now I have seen everything Sitting next to a Swift truck

Hey, just got back to this thread, you're WAY SAFER on that Suzuki than you would be on some "Chinese Rice Rocket"---believe me. As for the U.S. government, those scrubs need to step up and impose levies and tariffs once more: GLOBALIZATION ONLY WORKS FOR THOSE WHO LIVE OUTSIDE THE U.S., UNLESS YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT SOME GREASEBALL WHO WANTS TO CUT CORNERS AND MAKE MILLIONS AT THE EXPENSE OF REAL AMERICANS. I won't even get started on that topic, or I'll be BANNED again. Take a good look at the current economy and figure it out, 'cuz it ain't ROCKET SCIENCE.

 

I can also take a little more pride in my suzuki. I can also actually buy parts for it.

And i agree 100%...

 

Im a swift mentor everyone was a newbie at one time.Not all swift drivers are bad drivers or was trained bad.The odds are against any driver first 6 months of solo most drivers have a accident.You are going to see a company who trains students right out of school have more accidents.This company has its problems but so does every company been here 3 years been training for year and half if it wasnt for swift giving me a chance still be in a dead end job thank you swift!

 

I have very little regard for an outfit that puts it's top-heavy-over-management philosophy over common sense-especially one that takes decsion making out of the driver's hands and into an office somewhere. I have very little respect for an outfit that decides when and where equipment will be avaiable for dispatch-especially when terminal management deems it unecessary to give the driver the tools for the job untill two hours prior to pick-up. In this business, if one isn't early, one is late.

And-dear driver mentors-I have absoutly zero respect for any-ANY-outfit that puts quanity over quality in training-especially those that fail to pass on even the basics of a basic foundation. Any company that puts an unskilled, un-ready person behind the wheel of an eighty-ton rig should be charged with criminal neglegence for endangerment of that person's life and mine.

Untill this changes-and drastic changes are made in regard to driver training and quality reigns over quanity again-Swift and others will continue to enjoy the reputation they have.

My rant.

 

And here lies the problem. You are a mentor and your profile reads trucker 2 years. That is why swift turns out the problems they do. It used to be 6 months and you could be a trainer, mentor now. 2 years you barely have the stick time to have seen all the elements of trucking. Nothing against you personally, but in order to train one needs to be above the average of wisdom and knowledge that comes with time.

 

Truer words were never posted. Time alone is not enough. Conscious effort is necessary.

 

Ya know, in the 20 days that I've been out here I've seen some pretty knuckle-headed moves by some real "big trucker lookin" drivers. Nice shiny trucks, all the fancy do-dahs....not someone I'd want to be trained by or even ride with for that matter. My mentor ain't fancy....but wants to turn me into a reasonably competent driver.

 

I think I agree with your rant, except I was hoping you would offer a viable solution to the problem that would work, consistently, throughout the industry. Swift has a lackluster reputation, but a "far better than average" safety score, according to SafeStat. I don't understand how that is possible considering how many inexperienced drivers they (Swift) turn loose on the highways. Swift, by virtue of it's safety record, is in no danger whatsoever of (1) being forced into using paperless logs, (2) being subjected to "targeted" DOT inspections, and (3) or being on the CSA 2010 hotseat of companies that are headed for "unfit" status.

My confusion stems, of course, from my own inexperience about the real-world workings of the transportation industry. I think it's inevitable that Swift, and other HUGE carriers that train, will continue to have a less than sterling reputation among the vast majority of drivers. It only makes sense that drivers would see more Swift "goofs".....there's soooooo much more opportunity for "goofs" to happen and to be observed because, for one reason, there's soooooo many Swift trucks on the road.