My TMC Transport Orientation And Training

10/4/2013 Today was load securement day 1. We took the shuttle to the training center at 6AM. We started with some classroom time and safety videos. We saw a driver get run over by a forklift and die. I was not prepared for that. Also saw a lot of graphic pictures of various injuries that could have been prevented. It was uncomfortable to see, but it was something that I'm glad they showed us. We all need to be careful out there. Then we actually went to the trailers that had sample loads on them and learned the DOT regulations and the TMC standards for securing the various types of freight. TMC standards are more stringent than DOT. The instructor showed us how to make a sling and get the straps over a tall load easily. We hurl it to the top (nylon end first, never steel end first) and when it hits the top it shoots across and hangs off the other end. It was cool. Another good day in the books, two more days of load securement this weekend then Monday-Thursday next week is all driving. From what I understand it will be range time half the day and road time the other half, getting used to the trucks we will be driving.

Load securement sounds like a blast.

Are there any knuckleheads in your training class, or were they all pretty much weeded out before you all got there?

Steve, these are some great posts! Thanks for keeping us informed, there will be many who appreciate you taking the time to do such a nice job like this. It's full of good information and people like to know what they are getting into.

Thanks again, and Congratulations!

Load securement sounds like a blast.

Are there any knuckleheads in your training class, or were they all pretty much weeded out before you all got there?

Pretty much all of the knuckleheads were weeded out right away. There was the one guy who didn't want to cut his hair and voluntarily went home, one guy who couldn't climb onto the trailer and was forced to go home (the company paid his way home though), and one guy who failed the drug test (had to pay his own way home). You are right about load securement being a blast. Besides that though everyone here seems great, I know TMC is picky about appearance and keeping the trucks clean inside and out so I think that reputation helps keep some of the riffraff out.

Steve, these are some great posts! Thanks for keeping us informed, there will be many who appreciate you taking the time to do such a nice job like this. It's full of good information and people like to know what they are getting into.

Thanks again, and Congratulations!

Thanks! I'm glad some people are able to find this useful. It is also helpful for me in learning, going over everything I did each day to kind of solidify it in my mind.

10/5/2013 Load Securement day 2 Today we had some classroom time going over some of the final procedures and we saw a lot of pictures and got the stories with them. Many of the stories ended with "and then we bought this driver a bus ticket home." He wasn't trying to scare us, but he was showing us that if a load or truck is damaged because of negligence we will be sent home, but if we are just honest when we need help or are unsure they'll give us all the help we need and there are lots of people we can call at any time for that. After lunch we actually went into a large garage full of trailers and tried it out. Today we secured shotgun coil, skidded coil, single shotgun coiled rod, and suicide coiled rod. Tomorrow we are going to do suicide coil, sheet steel, greasy bars, and dry bars. We will also get to spend some time folding tarps. I really enjoyed working with my hands and getting the straps and chains down tight, looking forward to tomorrow.

10/6/2013 Today was another good day. We got some time to secure suicide coil, sheet steel, greasy bars, and dry bars. Then we all took turns folding and rolling tarps. I messed up the steel tarp at first (rolled it too hard to one side so it had a cone sticking out) but a trainer showed me that I could just finish up, bungee it down, then lift it and slam it against the ground on the cone side. It popped right in and looked as good as any. I found the lumber tarp was actually easier to roll straight because I had more to work with. Then we got a tarping demo where thew instructor tarped a 40,000 pound coil. It looked good, I should be able to post a picture in a few minutes. After that we had lunch and then took a computer test on load securement. I aced it! Then he took us back to the hotel, tomorrow we take the 6am shuttle and actually start driving these things. It is my understanding that half the day we spend in the yard and half on the road.

Here is that load. I didn't look at the picture until now, and my cell phone has a very low quality camera. You get an idea though, we learned some good techniques.

I love these posts!

Hey, that picture actually turned out great and your updates are indeed awesome! Sounds like things are going great so far!

Hey, that picture actually turned out great and your updates are indeed awesome! Sounds like things are going great so far!

thanks so far so good. Two days in one for entries here.

10/7/2013 and 10/8/2013

Finally started actually driving the big black and chrome peterbilts on the road Monday. The class was divided in half, half of which went on the road with instructors, and the other half did yard backing. we switched after lunch. The purpose of the road and yard instruction isn't to test us, but to make us better at driving before we are out there for real. The big differences between these trucks and the ones at driving school are the shifting (13 speeds) and the turning (we dump the air in the rear axle to get a smaller turning radius). The air dumping is really cool, and we use it for certain backing maneuvers as well. During the on the road time it is mostly one student per instructor, but one of the four days you will have two students per instructor. The trucks we take out on the road actually have concrete walls loaded on to them so we get used to the feeling of a heavy truck. Monday we just drove on country roads to practice shifting the 13 speeds and turning without much traffic. My instructor had my shift up to 7HI and then down through every gear to 2, and then back up to 7HI over and over. I logged 56 miles Monday mostly just shifting. On Tuesday we went through some residential and industrial areas to practice some tighter turning maneuvers. The on the road instruction is great. Unfortunately, my first complaint about TMC whatsoever, is the yard instruction. The instructors show you a backing maneuver and then say "go ahead and practice each one and switch spots when you finish the one" and then kind of just disappear until it is time for lunch. It is good practice, but there isn't really instruction.

Tomorrow we get to meet with the training coordinators and figure out who our trainers will be and where they will meet us. TMC actually pays for most of us to go home for the weekend in rental cars and meet our trainers somewhere near home on Sunday night. I guess I'll find out soon if that is the case for me, but I will be perfectly happy meeting with my trainer here in Des Moines too.

Don't let that methodology for backing bother you. Backing is one of those things that, for some people, all the instruction in the world doesn't help at all. You've got to experience it for yourself, and the repetition of it is what begins to help it register in your mind as to how the trailer responds to the movements of the tractor. It eventually becomes a natural sort of eye/hand coordination type of exercise, but it's different each time you do it because of all the variables involved.