My TMC Transport Orientation And Training

A shout out to Steve to say thank you!

Your posts have been very informative, especially for us newbies who are considering trucking as a life style or making a career change. TMC has been at the top of my list since I first started to compare companies for a variety of reasons and it's good to hear from someone going through the training that they are indeed what I expected and am looking forward to. Haven't started my CDL school yet but have briefly spoken with a recruiter and when I make the jump from what I'm doing now to driving full time TMC I hope will have me.

Good luck and be safe down the road.

Tony

I am going to TMC next week have to do a Full DOT Physical with them even though the one I have now is good for another 15 months !! anybody know if they make you cover one of your eyes with that black plastic piece and read line 5??? my right eye is 20/20 but my left is like 20/40 my eye doctor says, but every time I cover my good eye , I have a lot of trouble reading line 5 with my bad eye !!!! some docs turn there head and tell you to read the 20/20 lines then your all set lol ?????

Hello all and good morning. I just so happened to stumble upon this post and found it interesting. Here is a little bit about me. My name is Kurtis, and I'm 26, got out of active duty Marine Corps in 2014, moved to Texas and became a firefighter/emt where I got my CDL B license. While I was a firefighter, I drove for a company called Martin Marietta Materials driving a concrete truck. Fast forward to now, I moved to Arkansas about a month ago and as of yesterday I got my class a permit in hand. I've been doing alot of research on companies and narrowed it down to three: TMC, ROEHL, and NAVAJO. both ROEHL and NAVAJO, gave me the run around and gave me sales pitches. TMC on the other didn't. My recruiter is Tracey Greene (who is awesome by the way) has answered every question in detail, briefed me on the VA apprenticeship program, benefits, home time, orientation, training etc. She laid it all on the table. I followed up her claims with my own research from both online and other truckers and found it all valid. I was approved for training and I start CDL training next Monday May 1, 2017. I will be posting on here as well as making YouTube videos of my journey as I go. I will tell the YouTube channel name here once I make it. Now my question to y'all is this, how is orientation? I've heard it has a similar atmosphere like being the military, is that true? What do the days general seem like? (Example. 530am wake up call to catch the shuttle at 630am to be there by 7am?) Any and all advice and experiences are welcome! Thank you in advance and safe travels!

Kurtis L asks the 1 million dollar question:

Now my question to y'all is this, how is orientation? I've heard it has a similar atmosphere like being the military, is that true? What do the days general seem like? (Example. 530am wake up call to catch the shuttle at 630am to be there by 7am?) Any and all advice and experiences are welcome! Thank you in advance and safe travels!

Orientation is an extended job interview. No matter what company you go to work for, orientation is a way for them to evaluate a prospective student driver over several days, while you receive instruction, rules, and a flood of information. Bring your "A" game; conduct yourself with professionalism and respect...and beware of the signs warning to: "Keep Off The Grass". It's a test...a test to see if you can follow basic instructions.

A few links you may find beneficial:

Truck Driver's Career Guide

Becoming A Truck Driver: The Raw Truth About Truck Driving

Use the search bar in the upper left hand corner to search on past threads specific to TMC. You can also find an objective review of TMC in this link: Trucking Company Reviews

Good luck!

Exactly like g-town said. Think of it as a two week interview. Don't mess around. Think safety. THINK SAFETY. THINK SAFETY. Don't mess around. Don't be disrespectful to ANYONE. It's nice to make friends but FOCUS on you.

It is similar to a military atmosphere. Always have situational awareness. Both during orientation and out on the road.

My verification. I finished TMC orientation recently.

I was approved for training and I start CDL training next Monday May 1, 2017.

Kurtis, nice to see another member here going to TMC. I will be starting there as well on Monday, May 1st. I'll see you out there. Safe travels to you!

-Bill

They then told us to never back 90 degrees with a loaded trailer because there is a good chance your freight will tip, so I guess the 90 is for deadhead only.

That is quite a bizarre statement for them to make and it's totally not true. I'm not even sure why they would say that. I mean, think about it - that would mean you can't pull forward around a 90 degree bend either. How the heck would you ever get anywhere? And if a load tipped that easily, it would tip in the wind, it would tip on hard braking or steering maneuvers, etc.

You might want to get some clarification on what they were talking about. Maybe they worded it wrong and it came out with the wrong meaning or something. But there isn't anything you can do on flat ground when backing that is going to pose a risk to tipping the load.

Was checking out this old thread while researching TMC and was curious about the comment about not turning a flatbed 90 degrees when it is loaded. Originally, I thought, like Brett, that is didn't make sense but found this video on youtube ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHBBhxyciD4 ) that explains it. Now it makes better sense. When the trailer is turned 90 degrees to the truck, the fifth wheel is able to tilt toward the side of the trailer. That, combined with the fact that a flatbed has some flex that box type trailers don't, can cause a flatbed to shift sideways and tip the trailer. I suspect it's possible with a box trailer as well, but not as likely. In any case, food for thought for all of us when backing or turning in tight spaces while loaded.

Roanpony wrote:

Originally, I thought, like Brett, that is didn't make sense but found this video on youtube ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHBBhxyciD4 ) that explains it. Now it makes better sense. When the trailer is turned 90 degrees to the truck, the fifth wheel is able to tilt toward the side of the trailer. That, combined with the fact that a flatbed has some flex that box type trailers don't, can cause a flatbed to shift sideways and tip the trailer. I suspect it's possible with a box trailer as well, but not as likely. In any case, food for thought for all of us when backing or turning in tight spaces while loaded.

Yes flatbeds flex and 5th wheels pivot. However this fail had everything to-do with inadequate load securement. Either wasn't checked and re tightened in route and/or not enough straps (I counted two).

I have done 90' maneuvers going forward and in reverse hundreds of times with up to 45k in the box, never once did I feel the trailer tipping to one side. Take it slow and there will not be an issue with a van.

As far as a flatbed, same rule of thumb SLOW.

Yeah, I agree with G-town. If trailers tipped easily doing 90 degree maneuvers you would have hundreds of these incidents every single day. In 15 years of driving I must have done 90 degree maneuvers 1,000 times or more and never had the first concern.

In fact, in thinking about it I can remember doing turns like that in parking lots with huge potholes and you can see the trailer pivot on the 5th wheel as the trailer tires go through the potholes. But for it to tip over like it did to that flatbed in that video I think the load must have shifted in a big way, probably big enough that it may have tipped the trailer over going down the highway.

In fact, we did have a member of our forum roll his flatbed with a load of lumber that shifted going around a curve. He was ok, fortunately. But it was the same type of scenario you're seeing in this video. In fact, I would dare guess that the driver in the video was really lucky it happened in a parking lot while he was doing a 90 degree turn instead of out on the highway where he almost certainly would have rolled the truck.

Hey do you still work for TMC

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.

Yeah I understand. Today on the yard they showed us how to "walk" the trailer by jackknifing it then pulling forward without the dump valve and backing up with the dump valve. Then it all clicked for me just how the dump valve actually works, seeing it pivot like that so clearly. I had my lightbulb moment so to say. Thanks for the encouragement Old School.

10/9/2013

Today wasn't much different than the previous days. In the morning we talked to our training coordinators very briefly. They told us where are trainers live, and also explained that we will talk to them once a week during training and report on how many miles we drive, how many times we got to back, what kind of freight we hauled, and whether or not we get enough showers. This is just to make sure we are prepared for our own trucks after training. I was informed my trainer lives about 50 miles from me, so it is very likely I will see home during the five weeks of training.

For the road time today we went to downtown Des Moines to practice tight turns and city driving. It was a lot of fun, and I got the same instructor I had yesterday. He is a fun guy to hang out with and for the most part today he just told me where to go, my road driving is definitely my strong point. At the backing yard we practiced the same maneuvers and also added a 90 degree back to the list. They then told us to never back 90 degrees with a loaded trailer because there is a good chance your freight will tip, so I guess the 90 is for deadhead only.

Tomorrow is the last day of driving then Friday is just paperwork and getting our rental cars to go home and meet our trainers!