Swift Speeding The Trucks Up!!

Eh, you swifties just want to stop saying "shutup Werner I'm friggen tryin"

IMHO, more speed equals much more danger. Plus I agree with the moderators here that it doesn’t make that much of a difference one way or the other. So can we all just do us all a favor and chillax about this? Be worried more about bein safe out there, gettin that ever important first year done and bein the best driver that you can be. I truly don’t know what else to say here.

Maybe, it isn't a coincidence that Swift is upping the speed ceiling now, as opposed to May through September. For us Swifties that drive in areas that will experience snow, and other inclement weather, it is a somewhat moot point. Safety first.

I kinda feel bad for Chris--I think he was just trying to post a happy thread lol. Nothing wrong with being happy about a minor change.

But I agree with the others, it will make little to no difference whatsoever. And to those that think 70 or 75 would be better for avoiding bunched up traffic, it wouldn't. Trust me. I deal with more morons at 75 than I do at 62. I drive either the speed limit (or a little under) or 3-5 mph less than the speed of traffic, whichever is slower. If I try to drive the speed of traffic, 4 wheelers cut me off constantly. Even on rural stretches with no one else around, the only 4 wheeler on the road will pass me and cut less than a trucklength in front of me.

My advice is to not run against the governor all the time. That would be my advice whether you're governed at 62, 65, or 80. Run against it when you can, fine, but if there's traffic, expect to drive slower. That's just how it works. Trucks don't have the flexibility to run with traffic the way cars can. We're just too big and take too much time to speed up and slow down.

Of course, I already know that most of the rookies are going to try to run 65 all the time anyway...

I had made up my mind that I was giving up on this thread, and when I logged in today I was surprised to see that it had over 80 responses, and still going strong. So, I've foolishly decided to jump back in here with one more thought for those of you who are excited to get this extra walking pace added onto your governor's limit.

I don't know if any of you recall this statement that I have quoted from my dispatcher before, but I want to share it in here because it is relevant to this discussion. By the way, this gentleman has over twenty years experience in the transportation business, all of those years have been with Knight Transportation, and all of them have been various office positions. He is currently the Operations Manager for the group of SAPA drivers that I am in. Here is the statement that he made to me once.

"Out of the fifteen drivers I have on my board, I will usually have two, maybe three, drivers who really get it, and understand how to make money at this job."

Now, what I want you to notice about that statement is that there is no indication of any advantages those drivers have over anyone else in the group. Those drivers whom he considers to be exceptional, and who are earning more than the others, are all operating under the same circumstances as are the others in the group.

• They all are governed at the same speeds.
• They all drive the same trucks.
• They work under the same HOS rules.
• They all serve the same customers.
• They are all earning close to the same CPM rate as each other.

If we can figure out what is it that separates them from the other drivers, then that is the thing we want to focus on when trying to advance our careers, or figure out how we can make more money at this.

In this business the drivers get paid by the mile. That simply means they get paid by how much they accomplish. There is an apparently elusive reason for that, and while it is the undoing of many a truck driving career, it is also the inspiration behind that very small percentage of the top wage earners in this business. Performance based pay is designed to trigger something in the individual who is receiving it that will motivate or inspire them to excel at what they do. Now according to this twenty year veteran of the transportation business about two out of every fifteen drivers "get it." So, if you want to understand how to make the most money at this, then you have got to focus on whatever it is that distinguishes you, or sets you apart from the others with whom you are competing. When you get three more miles per hour on your trucks limit, then so does every other driver in your fleet. That simply means that it means nothing advantageous to you - you are still just as average as every other driver in the fleet. This is precisely why I made this statement earlier in this thread...

I could list a multitude of ways that a professional driver could increase their income, but none of them would have anything to do with a 3 mph bump in their truck's governor.

If you want to excel at this career, or if you want to be at the upper end of the wages in this job, you have got to learn to differentiate yourself from the other drivers in your fleet. This is what creates your performance value.

I was gonna keep lurking but I gotta know it's been a year and I've read all the comments has he made the extra 5% he was gonna make or not?

I was gonna keep lurking but I gotta know it's been a year and I've read all the comments has he made the extra 5% he was gonna make or not?

My response to this? No one cares.

I make more money at Swift because I know how-to run my freight safely and efficiently not because my truck can cruise at 65mph now.

Silly.

While this may not drastically increase a swift driver's earning potential I'm still happy about it for a different reason. While I was out there training I got the impression that the other drivers from different companies were hell bent on not getting stuck behind a slow swift truck. So a few extra mph might mean a little peace of mind. If I don't have to spend all day with every vehicle on the road aggressively trying to pass me I'll take it.

Good point

Good point

Is it?

Going faster never brings peace of mind. It brings more headaches. You're going to be closing in on people more often and having to back out of it to maintain following distance or make a pass, which is more stressful and dangerous.

And to say people are "aggressively" trying to pass all day? Come on. That's just being dramatic. People are passing you. Aggressive passing would be if they're physically shoving you off the road or throwing rocks at your windows as they go by.

I'm doing pretty dang good governed at 62. I park myself in the slow lane and putt right along, stress free. All the while listening to ticked off drivers on the CB whine & moan about so and so being in their way. Life is too short for all that anger.

There's a certain calmness in being the slow guy lol. But I still get it done.