Okay, if Swift's the worst, who's running second to worst?

I had a conversation with an old friend today. (I haven't known him that long...he's just old!) We began talking about carriers whose drivers might actually be worse than Swiftees (fat chance, huh?). I'm biased because I drive for Swift but, in my limited experience, I've found that Swift drivers aren't really that bad...bad, maybe, but not THAT bad. We can't "hit the hole" with the ease of an old hand, sometimes our lack of experience shows up through bad decisions on the road and we provide entertainment at truckstops, etc., but,...is there a carrier whose drivers are so ill-trained that you always expect the worst from them? Just curious.

 

Werner, JB Hunt, Schneider, Celadon, Knight........wait a minute maybe I should just post a link to all the carriers that come up on the top of the list when you do a headhunter ap. But one I failed to mention.....CRST...Crash Roll and Stunt Team

 

When I worked at a mill doing gate security, I never had trouble with Swift. I had most of my trouble with Covenant.

 

Covenant yeah I forgot about them

 

I can't... Never worked for them, but their corporate terminal is 2 miles from my home....

 

It is says "Lease Train Drive" on the doors of the trailer I always use extra caution. Of course I almost had a Swift flatbed sideswipe my oversize load in Texas today. When I went by him he was yapping on his cell phone and as the load went by his cab he started drifting into my lane. I thought my rear escort was going to have a heart attack.

 

Fed Ex drivers come to mind. Seen more of them in the ditch than any of the others. In their case it's not lack of training, just lack of caring.

 

When I drove for Swift I decided to go around one of those pesky "Road Closed" signs. I went down a hill, then back up a "camel hump" (maybe 15-20 feet up each side) with a railroad track on top. When I got to the other side, I saw why the road was closed. There was a river running across it. Not just a little trickle leisurely crossing the road, a full blow river. Brown with rapids and everything.

About a half mile beyond I could see some city or town guys with a pickup and road blocks posted at the other end of the road. I'm not sure if or when they noticed me.

Here's where it gets interesting. The road I came down had steep 3' banks on either side and the only "driveway" available was a driveway a little wider than the car tracks worn into the grass. This driveway was perpendicular to the road with the same, steep 3' banks on either side. It was also at the base of the "camel hump".

Fortunately it was not a blind side back, so with plenty of G.O.A.Ls, and a lot of TLC, I was able to get the truck backed into this driveway. The battle wasn't over yet! I had to pull out without the trailer tires going off the side of the driveway or road.

Did I mention it was cold enough for ground moisture to freeze? Trailer tires weren't a problem, but about half way up this camel hump, with my trailer still partly in the driveway, my drive tires began to spin. All I could think at this point was if I had to call dispatch to get me out of this I'm done for. Lets try third gear!

I was just into high range when, I think the tires finally melted the ice on the road and I got traction. At that point I just went, fortunately the trailer made it out too.

Once I got back on the happy side of the road closed sign, I sat there for 10 minutes thanking my lucky stars. I went around that sign because I thought it was the only way to the receiver. Eventually I ended up going another mile down the road and found the town/city workers that had the other end of the road blocked. The receiver was not too much further.

Moral of the story? Heck I don't know. Swift hired me right out of driving school. My training consisted of a few tips from my "trainer" before he went to sleep. I would drive for 7 hours, wake him up, and he have him go over pre/post trip with me. Then I'd hit the bunk while he drove back, taught me how to fuel... and went home for 4 hours before we repeat the process. It wasn't training, it was team driving with cheap labor.

So you've got a new driver who, fortunately for myself and Swift didn't destroy anything, who was put out on the road with very little experience and (in my opinion) sub-par training. Don't get me wrong, he was a nice guy, but that wasn't training.

I'm sure my experience was not a-typical. With so many drivers, many of them new, their reputation is not surprising. Oh. This was in winter of 2003-2004. So my experience/opinion might be a little dated. If nothing else, hopefully it was a fun story.

Oh crap... When I started this post, I was the first responder...

 

i think Werner is second.....

at one time, long, long ago...JB Hunt was just about the absolute worst ever....then they stopped hiring students....

there will always be a company that'll provide entertainment for our dinning pleasure.. it's how that company pulls things together and straightens out, or not.

if i were the owner of swift, i'd fire off the recruiters and not hire students..period. i would have at the very minimum a 2 year and maybe up to a 5 year experience level.

many companies, Werner in particular had a 2 year minimum requirement..

but then, years ago, the jobs were plentiful, but workers were scarce. (hell McDonald's was paying up to $10 per hour..!!) but, way too many trucking companies were starving for warm bodies behind the wheel, and lowered their expectations for new hires. this was their collective downfall, and i couldn't give a flip about them or their accident claims. they caused their own problems by hiring poorly trained students. training hours have been cut, or not as involved as they once were. movies, tests, practice that i had to do back in the 80's went by the wayside when the CDL came on board and schools turned into CDL Mills, because now all they got to do is "help you get your license"...the smaller schools (like mine) can only do so much to properly train students. we do not force anyone out the door on graduation day. they stay with us beyond graduation day till they pass the DMV tests..this and our training separates us from the Mills...but who can read, write, etc, plays an important part in this too. Then there are those with incredibly bad driving records, criminal records, drug records, and those morons want jobs...?? can you see why now mega carriers are bad.?? they take anything....so they DESERVE all the BS they get.......

until the trucking companies stop hiring wannabe's and newbies, the mega carriers will continue to be an embarrassment to the industry.

but then lies in another problem..."how DO newbies and wannabes get started"...???

possibly an "Off-shoot" or "spin-off" of the major carriers under different authority, location, etc,etc, as far away form the "Mother-ship" as possible....???

possibly going BACK to the proper training, like for instance, we all had to take the DOT 66 questions test, open book mind you in the FMCSR, so you get to READ the sections that the tests are geared up to, and you'll have an UNDERSTANDING of that "green bible"...

possibly hours upon hours of the old DOT REQUIRED videos..??

you newbies had or have schooling easier now than what we had. we had to actually learn things, not have them handed to us on a silver platter....

 

Perfect example of a bad driver!


Why the hell did you go around the sign like it wasn't there? If the road is closed, then the road is closed & it means "DO NOT ENTER"!