Profile For Truck Drivin' Lawyer (TDL)

This is kind of a long shot, but does anyone on here have experience with Manesis Transportation out of West Allis, WI? They specialize in heavy haul, oversize/overweight, and construction equipment delivery.

Flatbedders will often find they have to pull/back into a building to load/unload

Being inside a building was always a strange feeling to me. It felt like I was somewhere I didn't belong or something, like having an elephant in a living room. I didn't mind, of course, especially on a rainy day. But seeing big rigs inside a building just always seemed strange.

I have to do that routinely both at Firestone in Deforest, WI, and at Hunter in Chicago. It is sometime fun to watch flatbedders try to back up their truck.

As a day driver for a construction supply company...

Sorry, still getting the hang of posting photos.

As a day driver for a construction supply company, it is not uncommon for me to have to load, and sometimes unload, 2 to 4 loads in a day. We rarely tarp anything, but we throw a lot of straps. The other thing we are called on to do is back into some interesting situations. These photos are from a school I had to deliver to in Wisconsin on Monday. I walked over to the site, saw the crane next to the building, and saw what I surmised was the only way it could have gotten there - between two pine trees and a fire hydrant. I ask the crane operator if that's where I have to back in, and he says, "That's where I just came in." Uh, yeah, but your driving a roofing crane. Meanwhile I have lifts stacked two-high of 4'x4' ISO, tapered fiber board stacked two-high, and rolls of rubber on the back end. I took out a few branches, and had someone spot me on the fire hydrant, but no damage to the truck, which is what I was more worried about.

TDL, that is a step deck that the load of pipe is on. Lowboys are 24" or less to the top of the deck and are also called double drop or RGN trailers.

Thanks for the clarification. Still learning all the terminology (rookie).

OK, Pat, here's a photo of a load of 7 miles of pipe stacked on a stepdeck headed to Arizona. Let's not talk about trailer tires today, though, alright?

That looks so cool. Love the way it is strapped down on the lowboy. Nice job.

Not very sexy, perhaps, but this is what we deliver a LOT of. This was my second load of ISO today. We also do a fair amount of shingles, rolls of rubber, and other roofing products like pavers. One thing I love about flat bedding is the diversity. Like this job, for example. I get to the school that is being roofed and the contractor says, "Okay, just back up on the grass between the pine tree and our crane. I'll stop you a couple of feet from the building, and we'll unload you with the crane." Okey dokey.

Oh no, it's going to the border with me, then a Mexican truck will take it over the border. Sorry for the confusion!

Lovin' all the great pic's. Keep em comin'!

FWIW, I used to work for Roehl (dry van), but know one driver who started with Roehl in flatbed and, after a year or so, went to TMC, then back to Roehl after only a couple of months. I don't know the details other than that he preferred the way Roehl operates.

Also, you may want to check with Melton (used to require only 3 months experience) and Maverick (as long as you have a CDLA, they don't care whether you went to a school or not - also, as far as I know, they only run truck with automatic transmissions).

Good luck to ya!

Thanks, and also thanks to James R. for the very thorough info on TMC.

I also talked to a recruiter at Prime today. Prime also sounds like a great company to work for.

As of right now I am leaning toward Roehl. They are in-state: Their headquarters and training facility are in Marshfield, WI, which is about three hours from Milwaukee. They have a terminal in Appleton, which is even closer. And they have a trailer drop yard on the south side of Milwaukee, about 20 minutes from where I live. Being in-state, they have a lot of options for routes. And from everything I have read they are good to their drivers and safety is a priority.

But I do appreciate all of the great feedback. This is a very cool site. I'll let you know how things turn out.

Hey i work for tmc, what kindof questions do you have specifically.

I have a bunch, but let's start with the basics:

How long have you been driving, and how long with TMC? What do you like about the company compared to other companies? Do you know whether they have a terminal or drop yard in or near Milwaukee (it is hard to tell from their site)? Would I have to go to Des Moines for training? How is the pay/miles?