I went to Trans Am trucking believing that the company was stable and would be an opportunity of a lifetime to purchase and own a tractor that was reliable and dependable. I started in March leaving behind my family to provide an income to pay bills and take care of parents who are both retired and one ailing.
When arriving promises of how they operated was stressed and how the leasing program would allow me to gain the independence and freedom to make money. While being told that drivers were making $150 to $200 thousand dollars a year, sounded good. But that is far from the truth. That may be what some or making but for quite a few of their drivers this is not true. They offer new Kensworth 700 for anyone taking out a 5 year contract but these trucks have major mechanical issues, and you are always in the shop for one thing or another while your truck payment is due every Friday. The accounts that they offer to help with mechanical problems does not help because they take the payment straight out of your check while doing training it is told that your maintenance account can go negative because they are always pulling out of your check to cover the expenses for maintenance.
Upon working on OTR lumper fees are reimburse but they debit it from your expenses. You are told to use a TCH check when you transflow your receipt it will be reimburse to you. How can that be when it shows on my settlement that they debit it and credit it out of the same pay period. I arrange my settlement papers to show contractors settlement department and I was simply push away with "we must show a debit and a credit". Well if that is true, why doesn't it come out of the company's account instead of the driver's. Because it clearly states lumpers are reimbursed but not when it reflects on the driver's settlement. I counted over $3,000 that I feel is owed to me with no explanation other than a debit and credit is needed for it to be zeroed out by Chris Wiley, the contractor's settlement manager.
The leasing department does represent the company to benefit the driver. It is like the girl working at the front window is programmed to say things and she is one of the rudest people working at Trans Am. We the drivers are making great sacrifices and providing her paycheck, so why they let someone with her personality work the window is unbeknown to me. She is just plain RUDE.
The company hire so many drivers per week that is no way anyone could be making this kind of money because the figures they are showing are ones for the cost of the whole load from start to finish. For example, the company may be charging $20,000 for pickup and delivery but that is not what the drive makes. The driver makes $. 84 per mile empty and loaded plus fuel surcharge. When you add this up and take out truck payment totaling at least $750 to $900 per week including insurance and the three accounts that they take out and you only get a 1300 mile run that week, it does not add up to the $150 to $200 thousand made per year.
I believe they are falsely advertising to gain students out of school to do the job to replace the many drivers who are not satisfied by them "acting bigger than they are." I am doing to do whatever it takes to gain an investigation into the company practices, it is unbelievable once you are tied into a contract there is no getting out of. If you sign a 5 year contract you get absolutely none of the money you have worked for because it is a penalty for not fulfillng the contract but it is something you worked for.
0 comments