Transport America Unbelievably illegal! Beware of Lona dispatch fleet mgr. Minnesota

I have read 3 or 4 transcripts here and wanted to give my perspective as a 2 year employee and now a 2 year owner operator leased to Transport America.

claim 1. Transport America is unorganized.  I've never worked for a large company that wasn't to some degree unorganized. As far as trucking companies go, and I"ve worked for half a dozen, TCAM is for from the most disorganized and on par with the best of any other company I've worked for.

claim 2. stealing miles. In my 4 years I've never been underpaid on miles, nor have I ever not had a trip paid to me as long as I filed the paperwork.  This is so bogus I don't know what to say. TCAM does not pay actual mileage, it's post office to post office like many other companies. Anytime I had to go out of route (like to go get an empty trailer) those miles were added in. Anytime I had to lay over more than 23 hours, I was paid for it. One time, I was 7 hours unloading and then 22 hours before I got another dispatch, I had to kick that one over the head of my dispatcher but I was paid for time.   Transport America has never shorted my check miles, and anytime something got left off, Hazmat pay, layover, detention pay, it was taken care of on the check after I notified my dispatcher about it.

claim 3 - TCAM forces you to drive 2 lane roads... well, boohoo!  If you can't drive 2 lane roads, get out of the trucking business!  If I"m not sure of the road, I take a different route and on one has ever complained about this to me.

 claim 4 - TCAM expects you to arrive in the same amount of time as if you drove the interstate, ya sometimes the planners will give me an appointment time that's too optimistic. I take charge of my driving at that point and quickly send back a macro 25 with a realistic time. they either accept that, or take me off the route. Never had a problem with this. Safety has always come first, they stress this constantly and back up their words. If I"m too tired to take a midnight run I tell them I need sleep... and either the appointment is changed or they find me another route.  NEVER has anyone in Eagan tried to get me to run when I don't feel safe... absolutely NEVER. And they never will. This company is all about safety first.

claim 4 - TCAM expects you to repair your own equipment. I'm scratching my head on this one. Heck, no one has ever asked me to do so much as change a tail light! I have... because it's quicker and easier than going to  a shop or waiting for a rescue truck. I have no idea where this is coming from, I've never had the least bit of problems with maintenance other than a shop being too busy and I might have to wait or go on driving until I get to the next shop. but that has always been my call.

All in all, this site seems to be more of a place for people to release their anger than anything honest. From what I"ve read, the people posting here seem to expect everything to be Disneyland and when the reality of this business rears it's ugly penny pinching head, they get all excited.  This business is about pinching pennies. Any company that doesn't won't last. But I will say that I've never met one person in this company that didn't seem genuine or seemed not to care about drivers. From the people manning the fuel desks all the way to the Chief Operating Officer. It's been a great company to work for and I intend to continue here until I make the leap to using my own authority or retire.