps or a trailer that was supposed to be flagged for issues and not be used at the shipper. For example, you can do a trailer swap at Georgia Pacific, where the tarps you pick up and the straps are damaged or have multiple holes in them, or the trailer you swapped for has several issues, like an air leak, or lights and mudflaps missing or damaged. When your Fleet Manager is out, you may be handed over to a Fleet Manager who plays favorites and has poor communication with the drivers. Trucks are restricted to 65 mph, which is a hazard being around other drivers from different companies who have to make lane changes to get around you in a TMC truck, which, as all drivers and safety experts know, is a high potential for an accident. I highly recommend that TMC at least increase the fleet's speed of the fleet to 68-70 mph to meet the flow of traffic. If you do not live near a terminal, getting service done to the company trucks and trailers will cause you to lose out on home time, which, as all drivers know, is invaluable. TMC uses the Trimble system for navigation and messaging from TMC to the drivers, which is very unreliable and at least once a month will go down, and you'll spend a good amount of time trying to reboot and update the Trimble if you are not checking for updates and clearing the message folders every day. TMC does not provide the crucial tools/equipment needed to perform the job properly and safely, such as an edge protector pole, strap roller, and gloves. Some office staff need to have more tact when talking to drivers. I cannot count on my fingers and toes how many times I have overheard and witnessed an office staff member talking to the drivers in a negative way, which is not professional, nor is it safe for the driver or the office staff, due to the already over stressed and tired drivers which do not always have the best self control to not hurt themselves or others which I have personally witnessed.