Swift crash on I-85 kills co-driver/trainer

It is very easy to skew the numbers without research. What they article didn't state is swift has 22000 drivers dispatched over 1.7 trillion miles in the last 2 years. Simple math is 1 fatality every 29 million miles and a dot reportable accident every 850,000 miles. You are also assuming that these accidents are all th fault of the Swift Driver. As drivers we know that four wheelers are responsible for most accidents. Yes the fatality rate is high but getting on the road regardless of what you drive is dangerous. Swift is a training company so they are more likely to make errors through inexperience. FYI DOT determined the right steer tire blew causing the driver to lose control. Be safe all.

 

All the guy had to do was keep it between the friggin' lines!

 

Guess you didn't see previous comment. Blown steer tired. No matter how much experience, blown steer will cause issues

 

In the news story linked by G13TomCat a witness driving behind the truck said it "suddenly veered to the right". That would be explained by a blown steer tire.
IMHO all drivers, trainee or experienced, should watch this video on how to handle a blown steer tire. You DON'T apply the brakes. Note that by driving "up against the governor" you don't have the option of stepping on the accelerator to add stability.

 

^ I know a Western Express who blew one his steers (right side)on I-84 just outside of Hartford,CT. He managed to get the truck safely stopped on the shoulder. When he showed me the photos there wasn't that much left of the tire left(he was literally riding on the rim with chunks of tire sidewall and tire cords. The I-85 accident in N.C. is 25 min away from where I blew one of my drive tires(eastbound on 85 between Charlotte and Gastonia),almost a year ago.

 

I think tires are under emphasized not only in training but when it's recommended they only be gauged once a week, while one can go flat from a leaking valve in a matter of hours, and that's typically why they lose air pressure and fail. I find them this way often, 50psi and dropping, because I check pressure at every pre trip (it isn't always obvious to a thump when they're cold, and best to actually put your finger on the valve without a cap if it's at all low, which you need a gauge to determine), in fact I just changed out a corroded green valve core last week. Wouldn't surprise me if they find one in that wheel.

 

Wow!

"1 in 10 Swift drivers have been in a crash since 2014, 55 of which have been fatal. This accident makes 56."

 

Yeah i don't like how they say 1 in 10 drivers have been in a crash in 2014. I don't like that kind of math because it makes it sound like as a whole the company is full of bad drivers when in reality thousands of the drivers will never be in an accident. So basically if you see 10 Swift trucks one of them is going to be in an accident? No.

 

I'm in the Swift Academy in Richmond, VA. First hour on the range we had a huge discussion about it from the instructors about safety because of the accident. Really kind of hit home for all of us in training. We are going to be with a mentor in 3 weeks.

 

56 fatalities. That's a staggering number. How DOT not all the way up SWIFT's ###? How is there credential not in danger of being taken? I mean that's an unacceptable margin of safety for anybody.