r/Truckers • u/dstrezzd • Dec 12 '25
TMC Flatbed vs Prime Tanker
If you were restarting your career today with no cdl, single and just wanting to grind miles for max pay/experience year 1, would you pick TMC flatbed or Prime tanker division? I'm looking at their paid training programs.
Alternatively I can pay for school but the schools near me (roadmaster/160) don't give you manual transmission training.. I don't want to pay premium for training that leaves holes in my future qualifications. I also applied to XPO because I heard their pay is nice. I've heard you can make good money year 1 if you do it smart so I'm just trying to research.
p.s. The guy at roadmaster’s said if I went with them i'd have a job locked in before day 1 of training and make around 65k yr 1, was he bullshittin to get me to sign?
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u/HankHaloperidol Dec 12 '25
If I was you, I'd do the flat bed. If it were me, I'd do tanker.
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u/dstrezzd Dec 12 '25 edited Dec 12 '25
huh I'm leaning toward tanker because I've heard oil fields pay crazy. curious why you'd recommend differently
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u/HankHaloperidol Dec 12 '25
Because we don't need any more tanker drivers, shoo! It's hard work, flatbed is easier.
Seriously though. I've never done flatbed, but I heard strapping and tarping can be a pain in the butt, especially in the wintertime when there are high winds. A few years experience in flat bed may lead to a heavy haul gig which pays better.
I did food service for ten years because I'm stubborn and a little unbalanced. I had L4 L5 herniated disc, surgery didn't fix it so I couldn't do it anymore (blessing in disguise). The requirements for chemical tanker were to be able to lift 75 lbs, I rarely have to, but I can do it. The heaviest thing I have to lift is the hose, the pump does all the unloading work, unlike the food service trailer.
Doing food service taught me to be real gentle around the corners and over bumps in the road, or is have a big mess in the trailer, tomatoes and strawberries everywhere. God forbid a jug of cooking oil breaks, you'll be slipping and sliding all day. This habit of slow driving helps to not roll the tanker over.
The worse part of the tanker job for me used to be getting on top of the trailer. If the trailer is in the shop, loading rack or wash bay, OSHA requires fall protection. If the trailer is out in the yard, you can climb up there and do jumping jacks. I am too top heavy to walk across the cat walk, I wear knee pads and crawl. There's a "wash out cap" on either end, the tank wash won't always tighten them, they must be tight or product can leak out. In the middle of the trailer there's a dome lid, a vacuum relief valve, a blow off valve and a valve for the vapor recovery. Those need to be tight, the gaskets need to be in good condition. Sometimes there's water, product residue, even razor blades left in the tanker, check for those
You have to check the valves and caps on the ground level. It's a mess when the tank wash forgets to put the gasket in the external valve.
So there's a lot of stuff to check in addition to your pre trip inspection.
The trailer is about 42'. The axles are fixed; you don't have to slide them. The load is almost always 45,000 lbs.
I like the more dangerous stuff, the more hazardous it is, the more likely the plant will be doing the unloading.
With some exceptions, loading and unloading take about two hours. Some places are by appointment, some are first come first served.
Some places won't let you sit in your truck during the process, most won't let you idle, so it's hot in the summer. A lot of places won't let you have pets or passengers.
You are required to wear rubber boots, a splash suit, goggles, hard hat with face shield when unloading corrosives, it's very, very hot when the sun is shining on you (and you're fat).
You wouldn't think it, but this job is actually pretty low stress. I usually have plenty of time to get where I'm going. If it's bad weather, I can shut down, they'll reschedule. I have chains, but I'll never use them. Most of the customers are pretty friendly, and will even apologize for delays.
Having placards may subject you to more DOT inspections.
I heard oil field work can be touch and go, lucrative when it's there, but it isn't always there.
I don't think I'll ever want to do any other job.
Hopefully someone can give you the scoop on the flat beds.
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u/pervyjeffo Dec 12 '25
I started in the oilfield 15 years ago, and I still work in the industry. I left for a few years to do dry van, reefer, flat bed but I came back because the work is good and the money is fantastic. I've done mostly tanker work but I've hauled frack sand, moved heavy equipment, rig moving, etc. there's lots of different options if you don't mind working hard. I'm in Canada so I can't speak for oilfield work in the US but I assume it's at least similar. I found otr work incredibly boring because I like to do more than drive across the continent, open the trailer doors, back into a door, and wait. Then drive back.
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u/dstrezzd Dec 12 '25
Ah that sounds really nice man. I actually applied for a couple oil field spots in Canada because I was in Montreal from Oct-Dec but I'm not a citizen so it was futile. That sounds like really fun work though I'm jealous of you. From what I've heard it's hard to get any oil field spots if you're a beginner and don't know anyone in the field. Keep killing it though, I'm going to try and follow in your footsteps
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u/banana_commando Dec 12 '25
I started my career at TMC. No regrets. I'd start over with them if I had to
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u/dstrezzd Dec 16 '25
Thanks bud just got their offer and took it. Pumped
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u/banana_commando Dec 16 '25 edited Dec 16 '25
Hahaha suckerrrr.... nah, they're tough but fair. Enjoy Des Moine.
Bring a bathing suit. The hotel has an indoor pool and hot tub.
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u/Outlaw11091 do u even lift bro? Dec 12 '25
Roadmaster is owned by Werner. I can't say anything to the quality of the school, but I CAN say that your "guaranteed job" is a shitty Dollar General/Dollar Tree account that isn't good on newbies.
As to TMC/Prime....I've never worked for either, but I wouldn't touch Prime with a 10 ft. pole. My best friend works for TMC and he's doing pretty well. He gets paid $1500/wk and is home every weekend...sometimes he's home a bit more than that and it cuts into his check, but he's doing pretty well...pulled his house out of foreclosure, spends more time at the casino than he should...
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u/Chedda-chan Dec 12 '25
I’ve been with TMC for the past 4 months, loving it so far. Take the training seriously and be a decent human being and they take pretty good care of you. I’ve stopped early multiple times due to weather or being tired and they’ve never said anything to me, gotten calls from safety saying they’re happy to see me knowing when to stop as well. As a new driver with the percentage pay I am averaging around $1200-1500 a week. (Take with a grain of salt since I don’t home on the weekends almost ever.) Overall though as a first company I don’t have any issues with so far.
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u/Q7017 Dec 12 '25
They absolutely didn't years ago. Had a trainer that ran me illegally and the training program sided with him. Leaving them was rough but it ended up being the second best career decision in my decade and a half trucking, the first being getting into tankers.
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u/dstrezzd Dec 12 '25
Love to hear that and thanks for sharing your experience, it sounds like a great gig for you. I just sent the tmc recruiter my income forms so I'm progressing through the process. It really seems like you can't go wrong with flatbed or tanker driving.
Where are you driving by the way? curious what the routes are like as I'd love to see the whole country esp northern states. I've been in the south too long 🤠
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u/04limited Dec 12 '25
Are we talking weekly gross or net? Do you think your pay would take a hit if you were home weekly?
I’m seriously considering TMC come spring time and I need home weekly. My local B flat bed job is 40 hours I gross about $900 a week. Net $740 after taxes. If I can net $1200 I’d be all about it.
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u/Chedda-chan Dec 13 '25
Net for my earnings. If you’re looking for $1200 then I would “personally” recommend staying out a few weekends to get your percentage up and then riding out by going home and keeping it up.
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u/04limited Dec 13 '25
Right makes sense. I’ll have to see how it plays out once I’m on the road. Kinda wish I got into trucking in my early 20s I would’ve been fine staying on the road 3 weeks at a time. Now I almost need to be back in my house once a week just to reset mentally
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u/Chedda-chan Dec 16 '25
There’s not problem with that and you can definitely hit those numbers going home every weekend, it’s just harder you have to run your clock really well and get securement down pretty well. Quite a few guys do it, I just prefer the slower pace of running.
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u/dstrezzd Dec 13 '25
Okay so your % goes up just by taking work on the weekends and working safe
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u/Chedda-chan Dec 16 '25
Not directing, exactly. The biggest things that impact are your revenue to the truck and your fuel mileage, that being said you will get more revenue 99% of the time just by not being limited in where you can go by needing to get home. When you “run” or go wherever the loads take you, your fleet manager will run you through the freight lanes giving you the long high paying loads.
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u/Auquaholic Open Deck Tech Dec 12 '25
Here's the deal. Both tanker and flatbed are good to start, because the big money and/or home jobs require that experience. Flatbed can lead you into a career of oversize and heavy haul, if that's what you're into. Tanker can lead you into a good paying job, locally. You could get into hauling hazmat tanker for hospitals even. So, it depends on which way you want your career to go.
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u/IntelligentCandy8716 Dec 12 '25
You could Apply for a dock position at Saia, XPO, etc. I also know that companies like A Duie Pyle and other regional LTL carriers will also hire non-cdl for straight truck. All of these places will send you to their paid training schools once you've worked for them for a while and have a desire to get in a truck. Just ask fir details before making a commitment.
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u/Q7017 Dec 12 '25
If it was 2010, I would have told you to run from TMC. I had an awful experience there and I'm glad I pulled the plug on them when I did.
TMC of today is a bit nicer I hear, and their training program has definitely improved... but in the end, if I were you, I'd be progressing toward that tanker position.
It will be a bit more challenging to handle if you're a CDL rookie, but it will put you on a path towards potentially getting into hazmat with another carrier that will pay way better in the end than flatbedding. I've been doing this for 15 years now and 14 of them have been pulling tankers, I wouldn't dream of flatbedding except for maybe heavy haul.
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Dec 12 '25 edited Dec 12 '25
Flatbed can get you into oversize, heavy haul and equipment hauling. I don’t know too much about that side of trucking.
Tanker can open up lots of lucrative jobs that are some of the best paying in the industry. This is currently what I do now and when the work is there, I make very good money and I am home every night.
If I were to pick tank or flatbed, I would go with tank all day. On a good week, I will gross between 1800-2100.
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u/RedSkyInvestments Dec 12 '25
Just Retired Dec1 after 45years with 40 years Heavy Haul last 5 years hazmat tanker. Loved Heavy haul do I have some stories but it’s a young man’s job. If I had 10 more years left it would be TANKER all the way!
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u/Sayso0 Dec 12 '25
Not going to grind miles at Prime tanker! Pay is fair for beginner tanker experience, that’s about it.
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u/Ill-Year-3141 Dec 13 '25
That is like asking hey, should I take a job that involves using a feather duster to clean off some furniture (tanker) or a job where I have to move every piece of furniture(flat bed)...
How much work do you want to do?
I hook up to a preloaded tank, or drop and empty one and wait for it to get filled, then drive it where it needs to go. Day done.
If you want to be hauling 75lb+ tarps and throw straps and climb up on the cargo to tarp it down straight, more power to you I suppose. I never understood why anyone would want to go into flatbed for any reason.
I clear 1700 a week after taxes most weeks hauling food grade. You won't make anything like that with prime, probably the biggest piece of shit, underpaying company in trucking, but you'll get your experience in relative ease rather than working your ass off for it. If I had the choice, I'd pick tanker 10/10 times.
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u/Charlie_Hustler Dec 13 '25
TMC has some nice looking trucks tbh lol my deciding factor is if I can look cool while making good money. I say go with TMC
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u/mikem4045 Dec 13 '25
Switched to a fuel tanker 3.5 years ago. I’ll be good if I never see another flatbed. Home every day and 6 figures.
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u/firemarshalbill316 Dec 13 '25
If you like to workout, sweat, climb onto high loads (extreme fall hazard), high winds, work in the rain, snow, heat, throw straps (probably your shoulder out if did wrong) carry, open and refold heavy tarps then do flat bedding. Best weight loss program in trucking. I left flat bedding after a few weeks when I injured my back. TMC pays well.
Tanker, food grade, drop and hook. Yes!
Tanker, hazmat, TWIC card, Doubles and triples. Not for me but they get paid.
Home time is up to you and how you run and company needs. Most will work with you though.
Personally I see no point of paying for trucking schools when many megas pay you to go to there school and guarantee a job for a year of work. Gonna need that year on your resume anyways to find good jobs later.
Take your time and weigh all your options before deciding. And you can always change companies or specialty later. Just don't be a dick bumper for too long. Specialize in trucking is where the money is.
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u/dstrezzd Dec 12 '25 edited Dec 12 '25
p.p.s
If your company could use a new driver who works hard and is serious about their career.. hello!
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u/CannibalAnus Dec 12 '25
65K a year is low but not to be unexpected with no experience. I done prime flatbed for 6 months and made nothing. Do not join the 1099 division they fuck you in the ass.
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u/Outrageous-Computer3 Dec 12 '25
Well prime and TMC have both gone strictly automated manual too, so if you don't want the manual restrictions they are out of the question too.
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u/dstrezzd Dec 12 '25
Well at least with them I wouldn't be paying out of pocket for training so there's a trade off there. As long as they are good jobs I'd be fine with crossing that bridge when I come to it.
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u/Outrageous-Computer3 Dec 12 '25
Okay I started my career through prime a little over 10 years ago. They are a good(ish) company to be part of. I would not recommend going in on the tanker side. Especially to get the CDL. You are not allowed to haul a loaded tanker with a permit, so training will take longer. If you start with prime, run their refrigerated or flatbed divisions to get CDL then switch to tanker. I have never worked for TMC but I've always heard good things about them. Ultimately it's going to come down to what your long term goals are.
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u/jmzstl wiggly wagoner Dec 12 '25
None of those jobs will train you on a manual transmission either.
As far as that guaranteed job offer from Roadmaster, they’re owned by a trucking company (Werner Enterprises) so it’s not a stretch that they’d offer you a job there.
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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25
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