Swift Is Good

It's really not that big a deal to be honest. IMO, keeps the bears from messing with ya. In the east and midwest, most states are in the 55 to 65 zone anyways. All these Conway, Fed Ex and countless other co's that have drivers flying through mountains etc. are a lot more dangerous than slow OTR trux.

When I look at a pre-plan, I always assume it takes 2 hours for every 100 miles in a swift truck, and usually works out well for me. Only had one late delivery so far, and that was because the shipper loaded too heavy and had to take some off.

If I can't get there with the 50 mph avg in the pu and del window (depending on terrain, if it's all open and flat, I know I can make a tight delivery as long as there's no major weather or traffic delays which wouldn't get me a service failure anyways as it's beyond my control) I turn the load down.

For example, they wanted me to go from Columbus, OH to the Cleveland area to pu a load and get it down to Charlotte, NC the next morning running 77 all the way. No way in hell I could've delivered that load on time legally (not even close) and if you've run that route in a Swift truck, you know what I mean.

The slower speed governed just might make a good excuse to get out of some of those hated JIT loads! You hear a lot of truckers brag that they can bury the needle on their shiny trucks, but a lot of times (especially in the winter) these are the ones you see in the ditch with their freight all over the road.

I can understand pushing it on a nice flat, open road, but many of these drivers out there push it under conditions that are unsafe to do so and many times, they pay the price. Just run 80 a few times in the winter and you'll see what I mean.

Coming down 35 from Minneapolis to 80 one day, I must have counted about 40 cars and about 15 trux (of which only one was a swifty) that were all wrecked from running too fast on slick roads. Me, I was doing about 30 mph and got through it just fine. Either slow way the hell down or park it when it gets that bad folks!

65 is just fine in most places. 62 isn't that much difference and it'll keep your record clear of speeding tickets (in most states).

 

My beef is that they renegged on allowing pets in the rigs the very week I signed on. The hell do they expect us to do with a dog when we live in the truck?

 

Think 62 is slow? Know that when I pulled my very short stint at the ol' blue and white outta Phoenix, the company trucks were set at 57. You guys who think 62 is slow need to realize.....

 

Swift =Slow wagon in fast traffic,or,Sure wish I had a fast truck.

 

Layover is when there is no freight, and you do not receieve a dispatch, or can not pick up, for 24 hours. Its paid in 24 hour increments.

 

Sorry We're Insured For That

Sure Wish I Finished Training

See What I Fubar'd Today

and my favorite......

Swing Wide It's a F'n Trailer

Swift ain't a bad place to be though IMO. They take care of me. Just wish the pay was a little better (most people would say that anywhere though).

 

Thats pretty funny...A Swift driver hatin' on the big shiny trucks....How about you scoping out Swift's safety record,how many crashes,how many they've killed and injured this year before you start talking trash about the BIG shiny trucks.Just let me know if you need the link.

 

Actually Swift's safety record is better than many of the supposedly good companies.

 

Word around the terminal in Lewiston is we're beginning a mass cleanout of the people with the worst safety records and replacing them with fresh trainees. Might end up backfiring, or maybe they're just trying to get cheaper labor.

 

Swift's 24 month accident record :18,677 power units=62 killed-656 injured-1332 towed-2050 incidents "REPORTED" to fmcsa

J.B.Hunt:11,874 power units=32 killed-389 injured-701 towed-1102 incidents "REPORTED"

Werner:10,618 power units=42 killed-557 injured-1033 towed-1632 "REPORTED"

C.R.England:3,615 power units=13 killed-149 injured-288 towed-450 "REPORTED"

Covenant:3,063 power units=14 killed-148 injured-231 towed-343 "REPORTED"

Out of just five companies you have:47,874 power units=163 killed,1899 injured,3585 towed away,5577 "REPORTED"incidents.Statistically speaking,IMHO,you would be thousands of times safer walking thru Detroit's baddest "hood" at midnight with $100 dollar bills taped all over your body than driving around one of these companies.

The way these numbers are calculated don't show the whole truth neither.They record the highest level of severity which means if 1 is killed ,6 injured and the vehicle is towed it records as 1 fatality with no follow ups on those who died later as a result,ended up in a nursing home,families care etc etc.So these numbers could easily be 5 to 10 times higher as far as injuries and tow aways are concerned plus how many thousands of incidents go UNREPORTED(has to be reported to be counted)On top of that, how many thousands of hoods and fenders do you think they have torn off of BIG shiny trucks in truck stops and pickle parks as they try to leave?IMHO, before a greenhorn (rubbergearsnextyear)goes to popping off about the big shiny triple digit trucker's,he might do well to check his facts first.