Swift and Safety

Thanks for all the help guys. Hope things work out for me at Swift. But I have a feeling they may just be a stepping stone to bigger and better things once I finish getting my 1 year experience.

 

That's exactly what I'm doing with them. 9 months down!

 

On the other hand, I may get lucky and they treat me well and I stay. I'm keeping an open mind.

 

My company governs the trucks at 68 and the only overspeed they are concerned about.is either a ticket or being.over the speed limit point a to point b on your logs (paper). Now at tmc i.was.governed at 62, at 73 your fm would question you, at 80+ safety got involved.

 

You wouldn't happen to be doing your orientation in Memphis would you? The reason I ask, is because after arriving in Memphis on Monday, I'll be starting orientation for Swift on Tuesday, the same as you. Odds are, you'll be attending somewhere else, but I thought I'd enquire just the same.

 

Your truck is governed at 62. If conditions exist you may set the engine brake and cruise control to go down the hills at 68 without getting into trouble. However, if you hit the accelerator, you will get an excess overspend for this. The manual states that no trip should exceed 5% overspeed; however, I do believe that is outdated because if you get too many excessive overspeeds, you will get to go see safety and take some time off. I used to run 68 downhills with no problem. Just be in the habit of not touching the accelerator.

On another note: you rarely need to go faster than 62 to make appointment times, so why risk it?

 

We have set the following speed parameters guidelines:
Group 1 Company Drivers ** 62 MPHGroup 2 Owner Operator, Non Mentor *** 68 MPHGroup 3 Owner Operator, Mentor **/*** 65 MPH
The following parameters may be a violation of our speed policy:
Group 1 Recorded speed of 67 MPH or higherAny time between the range of 67 - 70 MPH (Excessive)Any time greater than 70 MPH (Flagrant) */**No coasting out of gear. */**Any tampering of equipment. *
Group 2 Recorded speed of 70 MPH or higherAny time between the range of 71 - 74 MPH (Excessive)Any time greater than 74 MPH (Flagrant) *No coasting out of gear. *Any tampering of equipment. *
Group 3 Recorded speed of 69 MPH or higherAny time between the range of 69 - 72 MPH (Excessive)Any time greater than 72 MPH (Flagrant) */**No coasting out of gear. */**​

Any tampering of equipment. *

This info can be found under Policies and Procedures of the Swift Driver Handbook on the Drivers Portal

 

What they don't tell you is that as long as you don't touch the pedal, the overspeeds don't record unless you're over the flagrant speed. Most of their trucks are set up that way. But the above is their policy right out of the book.

 

Just so everyone understands the reasoning behind overspeed ... the truck you are driving is governed ... you are only totally in control of your truck and trailer when you are pulling the trailer with the truck ... it is impossible to pull your trailer faster than the governed speed.

The only way you will exceed the governed speed is downgrade ... at that point the truck is not pulling the trailer ... the trailer is pushing the truck ... you can get away with it, but understand you are no longer 100% in control of your truck and trailer.

Letting gravity run your speed out in excess of your governed capabilty is a bad habit to get into.

 

I can't make the connection between governed trucks and "no longer 100% in control"... How about stop signs? Turns? Traffic? Even shifting!!! Every time we do any of that, we take our foot off the accelerator... And inevitably, we are pushed by our trailers in each of those scenarios, are we not? It's not just a governor that causes this to happen.