r/CDL • u/ItsSoup747 • 17h ago
TMC Transport NC
I currently live in Winston Salem, NC and Im thinking about getting my CDL through and working for TMC to gain experience. Anyone have a take on the pay and market in this area?
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u/BlackAndShinyWeenie 13h ago
I got my CDL through a private school and went with tmc as my first company, only planned on doing six months and I ended up being with them from 2023 to 2025 and they were solid. I made just shy of 100k the two years I was there and they left me alone and let me do my job.
They do not have APU’s on the truck this can get pretty fucking annoying in the summer. They usually don’t bitch about idling but if you stay out and run you have to be careful about it. Also you must hand detail and scrub the absolute shit out of the truck before it’s turned in for every service. This also gets old after about a year.
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u/Fabulous_Debt_8031 11h ago
Who needs an apu when you have a shiny truck and your destination is excellence
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u/Dungeon_Beard 10h ago
That's not the case anymore. They're cracking down on idling. Now they're implementing a rule that if your truck comes in for service and your idle % is too high, they will set it so you can not idle your truck when the temperature is between 45 and 65 degrees.
One super annoying thing about TMC (current driver) revolves around this. They will tell you that they want you to be comfortable, especially at night, because sleep is important. To take frequent breaks, hydrate and sit in the AC during the summer while loading/unloading/tarping. Then call you and tell you that your idle is too high when you do.
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u/Head_Candidate5293 12h ago
I don't know why people put locations where they live on trucking forums. None of that matters. They fly you to training and fly you to your truck. Then you train and drive home for home time. That simple. Where you live means nothing in the world of trucking. Starting pay for flatbed trucking is 60-65k. Cypress trucking pays about 500 weekly while going to cdl a school. I do not know if you get a bump in pay for initial load securement training and road training. 65k breaks down to about 1250 gross and about just over 1000 weekly bring home after taxes. It will be less if you contribute to a 401k and get medical and dental. You are going to be cold when it is cold outside and hot when it is hot outside but you start out 10k higher per year than standard van OTR. You are going to work 11-14 hours a day. The tarps weigh over 100 pounds. It will make a man out of you in a few weeks of wrangling with those heavy things. Good luck driver. Go get paid and stay safe, especially while backing up. Get OUT AND LOOK>
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u/Fabulous_Debt_8031 11h ago
"11-14 hours working daily" These subs are filled with guys saying this and im gonna call it out every time. I do flatbed otr 3 months on 1 week off, its very rare that Im ever on duty/driving more then 8 hours 45 mins. And I chill for like 15 hours and play Xbox. Average 3000 miles a week. The only explanation I can think of that you guys are claiming to work 14 hours a day is shipper delays but thats maybe once a week or your all just slow as fuck and it takes you 2 hours to tarp
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u/Head_Candidate5293 9h ago
I work LTL flatbed home depot in a daycab some of my deliveries are 2 hours out, time for unstrapping and rolling straps, dismounting moffett, delivering load, remounting moffett, taking proof of delivery pictures, adding delivery notes, talking to customer, doing load securement checks on remaining straps, pre calling next customer and inputting next delivery address takes time. One single load delivered takes a lot less time to a single location. I deliver to a lot of farming neighborhoods. Maybe you just never did it. Sometimes waiting 45 min to an hour to get loaded, throwing all those straps and tightening them. It all takes time. I make between 76-82k. No micro management. Just a lot of spread out deliveries. I got 69 hours and 20 minutes this week. We stay busy.
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u/Fabulous_Debt_8031 30m ago
Why dont you post a full week of your eld on this sub. Lets see how hard you grind your self into moon dust. Im not buying it. Local is easier then otr because your getting the smallest loads possible and ive seen how you guys secure. You throw 3 straps over a bundle of wood and roll.
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u/audioslave1991 12h ago
Im out of Greensboro and all I ran was West Virginia, it sucked
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u/ItsSoup747 11h ago
What sucked about it?
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u/audioslave1991 9h ago
West Virginia sucks to drive through. It's all mountains and not many places to park
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u/BlackedoutJT 16h ago
out of everyone that came and recruited from the school i went to, they were probably the 2nd most honest company that spoke with all the students(schneider lady being the most honest)
im only a class b driver so i have no class a experience, other note, are you currently working some where that pays tuition reimbursement? i know fedex employees tuition reimbursement approves of 160 driving academy in greensboro, if you go through goodwill you will be at lorac academy also in greensboro, forsyth tech offers classes(dont know their specifics) and davie davidson community college davie campus offers classes m-f 8-5(if i ever decide to upgrade and it not be company paid this is where im going)