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

Easy! Construction of Hoover Dam.....2 years, 213 died.

 

10% is 10%. If he wanted to sensationalize it he would have said 2200 Swift drivers have been in a crash in the last 15 months alone!

 

My thoughts exactly!

 

Don't you think drawing a parallel between the fatalities involving construction of the Hoover Dam in the 1930s, and SWIFT driver's being involved in fatal accidents in 2016 is a stupid comparison? Why not compare the building of the Panama Canal in the first decade of the 20th Century which involved thousands of deaths from accidents and Yellow Fever. That's like comparing Modern Medicine to the practice of Health Care in the 19th Century. Your comparison is pure rubbish. The only reason SWIFT is still in business is that they employee a small Army of lawyers to defend themselves from lawsuits. They also have plenty of well paid lobbyist in Washington D.C. to prevent legislation being enacted that would shut down these kinds of companies.

 

It's been asked time and again, so now.......I'm going to ask again for the several people who have already (And now, including me) Where was it confirmed (And by whom) that the Swift vehicle in question had a blown steer?

As a side note, some observations from someone who has worked at night most all of my life. When I was in the military, (22 yrs) almost all our ops and training were conducted at night.

As a police officer, I worked grave yard for 5 years before switching to days.

It takes getting use to. Someone who is young, and never been subjected to working when the sun goes down, and everyone else is asleep, and has most likely had the same sleep regimen since birth, isn't going to adjust quickly. Their body is thinking (Exacerbated especially if their trainer is asleep) "I'm usually sleeping right now." "Everyone I know is asleep right now." The mentality being is this is what they've become accustomed to. It's how the brain is conditioned. It's one reason I get rather ticked, watching drivers, parked, slumped forward on the steering wheel, trying to get a quick catnap. Whether you realize it or not, you're conditioning your mind that it's ok to feel sleepy where you're at and like this.

For those of us who have been at it a while, we all know it takes the body and mind some getting adjusted and use to. It doesn't happen overnight and different people will all have different results with varying degrees.

Throw into the mix of going into the "Team Mode" as a brand new driver, who's in a new environment, who probably hasn't been getting the quality of sleep their body has been use to, or can't get fully asleep, when it's during the day, going down the road, and bounced around in the sleeper of a truck.

10 hrs have now past. The time is 7 pm. It's time for the new driver to drive. He gets up, probably still dog tired, and begins his drive. Meanwhile, the trainer felt "Hey, the new guy is now proficient enough to be on his own." The trainer needs his sleep, tells the kid "Hey, if you need anything, just holler at me." proceeds to close the curtains and hits the bunk.

Now, it's 2:30 am. "Sure is dark outside." "This job is important." "I've got to keep going."

3:30 am. "Man, I'm having problems keeping my eyes opened." "How much longer??"

4 am. "Wow, I can't remember the last few minutes of driving I just did." "This load has to be there first thing in the morning and having read all those horror stories on TTR, if I don't keep going, the trainer is probably going to give me a bad rating...or worse, put me out of the truck."

Now you have a recipe for disaster.

To clarify, it's not just the younger group. Anyone who's been a sun bather during the day and a hibernator at night all their lives, are subject to the same effects as well.

Just something to think about.

And in case it got lost within my ramblings, again: Where was it confirmed (And by whom) that the Swift vehicle in question, had a blown steer?

 

Well you're the one who asked can you name ANY OTHER INDUSTRY. You didn't specify any similar comparisons.

 

The company that I drive for, TRANSPORT AMERICA trains new drivers that have no experience. They have a very good safety record and PSP score. The student does all of the driving. The Trainer does not do any driving, they don't run as a team. When the student is done driving for the day the truck is parked till the students DOT break is over. All of the trainers are safe experienced drivers. This company is very focused on safety and driver satisfaction. Yes they do the Hair Drug Screen, and Urinalysis Screen. TRANSPORT AMERICA is a driver orientated company. They really do realize it's the drivers are who making the money for the cimpany.

 

OK, YOUR A FUNNY GUY! Lol... Thanks for the laugh.

 

Hey, you asked,you got an answer- deal with it.

 

I don't think it was confirmed. I thought I read it somewhere else but all I can find is the post by Typhon. My apologies for spreading rumors. I guess we're left with assumptions as to what led to the crash.