Don't have to be good driver for those companies; just BS the people that interview you. I've been on icy or wet roads pulling hazmat/tankers and some clown with chicken lights all over his truck just a few feet in back of me yelling and screaming,"If you can't drive get off the road, I have a truck payment to make and can't do it driving this slow." They're the same clowns running through truck stop parking lots at 30 mph.
Fed Ex Custom Critical has a THIRTY DAY hiring process...they dont just hire just anyone, or they didnt used to anyway...it took 30 days for us to get cleared there... now that they have merged with Fed Ex Freight tho...its very possible that they arent as strict..dont know if its considered a merge or whatever but i know each division can haul the others freight
Hi fencitup, I don't know, I just don't know. I have some "old timer" friends that trucked in the '70's and '80's like I did, and we talk about this, and we agree that we just didn't see the kind of truck crashes that go on today. "cb noise toy" posted a thread on the pile up in Pa. yesterday, and they always have trucks all over the place. Now I did most of my trucking in the Mid-West, and winter driving was just part of the deal, and I NEVER remember 5, 8, 10 or more trucks, like that mess in Indiana last year, where 20 or 30 trucks just kept piling into each other. I think, in part, it has to do with the kinds of trucks out there today. They are like rolling apartments that give the driver a false sense of security, until it's too late. When you drove a cabover IH, or a Mack R model, that was a handful to begin with, you didn't dare go 60 mph on slippery roads. Couple that to all the other distractions a driver has to put up with today and the pressure of all the electronic gizmo's that tell a company, "that driver should be there by now", it's just a recipe for disaster.
[The Wisconsin State Patrol says preliminary investigation suggests a westbound semi unit traveling in the right lane had slowed down due to mechanical problems near Mile Marker 75. A second semi unit traveling in the same lane rear ended the slowing semi, killing the driver of that truck. A third semi unit traveling in the same lane clipped the rear of the second semi and jack-knifed into the median.] I have $1000 that says "What's this idiot slowing down for?" passed through 2 "minds". Darn rookies...
Hi gpsman, I read that too. Darn rookies is right, but sadly that's what's out there. It doesn't occur to them to get off on the shoulder, as the last thing on their mind, is that someone could be coming up behind them at a high rate of speed. Even still, it's not fair to blame the dead, but in all my years, I never rear ended anyone, and the 2nd and 3rd driver just weren't paying attention, and paid dearly for that crucial mistake.
i lived in osseo wis for a couple years and noticed that area from osseo to knapp hill is a hotbed for accidents . remember the truck that wound up in the red ceder river last winter ?
Oh man, is that the one with the orange trailer that was jackknifed in the road? Looked like there was a crushed 4-wheeler on the back of a flatbed too. I can't remember the mile marker now though. I drove 20 hrs straight to ND and 20hrs straight back to MI so it's all kind of a blur now.
Luckily you stayed safe in the situation, That's why I think CPM needs to be scrapped and go hourly, It will cut out a lot of that nonsense. Stay Safe out there!
"semi retired" pretty much covered it.......... The volume of trucks today on the street have at least Doubled (if not tripled) since I started......Theres no room to breathe,let alone make an error....Because the left lane has always got a car or truck in it.ALWAYS especially east of the Mississippi river..... Yeah,That 35 vehicle crash last January in Mich city,UIn ws just an example of the volume on the street..Or that 100 vehicle crash on the Penna pike last year..... To be honest with you Folks....its become 'embarrassing driving on the interstate highways.....Im almost reluctant to use back roads and us/state routes anymore.....id rather go thru small towns and stoplights..At least I can Breathe a bit better