Do NOT add McE to your list, at least not until they get more customers. They are REALLY slumping right now. They will get you home on the weekends, I worked for them for 8 months and never spent a weekend away from home, but I've been broke every weekend so what's the point?

 

I've worked at Melton for 3 months now and i can say i made more money with them than i ever did with TMC, I get plenty of miles, and yes i do tarp alot but i tarped 5 loads this week but that wasnt anything different at TMC although i did make $200 dollars in tarp pay vs. the 50 bucks TMC would have paid for the 5 loads. We have 1500w inverters built into the trucks, we have XM radios that we dont have to pay for, you dont have to sit for 30 mins on the phone waiting to try and get a hold of somebody and for the most part i have 3 friends that are fixing to leave TMC and also come here and said they are loing so many drivers now because their revenue avg is going down the drain, just ask a TDT driver how he feels about TMC lol he will tell you, its probably fortunate not many of them stayed.

Oh and when i put in to go home, im there when i ask to be, not as late as TMC could possibly get me there, i just bounced 223 miles to the house, and was paid .41 cpm to do that

 

Revenue averages always drop during the winter! Duh! Freight slows down, construction slows, and on and on! Experienced drivers, that know that! My FM had me switch to mileage just before winter set in, and since I ran mostly the South, Southeast and Southwest, I actually had a gain in my average salary. But with my prior experience, my mileage base was .40 cpm and add in the bonus it a was usually.43 cpm.

Many of the TDT drivers left because they did not want to run outside of the Southern states. Others were released because of bad driving records and convictions that did not meet TMC standards and insurance requirements. I ran with a TDT driver out of Florida last Thursday for about 150 miles, and he has never made so much money. Note: He also went with mileage instead of percentage for the winter, and because Florida has such low freight rates to start with.

IF a driver applies himself, pays attention, and learns how to work the system, one can do real well at TMC. I understand Harold Annette is actually back involved with the day-to-day operations, and some of the dipstick planners and FM's have been sent packing!

Another thing, if your FM refuses to work with you - request a new one - that simple!

Hometime - If I was scheduled home on Friday - my FM always had me in San Antonio that morning and pre-planned with a pick-up for that day for Monday, or I went home empty, with a pre-plan for Monday. I was on the Long Haul division though, which makes more, gets better loads for the most part and more experienced FM's. If there was someplace specific I wanted to go to or through, my FM usually made it happen!

But again, prior experience, ability to work the system, and trust between the FM and myself that I would get my loads picked up on time and delivered on time. I never refused a load, no matter how crappy the revenue was, since I knew he was just trying to get me into an area were the loads and rates were higher.

Correct me if I am wrong, but the Melton drivers I have spoken with have to stay out 14 to 20 days before getting 2 days home. Even on TMC Long Haul, you can get home every other weekend if you choose to do so!

 

TMC has a complicated pay scale that rewards drivers with increased pay on a sliding scale based on several performance based factors. You can choose from percentage pay or mileage pay, and of course special divisions have their own pay arrangements, so a blanket statement on the website just doesn't do justice to the system.

For example I can make runs in the Northeast of about 300 miles per day or 1500 miles for the week and on the percentage pay plan earn about $1000 before taxes. I work less for more money than most mileage drivers in my opinion. Of course different areas of the country may vary.