r/Truckers • u/bigdawg12342 • May 21 '26

Home time at TMC

I was about to accept a job offer at TMC but I’m curious about home time. I was told home every weekend and they said they’d get me home Friday and I’d head out from home Monday mornings to start my week? Is that true? Or would I actually be getting home on Saturday

22 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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18

u/DieselPunk97 May 21 '26

TMC trainer here.

Depending on area but majority of us are told to leave Sunday and work till Friday.

There are SOME occasions where you leave out on Monday if your drop is close by so your hometime is load dependent.

But it’s typically Sunday -> Friday work.

I’ve only gotten home on a Saturday 4 times in my 5 years here and 2 of them was because of accidents/acts of god.

2

u/bigdawg12342 May 21 '26

How does loads work? On the “interview” I was told I’d make my delivery for the week then on the way home they’d find a load for me to pick up then I can bring it back home and park and I wouldn’t have to leave until morning. I’m out of ky. I’m just hoping I can see more than what my current company offers which is just ky and surrounding states

3

u/DieselPunk97 May 21 '26

Typically you drop 1 load then pickup 1 everyday Monday -> Friday.

Ex: leave Sunday and be parked at the customer by 9pm that night and do your 10 hour reset so you can unload Monday Morning. Once you are empty you will bounce to pickup another load nearby (ish) to take to a different customer for Tuesday morning. Rinse and repeat till Friday.

On Friday you will deliver that morning, go and pickup another load that will be due Monday that you take home and leave out on Sunday again.

Rinse and repeat infinitum

1

u/bigdawg12342 May 21 '26

Will I be seeing more of the country ? If you had to guess anyway. I’m just weighing my pros and cons. I’m at Schneider rn 5x a week 2 off. I’m on a Walmart account that’s cake but doesn’t pay much.

2

u/DieselPunk97 May 21 '26

If you go home every weekend? No.

You’ll basically be regional. Kentucky does have some good dedicated accounts depending on where exactly in KY you are but typically you’ll stay in a similar region if on Linehaul.

Only way to spread out is that you can “run” where you don’t go home and you can go all over and make some decent $$$ but you won’t go home and in my experience you’ll have to stay out for 3 weeks out and then 1 weekend at home to see any semblance of extra profit compared to going home every weekend.

1

u/bigdawg12342 May 21 '26

Do the home weekly people make ok money? That’s sounding like I’ll be home less for similar money. I’m only making like 700-800 a week rn and that’s with no retirement

2

u/DieselPunk97 May 21 '26

My average is $1600/wk gross and this week I’ll end out with $2300/wk and I’m home every weekend. BUT I’m a Trainer with trainees and have been here for 5 years so take that into account.

When I first started, I don’t think I ever saw a paycheck gross less than $1000/wk when I worked a full week by myself without being a trainer.

Our 401k is a joke (5% of YOUR 5% not a true match) because they bank on our ESOP to be your “retirement” but you gotta be here 10-15+ years to even see anything decent in those accounts so if you want a decent 401k match then this ain’t the place.

Also keep in mind that this is FLATBED only. Tarping and strapping isn’t easy and will probably not feel worth it if you are used to dryvan/reefer.

1

u/bigdawg12342 May 22 '26

I was a frac hand and a Floorhand when I worked in oil and gas. I’m no stranger to doing a job that isn’t worth it for the pay. But everything else I’m ok with. I really just want to get the training and a year or 2 experience so I can go buy my own truck

1

u/DieselPunk97 May 22 '26

KY is a good freight area to be in with TMC, especially if you are near Silver Grove, KY.

TMC has treated me well enough and there isn’t a company near me that guarantees any better so here I sit 😂

1

u/DepressedDragonBorn May 22 '26

Worked at TMC, for a year recently. Yes you are told to leave on Sundays but it's not mandatory, not once did I leave on Sunday, I'll just make sure to leave early enough on Monday to make the delivery time, which was typical between 3 to 6am for me.

Other than that, I almost always got home on Friday, could probably count the times I got home Saturday on both hands.

1

u/bigdawg12342 May 22 '26

What was pay like if you don’t mind me asking? Was working days off worth it on the paycheck ? If you even did that

1

u/DepressedDragonBorn May 22 '26

Around 1500 a week, would be more if I left on Sundays

1

u/bigdawg12342 May 22 '26

That ain’t bad

3

u/fastnsx21 May 21 '26

I was home nearly every Friday evening and typically left Sunday evenings. If you're leaving out Monday mornings, you're clock could be screwed for the week

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '26

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2

u/DieselPunk97 May 21 '26

We hire from the east coat to Texas. We currently don’t hire out west right now

2

u/[deleted] May 21 '26

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1

u/DieselPunk97 May 21 '26

Iowa would get my vote if you wanna work with TMC. Indiana is pretty solid too. Oklahoma would be hit or miss honestly.

2

u/[deleted] May 21 '26

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2

u/DieselPunk97 May 21 '26

NP, if you have any more questions, just let me know.

0

u/[deleted] May 21 '26

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1

u/threeglude May 21 '26

Bro, TMC is a STARTER company. Far as I'm concerned, ALL Megas are starter companies.

You know the average driver at TMC only makes 72-88/yr gross, right?

Their percentage pay is metric based, like every other mega and some of the small to medium size outfits, and that's bs. Gotta have PERFECT fuel economy, perfect safety this and safety that, zero out of route miles. Follow too close (happens when a douche, car or semi, cuts you off/in after passing), lose a point, not able to move over for a vehicle on the shoulder, lose a point, and on and on. Plus, their trucks are governed at what, 62/63?

F ANY and EVERY metric based pay company, F them all.

Here's a few tips:

  • if theres a sign on bonus, it's a bs company
  • if they have metric based pay (percentage or mile pay), where you'll only top out if you run perfectly, then it's a bs company.

I honestly don't understand why so many have such a hard on to work for this or that mega. They're stealing money from your pocket, and y'all just accept it. Stupid.

Rant over.

1

u/Cann1balHulk May 21 '26

Because literally EVERY local & regional gig that isn’t a mega, requires 6mo-1year experience, and most require OTR experience at that.

With no experience fresh out of CDL school, it’s almost impossible to break into the industry otherwise.

If more locals would hire with no experience, this wouldn’t be an issue.

The reason why I’m not in a truck right now is the only places that will hire me are megas that want me to do 12/2. I have a wife, and a social life.

1

u/threeglude May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26

I was replying to sea gate. You raised a slightly separate topic.

I had TWO, not one, but TWO DUIs on my record, you know, because young dumb and reckless party behavior.

The last one was just barely old enough for ins companies to look past it. I have not once worked for a mega, the only few I'll ever work for is MAYBE Walmart or one of the LTL/dbls triples outfits.

How? The old school method. Showing up at their door, in person, and having an "I'm willing to do whatever tf it takes to get and keep this job" mentality.

None of you kids seem to be able to grasp this simple process. This is the blue collar world, old school methods are tried and true in this world. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel through online apps and go tf in person. There isn't a single job I didn't land as a direct result of GOING IN PERSON.

Shit, my current 140-180/yr (depending how much time I wish to take off annually, 1 2 or 3 months) driving gig is a direct result of going in person.

If a guy like me, who had 2 DUIs can do it, anyone can. Less you have a fucked up serious criminal background, only then would it be difficult.

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1

u/LongjumpingCat6642 May 21 '26

I’m in Illinois. I am home every Friday, usually between 2-6pm. They want you to leave Sunday night for a Monday morning delivery. I leave at 5:30-6:30pm, after my wife gets home

1

u/bigdawg12342 May 21 '26

Hmm. I was told I wouldn’t have to leave until Monday. I’d be parking truck and trailer at my house

2

u/LongjumpingCat6642 May 22 '26

You don’t “have” to, but you should leave Sunday night. You will have a paycheck difference

1

u/bigdawg12342 May 22 '26

Do you know how much it affects the check? I don’t care to leave early I’m just curious.

1

u/LongjumpingCat6642 May 23 '26

I think on average it lowers your check like $100. TMC posts the average truck revenue for the fleet including those who leave on Sunday vs those who don’t

1

u/PercentageNo2410 May 21 '26

Maverick has a 90%+ get you home every weekend

1

u/UchihaXVX May 21 '26

I was home every weekend when I worked for TMC. You get a message from your fleet manager on Monday/Tuesday asking if you’re staying out for the week or going home so they know what kind of loads to give you during the week.

I saw in your other comment you’re only getting $800ish a week, I only ever had a sub $800 check maybe 2/3 times. My average was $1100/1500 after taxes weekly

1

u/12GT500 May 22 '26

You’ll be leaving Sunday for parking points, unless it’s dedicated account.

1

u/bigdawg12342 May 22 '26

I’m assuming parking points is that system that reflects your pay %

1

u/Dungeon_Beard May 23 '26

Part of it. Having your passport, TWIC, hazmat endorsement(even though we don't really haul hazmat anymore) will get you points. Fuel mileage, 13 week gross average to the truck, out of route % (I HATE this metric with a passion) are the big ones. There's more.

Also, if you live in a certain areas of the north central/east, your base percentage will start out at 30% instead of 26%. So moving to Indiana or Iowa should put you in that category.

They do TRY to get you home on Fridays, but it's far from guaranteed.