im glad i stopped here first.

hi everyone!
I ended up at this site after doing a search for swift transports' site. I am not a trucker. tonight I was driving home on a 425mi trip after attending my mom's funeral. she had left me her pristine allante (and I mean PERFECT) and I was bringing it home. traffic had come to a complete stop when I was 60mi away and a swift truck in front of me sloooowly began rolling back until it contacted my car. I doubt he even realized it happened, but I was unable to communicate with him and wrote down the trailer lic number (with a pic) and the cab DOT#. I was already emotionally wiped out before this happened and had my hand ready to dial 911. fortunately for the driver and myself, I relaxed enough to pull off the freeway and examine my car. it was a solid hit, yet to my absolute amazement I incurred no damage.
anyways, I was getting ready to make swift aware of this driver's error, lack of attention, sleepiness, whatever it was? when I happened upon this site and read about how crappy the conditions are for you guys- especially with an outfit such as swift. there's no way i'm going to fault a fella for this event- no harm, no foul.
I sincerely wish you all the best. considering all you put up with AND THEN being screwed by these trucking corporations? well, I certainly can appreciate you all quite a bit more after reading your posts. thank you for enduring what seems to be a truly broken industry.

 

thank you for your thoughts, folks. the many posts I've read here have been quite eye-opening to put it mildly. you all must love what you do, because the pay is ridiculous! how the heck do you (or even myself, for that matter) make ends meet? while I agree that driver was completely at fault, I can't help but feel fatigue was the real culprit- better wages and less stress is the solution.

while I cant do much to help with your pay, I can certainly help with the stress out on the road. i'll be the guy holding back the other cars, making room for ya'll to merge or change lanes ahead of me.....

hoping all your travels are safe ones,
Tom

 

im certain he couldn't physically see me behind him. however, we were in a merged traffic jam from nighttime construction and at a dead stop when he creeped back. had I allowed more room, some other driver would have no doubt filled the space. I did have time to get in reverse, but that only provided a couple extra feet due to a semi behind me. kinda stuck behind a rock and a hard space!
he did more than creep. initially I assumed he was clutching into first and some roll back can be expected, but we're talking 8-10 feet here. it was 11:30 at night, so i'm thinkin he may have dozed off a bit. im still amazed at the lack of damage. not even a scratch or rub mark- nothing!

(yes, I will be more vigilant and avoid placing myself between two rigs in the future. this was in Stockton at night though, and there's often a 1:1 ratio of truck to car at that time and location. just one of those circumstances where things that individually aren't a problem combine into dangerous situations)

 

when I got home, I really wanted to report him to swift in case this guy was just a wreck waiting to happen, or as a little reminder to not be complacent if he had a good record. after reading some of the posts here and thinking about all the things you truckers have to deal with everyday on the road- not to mention the business side of it, I reconsidered doing that. heck, if I was reported every time I violated a law or had bad judgment, I wouldn't have a license! there wasn't any damage other than a little stress. I pray that this approach doesn't come at someone else's expense.

from a trucker's perspective, what are your guys thoughts on that?