Central Refrigerated Truck Stop III

Yep same thing happened to me and my wife. That is when I decided to find a way to kill it. I did.

 

Talked to one of the planners in wvc last week. She said that when the big changeover happened, a lot of loads in Centrals system got lost getting moved over to the new computer systems and fell through the cracks (crevasses I think) and they are just now getting caught up on their own work. Hopefully the dm's will start getting caught up now and when everyone gets used to these dopey macros and the switch to Transflo, and payroll people get their end cleaned up maybe, maybe things will get back to some semblance of normal.

 

That's what I'm hoping as well. I've had some rough spots, but my great DM (Diane Evans) has been a real trooper and helped smooth out those edges. (I wish I could nominate her for some kind of award.) Without her I'd likely be out the door already too. Instead I'm on my first load as a trainer (Mentor).

In my training class they explained that everyone is still figuring things out as to how and why things work like they do. But, it must be remembered that Central is its people and many of them are still in place. Its true that they are currently overwhelmed by Swift red tape and processes, however once they get a handle on things much of the old Central will hopefully emerge. None of this speaks well of Swift since it was their job to manage this transition (Did even a single portion of it go well?), but in many important ways we are still Central. I don't think it is wise to make decisions in the heat of any sort of change unless forced to (I often wait up to a year) and in this case think that at least 2 months is wise. So, I'll re-evaluate in a couple of months and see how we're trending.

 

On my way to WVC to take the Trainer class, I ran into a small patch of blizzard conditions on I-80 going through Wyoming. I was doing around 35, but visibility suddenly dropped to almost zero so I lightly applied the breaks on a downhill and momentarily lost traction, but quickly regained it. I also got a critical event and had to call the 800 number. They said I was doing 36 mph when it happened and asked what happened. They also said that if I hadn't called, I'd keep getting messages every hour and at 24 hours I'd be red tagged as a driver. 2 days later I get a essage from my safety guy asking me to call him. We rehashed the whole thing and I asked if that was normal. He assured me it was as that is how Swift does it. He also said I needed to watch it, since it would go on my Swift company "DAC" and could effect my future employment, but that was the end of it. Apparently Swft puts a lot of stock in metrics, but while that is great as a general predictor I think it loses value at the individual level, which is apparently how they use it.

 

Id say so. I've read and heard many a story of a swift driver getting fired because a roll indicator went off when a driver took a corner like a Nascar driver.

Stay safe out there. Not sure why in your case something like that would go on your dac... Talk about micromanagement!

unloader

 

In regards to the silly safety overreaction to losing traction and the ensuing critical event report...my buddy who I went through training with, and is currently a Central trainer, had the same thing happen to him. Was waiting on a load at the Rochelle terminal, decided to bobtail to the Petro there in a snowstorm, and spun his tires for a few seconds at less than 8mph. Same reaction, had to call safety, got read the riot act, threatened with a write up if he didn't watch it. Just pure and simple micromanaging.

I told him if it was me, first chance I got, I would find a nice empty snow-covered parking lot, disconnect my trailer, and do donuts for 15 minutes. Hopefully triggering 50+ critical event reports. When I got the incoming "WTF are you doing driver?". I'd feign ignorance, and claim I was in the sleeper. Tell 'em their QC is beyong fubared. That would throw them for a loop..lol.

 

I don't think it goes on your official DAC. Apparently Swift has there own internal "DAC."

 

That's just too funny! I wish I had the hutzpah to do it!

 

Anyone else having a bad day? Pulling through i84 oregon, chains required ahead. i pull it over chain up(wow that sentance made it sound easy) get rolling down the road, not too many miles down the road and just before i hit the last grade(cabbage?), one of my trailer chains comes loose and wraps itself around the axle. I give otrm a call, he says he needs a mac 52.... Accident report! Instead of sending that in, i sent i a mac 55... Not sure if he misspoke or i they really consider a broken chain an accident. And now my 14 is ticking away so I might be stuck on this hill for 12 hours. Hope everyones day is gling better than mine!