My trainer at Swift

I hear ya....Note to self....:add baby powder to the overnight bag: lol...


j-mac

 

Sounds like you can handle his crap if you only have a few weeks remaining. I worry about the sleep issue. Lack of sleep is dangerous and can sneak up on you when you are behind that wheel. Sleep depravation kills....Good Luck

 

What's stopping some of you from showering every day? You get at least 10 hours off every day. No time to shower in a 10 hour period? Really?

 

my wife wanted to get into trucking, I figured Swift would be good for starting out, "in house driving school", "Slow trucks". to me seemed like a good idea. Anyway my wife's trainer was a BIG lady, Her rules were this, "it was her truck, my wife could not touch the CB or the radio. even if the trainer was sleeping. she had Rap CD's that played all day and night. the only bathroom stops were at times the trainer needed to go. and my wife had to clean up after the trainer. If my wife did anything wrong the trainer would call her a white crack wh*re.
My wife contacted Swift, they told her she would have to stick it out. So she came home, and that was that. I'm not dogging out swift, But I do feel they should do a little more work screening there trainers.

 

Time constraints at the shipper and receiver, delays on the road due to construction, weather, and accidents all the while trying to maximize your alloted 11 hours of driving within the 14 hour work window.

Many times to meet the deliveries and pick up times a driver will go directly to the customer and park there rather than "lay up" at a truckstop miles from your destination. The top performers in this industry make the job priority 1. Meaning pick up on time, deliver on time, safely, and with no damage to the freight.

Truckstops have limited parking and anywhere from 2 showers to 8 showers available. Couple that with 20 truckdrivers waiting in line for a shower and you could be waiting for hours to get a clean shower (and thats if they have someone cleaning them at the time).

Of course YOU can stop halfway through your work day and grab a shower every day if that is what you want to do but you may find yourself having to "adjust" your logbook to do your job within the proscribed hours.
I certainly hope you dont have a computer tracking you because if you elect to falsify your logbook the least that will happen is loss of a safety bonus through your company and the most is termination (if you were involved in an accident and the computer shows you shouldn't have been there in the first place).

 

I imagine that if their turnover is as I suspect it is, even the trainers are not really qualified for the jobs... just warm bodies filling seats, and getting lumped with trainees they dont want... Just my opinion...

 

if you run hard, you don't always end up by a truck stop. i shower every other day and baby wipe inbetween. i feel if you stop to shower you will lose miles. its not like you get real dirty by sitting behind the wheel.

 

yea when my bf and i were runnin together we had a dedicated bt sc and pa, drive down there, unload, deadhead back (it was always at least 3 am b4 we got unloaded) spend the night at the nearest rest stop and drive back to pa shower when we get back to pa and do it all again the next day... god i loved that run... pay was awesome 1200 a day isnt bad at all

 

If you stop for a 2 hour break, your 14 hour window stops ticking.

Showers are also a safety measure, helps to keep you healthy and therefore safer.

If you stop during the day at one most are less busy. But if your one whom dives non stop no breaks being a danger to the public, true No time to stop. A driver needs to stop every once a while or he or she will only make them sick, or disable. I know one driver on another board whom just had Knee surgury cause he was that type, run run.... Is that a safe Driver? Take breaks..... save your self, the load will still get there on time if you plan your trip out and you will not have problems.

If you have a computer tracking you then what the problem? If the truck stops, the tracking shows it. So what the problem? If the driver is doing his or her log book right thee will not be a reason to falsify the log book.

You can stop the log book 14 hours clock with a 2 hour rest break. Driving straight through with out a break is not a real safe measure. If you take 2 or 3 breaks you will be a much safer, and healthier driver. The breaks only have to be a few minutes to help if you. If you do not have time on your logs or it just a plain out impossible time frame, you should not accept it in the first place. If your not allowed to turn down a load you can not do legally then time to go job hunting.