Shadow, you'd do well by posting some good arguments here instead of attacking people. Convince ME your favorite outfit really is worth going to work for. Come on. I'm an open-minded guy.

This ain't junior high, man. Get with it or go back to your sandbox, kapisch?

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--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

I did ask for a new dispatcher, but I was denied. I even complained to Phoenix, but that did not help either so I basically got screwed there.

You are right about the trailers and I guess that I should say that most of their trailers are POS as all of the good ones are either locked by the shop and not permitted to go anywhere or they are taken right away by other drivers, so finding a good decent trailer is a lot like trying to find a needle in a haystack when it comes to Swift.

I do disagree with you on one point about the repair and maintenance of the trailers as even though it is up to the driver to do pre-trips and post-trips and to report the issues to maintenance it is still up to Swift to do the repairs or to arrange for the repairs and they are required by law to inspect and maintain all vehicles that are under their control and that includes trailers. That is according to the FMCSR. That is found in section 396.3 of the FMCSR and that is something that Swift fails at miserably.

As far as the service failures go I did send in my mac 22 whenever I knew that I was going to be late, but unfortunately just like the rest of Swift their computer system is or at least was severely screwed up when I worked there and I even joked at times that I thought that the computer was crazy as sometimes it would send me loads that were impossible for me to do legally and Swift knew that, but yet they refused to acknowledge the problem for some reason.

I know that it may not matter much, but despite all of their problems and the lack of communication I stuck it out and did my best to put up with all of their bs.

When I was not driving or sleeping I spent most of my time reading books about things like business, sales, marketing, ebay, the internet, psychology, NLP, hypnosis, women and any other thing that I could think of in an effort to try to improve myself and my life for the better as I just simply got tired of the way that my life has been and I have decided that I am going to change things for the better.

I also spent a lot of time trying to figure out a relationship that I once had with a girl that I knew in high school that I loved very much and that I knew loved me, but unfortunately I screwed it up by not listening to her and by not communicating to her how I felt about her and that has bothered me for a long time and I have vowed that if I ever were to see her again I would do things right as I believe that this girl still has feelings for me.

It's kind of complicated to explain and it is something that I have not quite figured out as of yet, but I am working on it.

I'm not sure if I will be allowed to drive again and at this point in my life I am not convinced that I should drive truck again as I have spent the last 5 years of my life locked up in the truck runing around like a chicken with my head cut off and now I think that it is time for a change for me.

As I am sure that you are well aware of, driving truck is a hard life and it is often a very socially isolating and lonely profession. I gave it a try and at first I loved it, but after spending two solid years of living in the truck night and day nonstop, that finally got me and I started to feel as though I needed more out of life for myself and that is why I started studying business and started trying to figure out how to start a lot of online businesses so that I would eventually be able to get off of the road and build a better life for myself.


I hope that this make sense to a lot of people as it is late and I am very, very tired right now as I write this.

Actually, I think it is more the Customer Service Department that is/was screwed up. The computer system worked okay while I was there but CSR's often dropped the ball. I was given a load to pick up in Siloam Springs, AR. I could tell by the information on the pre-plan that I was picking it up a day late but I was fine with that as it was a load that would get me through the house for Thanksgiving dinner with my family. When I arrived to find to pick-up the load, the shipping clerk was quite ticked off because there were three loads that were not picked up the day before (mine being one of them) I had to explain to her that I was assigned the load approximately four hours after the original appointment time. The computer generated the load assignment to me based on the input from the previous driver (verified this with my DM) that they would not be able to pick up the load. As it was, all three drivers had done their job and but the CSR failed to inform the customer of the delay. It became my job to be a Customer Service Rep and smooth over the situation with that customer. If Customer Service does not follow up on those items and the Macro 22 message then the driver gets hit with the service failure, even though it was not really the driver's fault.

I agree I had CSR a number of times tell me they dropped ball could I help them out. I also would be told by dispatch that customer service would overbook loads making it difficult to fill all the loads. I had one load that they wanted me to give my eta for delivery p/u in Ca to be delivered in Tx. Gave my eta but csr never gave to customer, customer was mad but accepted the load.

Actually, from what I have been told, as long as you send in that Macro 22, you can't get hit with the Service Failure, because the system flags it. I've had to send in a few Macro 22's, not a lot, and I have yet to see a Service Failure.

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Ismael "Mario" Martinez

Your right about Swift being responsible for the maintance of the trailers, but it is up to the drivers to notify Swift via on-road to get trailers repaired if not at Swift terminal.

Good news.


I beat Swift today in an unemployment law hearing that I had with them. They were attempting to claim that I committed misconduct due to some citations, but they lost the case because they were not prepared and their attorney pissed off the judge so bad that the judge told the attorney to hang up the telephone during the hearing.

Swift withdrew their appeal of my unemployment claim and by law that automatically results in a ruling in my favor and against Swift.

I guess that just kind of proves what we all knew all along and that is Swift really does not know what they are doing.

I guess that you could say that they have a lot of idiots working for them from the top down for the most part.

I have to agree with desert son on this as well as others that has said that it is the drivers job to notify swift of tires, and any other repairs that are needed on the trailers or trucks. I know that it is probaly in your drivers manual and you were probaly explained that in orentation.

I know that it is a rule that you the driver must inspect the equipment daily if not twice daily.

When I worked for May Trucking some of their drivers were lazy if not just idiots they did not properly report the need of repairs on the trailers I was allways picking up trailers that needed tires, mud flaps, lights.

The way I handled the issue is I refused to move the trailer before the repairs were completed.

One of the trailers I was suppose to pick up was preloaded.
The customer has a no parking / sleeping etc on their property rule but I ignored that rule because the trailer was not legal to be on the road.
They did not say anything to me but I did send a breakdown macro to get the repairs done.

At May Trucking they had guy's that walked arround and checked tires on all trucks and trailers in the yard. Now that did take care of some trailers but there were alot of trailers at customers locations that were never checked on.

Now I have a question for anyone that think the company should be inspecting the trailers.
If you pick up a reefer load and the reefer is not running as it should do you go ahead and just pull the load and risk loosing it or notify the company of the needed repairs?

If you pull or drive equipment that needs repairs and get into an accident who is to blame for the accident you or the company?

In short if anyone thinks that the company that they work for is responsible to do the drivers job on the daily inspections then you should not be behind the wheel of the truck.

Danc694U : Please accept my sincere apology for inferring that your picture next to your name was in fact a picture of "your mama" that you mention above. That was unfair to your mother, who I have come to realize after reading all your posts, must be a true "saint."

Happy Trails Cowboy


Tip: The only points I have attempted to make are:

1) Any useful information you could provide the readers of this forum is lost in the clutter of all your conspiracy theories. I am sure you have a lot of specific items / problems you encountered when you worked for Swift that you could pass along to the rest of us who are trying to learn about the different firms that have posts on this forum. You loose us because: Your personal experience is old, you are very general in your assumptions about what working at Swift is like today, and you repeat the same conspiracy theories again and again.

2) As a long time reader and recent member of this forum, I find it sad that you have lost touch with the rest of members who are here to gain relevant timely information about trucking firms so we can make informed decisions. Even your posts about one of your favorite companies (by the way mine too) Crete, is dated and is not very useful.

3) I hope you take this post as constructive advice and use it to improve your posts. I am sure that somewhere in that 65 year old, 450 pound body there is still a wealth of information that you can share with those of us who need it. (Yes I am saying I need good information from seasoned professionals like yourself)

Happy Trails

__________________
John " E "



“the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat”

Jim McKay 1921-2008

Yes, Judges have little patiance for dumba#### LMAO

Glad you won your case. Even if by default

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I'm gonna kill the next SOB who tells me I look stressed out.

--Unknown