Southern Refrigerated Transport, Inc. - Texarkana, Ar.

I hardly got any sleep with a experienced driver behind the wheel. With another trainee? Nope not me. Looks like the company is trying to get back some of that profit they lost to the trainer on the first go around. If you are going to be running solo, then you should train for it. It's a whole different lifestyle in my book driving teams. I did it, and it was not worth the half sleep and general state of being miserable all the time.

Great to know there are a bunch of half awake trainees barreling down the highways driving SRT trucks I'll remember to stay clear of them if I see one.

 

Early on in this thread somebody mentioned something about "federal funds" that are given to trucking companies. What gives? What are these funds?

 

How are they growing, do they require much care (water, weeding, fertilizers)?

 

I worked at SRT for 5 yrs and had a 4 year safety award and then an accident happened and i was terminated and u think i'm gona blast em but i'm not.unfortunatly they were unable to cut me some slack and i think they are stone out of there mind for letting me go after over a million and a half and not any problems--oh welllllllll.. the long and short of it is they have an honest staff and do there best to make thinks happen for ya and they do not play with your money. if ya find a mistake they jump on it and get it fixed...overall they are a good company to work for and ya can make money....ya want straight answers?ask for Jennifer B in recruiting-even though I BSt her a few times (when head of training)and she called me on it i felt that i could always get that straight answer that we all want and need..don't worry about covenant they seem to let srt take care of itself, regardless of where the money comes from, I think it is mostly there buying power that keeps them attached and probably aids in the overhaul strengh of the company......go for it-------VJL

 

That Is An Odd Statementwhen Ya Think Of It, And Has Nothing To Do If Your Newbe Or Olde----when Your Tired Stop The "truck" And Stop Trying To Be That Great American Hero With The Attitude Of "your Saving The World And The Freight Must Get Through" Bs, Stop Awhile And Rest,ya Just MAYBe Be That Hero That Saves A Life Because Ya Know What Is Right To Do!

 

Thats why I drive solo, so I don't have to stop the truck when I get tired because I don't get tired because I had a good nights rest in a non moving truck.

2 well rested trainees in a real team operation (not super solo)? yea right. It has nothing to do with being a hero and everything to do with exploiting cheap labor.

Why should SRT keep you after a wreck? They can pay a trainee much less to do your job anyway. Let me guess they told you their insurance would not allow it because it crossed the line on some dollar amount perhaps? Heck, they have been looking for a way to kick you to the curb since you got most of your raises which are usually in the first 2 yrs at most companies. It was only feasible to pay you more to do the same job many do for less until your wreck. Now your to costly to keep around.

Make paper airplanes out of your safety awards and roll back them miles to zero. All anyone cares about is your DMV and DAC report now.

Your safety awards and experience don't mean squat after a accident. Your back to square one and unemployed at most companies now days that can plug in a cheap new driver with a clean record experienced or not. You were a tool and you broke so they threw you away.

 

Absolutely true, Blue. I've seen plenty of those guys' faces in slick truckin' 'zines above safety articles. Articles that brag about how far these guys have driven without even a bug hittin' their windshields. I've often wondered what would happen to those guys if the day after the awards are given they have an accident.

Your post tells exactly what will happen. They'd be turned out to pasture and left to fend for themselves. In a capitalist economy, everything is disposible. Even workers. Those guys could have so many accident-free miles they'd been gold plated, but it wouldn't matter to their companies, ultimately. The reality is every driver is only one accident away from cleaning it out and hittin' the streets looking for work elsewhere. And those million-mile milestone awards won't mean jack to 7-11 when those guys apply for jobs there.

 

I wonder if Covenant made them get rid of the purple trucks?

 

Well, the federal government, in all there glory and wisdon (or stupidity in my book) gives companies that start a driving school so much money for each and every "student" driver (and I use the term DRIVER loosely here) that complete's there school. Problem is there is no reqiurement on what that school must "teach" other than the student has to pass the CDL exam.

The Swift school (and most other company school's from what I have heard) last's for 2 week's... 1 week (or less if possible) to get through the book part and 1 week for road experience, along with the 20 other's in the class!!! Then it is up to the trainers or "MENTOR'S" as Swift likes to call them, to do the REAL teaching of the driver. Problem is at this company, you only have to have 6 months experience to be a "Mentor"!!!

That is not long enough to even learn to back a truck properly much less drive the 40 ton beast down the road!!! Then to throw a rookie (6 months behind the wheel is still a rookie in my book) in with a student and say teach them to drive truck.... that is just stupid if you ask me.

They offered me a job when I was working there as an instructor in the Edwardsville, KS school that they opened about 2 yrs ago now. I turned it down because of the fact that I did not agree with what I was told the training time was.... They reqiure a min of 5 yrs experince for that job.

Maybe they need to rethink the practice of having a rookie teach a student.

 

I agree with all of you. Why let the blind lead the blind?
That is just stupid.