TLC LINES INC., Fresno, CA was a 48 state carrier of temperature controlled freight including fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and perishable foods of all varieties. It was a team operation, which means that there were two drivers to a truck. They had two terminals. One in Fresno, and the other was in
St. Clair, Missouri. |
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Getting the
job As soon as I got out of MTA Truck Driving School, they placed me into my first job. It was with TLC Lines out of Fresno CA. I got with my trainer that lived in Amarillo Texas. I spent 2 days a week in his driveway or at the truck stop in Amarillo. We were driving coast to coast and were always going through there, so I moved there. This job lasted about 3 months (1991) |
My Job Description
When I first started driving I was put
with a trainer. He taught me how to drive and how to live on the road. Later after my
training was completed, I was put with another new driver and we drove the truck together
all over the country. This company hauled mainly produce and meat, from coast to coast and
the average length of each load was 2,500 miles. We were gone for weeks at a time. We both
lived in Amarillo Texas at the time.
The Good Points
I got quite an education working here.
Truck Driving School gets you ready for the DMV but doesn't teach you much about really
driving over the road. I would say that this was a positive experience.
The Bad Points
Being gone for weeks at a time gets old
really quick. I couldn't even get home every two weeks to check my mail and phone
messages. Getting loads down the road was more important than getting drivers home.
Why I Stopped Working There.
I picked up another driver's truck in
Clovis, New Mexico that had decided that his home time was more important to him than
delivering the load in Los Angeles the next day. My partner dropped me off and I inspected
the truck. I found it having two flat tires and in bad need of a brake job. I had the
tires repaired and drove the truck to LA and tried to deliver the load. I was too late and
the customer was closed. I was instructed to bring the load to the Fresno yard and
they would redeliver it on Monday. While I was going down the Grapevine toward
Bakersfield, the brakes on one of the trailer wheels cammed over and caught on fire.
I pulled over at the bottom of the hill, and put the
fire out and got it into the shop at TA and the mechanic inspected it and told me it was
not my fault. It was because the brakes needed to be replaced. I told my office that the
trailer needed brakes back in New Mexico, when I got into the truck, but was told to get
into the Fresno Yard and they would be fixed there. When I got to the yard in Fresno I was
given another loaded trailer and sent back to Clovis, New Mexico to give the driver his
truck back. He got into the truck and drove me home to Amarillo and I waited for my
co-driver to come and get me. The safety people in my office said they didn't need me to
drive for them anymore because the only way a trailer brake can catch on fire is to drive
at a unsafe speed. I was fired for being a victim of their poor maintenance of their
equipment.
Richard's World
www.oocities.org/trucker_rich
This Page was Created in June 2003