How not to get tickets?

Ya.

I'm a Swifty, and I have run across a few other Swifties with that attitude.
They will be 1/2 mph faster than a truck in front, and spend an hour to pass it. Or try to pass going downhill, only to stall out once it levels off.
They pass me on a down hill, then make me slow down to give myself the needed following distance.
Very irritating.

And they are probably the ones getting in so many accidents because they are so impatient, dragging down our scores.
Always in a hurry, because the Swift system tries to make it that way - and they are not smart enough to outsmart a stupid system.

 

Its beyond me why a slow truck wants to pass anybody,that's alot of work.Only ones I ever passed was rvs.But other slow trucks no.

 

We have a program called Plus-1.
It was designed to give the driver one more load per week.
It does this by calculating the minimal time necessary to do a load, and sends you those times in the load plan.
You might be able to do it in that time frame, given optimal circumstances, but it is hard.

Outsmarting the system just means to learn the system and what is possible or required.
Most loads have a time window for pick up and delivery, especially with drop and/or hooks.
We are not shown those windows, but with experience (or training) we can learn how to spot it.

I am long enough at Swift to have been around before Plus-1, so I know how it works and how it has changed.

Also there are other options.
The mac 9, which is the macro for responding to a load offer, has many options that the driver can take advantage of.
I can simply accept the pplan with a 'y' response. Yes.
I can use the 'n' response to say no, and then give a reason for the refusal in the area provided. This is most often used when I am trying to get to my home time and the load is going in the wrong direction.

Then there is the 'c' response.
It means Counter.
It means I call your bluff and raise.
With the 'c' response you can change the pick up and/or delivery time/date to your own liking.
If the times you enter fall within the customers time windows it will be accepted, if not the load will be taken off you and another sent.

It is a very flexible system. And I have never felt penalized by it.
And believe me, I use it to run my time as I see fit.

 

It can be a lot of work, but why would you want to slow down for a slower truck?

We have a limited amount of time to work with, and sometimes one or two minutes makes all the difference.
Yes, it is often times that close.

That close to being on time for the delivery or getting a service failure.
That close to getting to the truck stop or rest area so you don't have a violation in hours of service.

Patty, you know how it is out here. So, PLEASE!
You know.
Are you telling my that you never, ever, passed a slightly slower truck because it would make you that one minute late?

 

I have passed slow trks when I was at Werner and it's a lot of work.Unless I can pass him like he's sitting still why be in the hammer Lane with a bunch of cars behind you you're not going to get where you have to go any faster.The companies I never had much trouble passing was Prime,JB Hunt. Swift and Rodeway.But anyone else if they're close to matching my speed I'll stay behind with the cruise set.

 

Happened to me. I picked up "27,000" at Pepsi in Northlake, IL going to Des Moines. Unless they put all of weight in the nose, where I had the axles on the trailer, it was impossible to be overweight on any axle group. I went over the Mitchellville scale outside of Des Moines, and was overweight on the drivers. It looked like load weight was closer to 41,000. They only gave me a warning because I showed them the bol showing 27,000 lbs.

 

If you are driving to a catscale at the truck stop, and do not cross a state weigh station scale, you wouldnt get a ticket. But a weigh station is going to write you one if you are overweight. They won't buy the "this is the closest scale" story. I know it doesn't seem fair, and its not. But no excuse is good enough if you are over at a state weigh station scale.

 

All of those are easily avoided. Not sure what you're worried about but there aren't too many reckless tickets handed out unless the driver has been reckless.

I wish they would hand out more for following too close.

 

Don't be the fastest one if you happen to go over the speed limit. Don't do rolling stops at the stop signs. Drive the speed limit in small towns. Read and follow what signs say at the scales. Have your paperwork in order and ready to hand to dot, not somewhere all over the cab. Learn how much psi on your drives is 34k lbs (if you have a guage). Weigh it if it's anything over 44k even if you think it's ok.