Swifts new Idle policy

yet the ultra low pay doesn't justify all the ######## that goes along with the game. perhaps it did back in the day when this industry was respectable. like i said, you're still new at swift. like you, i was all optimistic at first, defending swift left & right, and i stopped when i finally broke free of their brainwashed drivel.

their alternative to beating the heat is opening the windows, park in a way where a driver gets a breeze, and run a POS oscillating fan that does NOTHING but blow hot air around the truck.

 

Do the freightliners still have opti idle?

KH

 

I have one of those fans and it does a lot more than "blow hot air around".
Granted, the humidity does have to be low to allow for evaporation of sweat, but it does work. People get so worked up just sitting there in a huff about how crappy their job is, it gets their heart rate up and their body temperature along with it. I sit still for the most part, relax, and drink plenty of water. It works for me most of the time. If it's just too #### hot then I'll run the truck until the Qualcomm beeps and then shut it off for a few mins (or as long as I can stand it) and then turn it back on. My idle time doesn't go up and I get AC. Is it convenient? Nope. OH well!

Like I said before: I'm an optimist. Rather than complain about things, I find ways to make them better. It's not an ideal situation, but I am rolling more often than not. I can't speak for your work ethic, but I've met plenty of drivers already that moan and complain that all they do is sit and there's no freight and boo hoo hoo. Meanwhile, I'm picking up loads early, puttin' the hammer down and gettin' the job done on time or ahead of schedule. This keeps the sitting around time at a minimum and the cab nice and cool. The planners seem to appreciate it as well seeing as how the pre-plans just keep coming.

One summer, or five, they're all going to be hot and uncomfortable. If I make it through one, it sure as hell won't be that hard to make it through the others.

 

I am so sick of this bs of "look what the past was" there is a thing called technological advancement. We have progressed as a people, yet we would rather see a human suffer than an animal. Put a dog or cat in the cab of your truck and leave it for days on end without AC or heat, then see how quickly you have people talking about your cruelty. Then take the same situation and place a human there it's ok for them to suffer.

personally BA those like you and Bo are the reasons why company policies will allow a driver to suffer while those in the office live comfortably. Also not all companies offer a service to send messages to you via text so that crap doesn't cut it either.

I won't be chiming in on this subject any further as you and some like you have your heads so far up the arses of company office workers if they drink coffee it burns your throats.

 

Days on end? If that's the case, you need to find another company to work for. The freight is out there and it is definitely moving. You, sir, are being over dramatic.

 

i did my job just fine when i was with swift. however, just because i was doing fine and had been on the company's lowest idle percentage for the months of july and august of last year, i'm NOT going to be a willing member of the sweat out. forget that crap. i'm NOT going to suffer just because some corporate goon wants the truck to be turned off while the a-hole sits in an air conditioned building, and gets to go home to his own place of residence. if they want the frieght to arrive in perfect shape, then i'll idle the #### truck all i want, because afterall, they preach safety and having a good night's rest. my "nights" were mostly around the 0800 - 1800hrs.

all of that loyalty at swift is only going to make you another person's whipping boy, and open you up for more opportunities to be taken advantage of, which you seem perfectly a-okay with.

 

The ones I've used do, had to use one for a trip last week while my KW was in the shop. What sucks about opti idle though is that it hits your idle percentage every time it starts up, so you still wind up getting nastygrams if you use it all the time.

 

He's not being overly dramatic. It is a safety issue when the driver can't get adequate sleep to drive safely. Swift says their #1 priority is "safety". If it is, then the drivers should not have their livelihood threatened with discharge for idling a truck so they can sleep. A fatigued driver is a danger to themselves and you and I on the road. I'm not saying that sometimes it's not necessary to idle, sometimes it isn't.

But I know that safety being a priority with Swift stops at the door of their company interest. Company interest (i.e. profits) supercedes safety, this is no lie. I would think that if they really thought long and hard it would cost them much less to let their trucks idle than to have to pay out millions of $$$$$ as a result of lawsuits because their drivers didn't get adequate sleep. It's just common sense.........okay, forget what I said, I forgot the topic is Swift.

Adjust the thermostat in their offices to, say, 90 degrees and see how productive those dm's, tm's and planners are. They'd all be falling asleep on the job and pissing and moaning about the working conditions.

 

I think the opinions of the two drivers defending Swift here should just be ignored, they have less then a year on the road & obviously can't see past the smoke screen that Swift has in front of them.

They seem to be defending them a little too much if you ask me, wouldn't be surprised if they are office workers because no driver in their right mind would out up with this crap.

 

that and/or they're LDS members.