Comments By Rob T.

Now that’s just plain f***d up! Why would anyone do that to a fellow drive I don’t know. That just adds to the pressure you guys are already under to perform your jobs correctly and effectively.

you could possibly have cut someone off on the highway and they followed you to truck stop, or it could just be a jack ass wanting to get views on his youtube channel by pulling your 5th wheel so you drop your trailer. Unfortunately sometimes you're a target just because of what company you drive for.

Now this seems to me to be honest and true. But kinda illegal.

that could be said for many things on the road. Most drivers will attempt to maximize their hours by sleeping at the customer and getting loaded or unloaded during their 10 hour break. Technically illegal to stay off duty for it because its work related when you move truck into/out of a dock and check in but that's one way you make more money out there. By doing that once they're loaded or unloaded they possibly have a full 14 hour clock to work with. I see it all the time at the grocery warehouse I work at. Many drivers from different companies limping around the property at 3 mph so they dont trip it to driving. I'd do the same thing if I was in similar circumstances. It's much harder now to skirt the rules than it was when brett drove, and it will be even harder when everyone is on the new ELD logs. Not even going to get into everything about that and confuse you, but it will track ANY movement of the truck so you cant move it off duty for the most part.

For the most part it's pretty quiet on the CB except for people blasting music which usually stops when nobody gives them the reaction they want. With winter coming you'll hear alot more activity on it.

I have heard stories about some of the "silliness" on them. It's actually one reason why I've held off so long on getting one. Big Booty Judy being a funny one I've heard or read someone mention.

I forgot about that! For those curious, Andhe78 had said this in regards to some of the silliness being entertaining

They’re not- just this morning spent 45 minutes in Chicago traffic listening to a guy say “big booty Judy” over and over.

I used the search function on this website for big booty Judy. Surely had I used Google I'd have MUCH different results

I hate to admit that I sometimes have regrets about not making them tell me no when it came down to better companies than Swift and I know some on here will resent I said that but it is true. Swift alone is great but not their trainers.

There are bad trainers, and great trainers for every company out there. We happen to have an excellent trainer for Swift on the board (Big T). Unfortunately unless the company receives several complaints about a trainer they're unaware of how he/she treats their students. That is why it's important to be honest when you're asked by driver development, or whatever swift calls it, about your experiences.

But who would you suggest I go get a job with? More schooling?

short answer? Anybody that will take you. Apply to companies that typically hire recent grads or have their own school. I dont think your previous driving experience will give you more companies to choose from. As I said before I'd be willing to bet you will need to redo school given the time away from the truck as well as the accidents. I dont think 5 months experience is long enough to qualify for a refresher instead of the whole schooling. Were you terminated from Swift or did you quit?

I agree. Post this in the general discussions portion of the forum for more responses. We have a member, Cecilia that had created This thread 4 months ago about it.

But if you actually did a thorough post-trip, wouldn't you be more likely to find something wrong then?

not necessarily. My first winter I'd done a post trip and when I came back in the morning I had a fluid leak that wasnt there the day prior. While you're asleep it's also possible somebody has messed with your equipment for their own sick enjoyment.

But should not the trainer take responsibility too?

No, you are responsible. Did you voice your feelings about your trainer and ask for a different one? If I remember correctly you are the driver who G-Town kept telling "it's your training. Own it". Nobody felt they were ready to be solo, or that they had enough backing practice when training was done. You hit trailers because you didnt GOAL. Had you GOALED you'd not have damaged the aerodynamics on the trailer, and you would have seen your trailer was too high. I'm not sure about Swifts school, but the private school I went to emphasized when hooking up back up until your 5th wheel is just under the trailer and GOAL to ensure your trailer is at proper height and the skid plate is present and not damaged ("bird one" didnt do that and luckily didnt damage the equipment, cant find the thread right now). What I do is before hooking to a trailer I'll back partially under it and before hooking ensure the height is good, skid plate is present and good condition, and verify I'm taking the correct trailer. I'd hate to hook up then realize I grabbed the wrong one! Old School has talked many times about how his trainer didnt teach him hardly anything. I wasnt around here when he went through training but I doubt he blamed any mishaps on his trainer. At the end of the day YOU had those accidents not your trainer. Sorry if I come across as harsh.

Welcome back by the way.

Thanks for the info guys. That's good that they will cancel routes if they deem it bad, I know some of those routes are LONG! unfortunately I seen quite a few sets tangled up in the ditch last winter, and seen even more sets going way too fast for conditions.

place and take full responsibility for my part but do place blame on the trainer for his part in the insufficient training.

That's a bit contradictory. You say you accept full responsibility but IN THE SAME SENTENCE blame the trainer. Blaming the trainer will prevent you from being hired anywhere so leave that out. Instead tell them what you learned from your accidents. If I read your post correctly you haven't driven in 2.5 years? You likely need to go back through school. I cant recall how long you drove but I highly doubt it was long enough for just a "refresher" course. Here is the link i think you're looking Apply For Truck Driving Jobs. You may want to Apply For Paid CDL Training

For the linehaul drivers here......Ultimately it's up to the driver to not run if they dont feel it's safe to do so, but does your LTL company ever have a mandatory shutdown and if so what is the threshold? It seems if it's an ice storm nobody is out, just curious what else causes your terminal to shutdown. Watching these guys pulling doubles getting whipped around the road got me thinking.

I could see getting away without logging a pretrip because isnt the regulation (not company policies) that you log pre OR post? The 2 companies I've driven for have always said to make sure you log yourself to "on duty" before doing the pre and post inspection, if you're off duty or on the drive line it will not count.

Off Duty inspections makes about as much sense as driving while in Sleeper Berth.

Maybe they have REALLY long legs?

Sorry for your loss Susan

Great work Donna!

David if there is a chance you will test positive it would've been better for you to wait. Unless it's a medication prescribed to you, the school will not allow you to operate their equipment if you fail a drug test. If you show up and dont take it then it goes down as a refusal which is the same as a failed test. I'm not sure how a failed test in school is handled, but theres a new federal mandate that all CDL holders failed drug tests will be put into a system and visible any time you apply for a job. I'm not judging you just shooting straight, in a federally regulated industry such as this there is no middle ground. You either pass or fail.

Those are some great miles!

Rob D says

I see the term backhaul used a lot. Does it just mean a loan returning to your original shipper?

most of the time yes, it could also be referring to a load going in the same direction that gets you close to terminal/ starting point which will help pay for the fuel rather than sending you a few hundred miles empty.

I don't seem to be tailgated much, what happens to me much more is moving into the left lane to allow traffic on. They speed up and trap me in the left lane by sitting even with my bumper. I'll slow down so they pass and I can get behind them but then they decide to slow down and hang out on the side of me. USUALLY turning on my turn signal and moving to where I'm closer to the center line (while still staying in current lane) gets them to speed off. I admit it isnt the most professional thing but it really irks me when I'm trying to be courteous and give them space to merge on then they're idiots. It only happens when I'm running against the governor, otherwise I'll speed up to 70 from the 65 I usually have cruise set at and then drop back down after im back over.

I'd be interested to know how others handle this occurence. I cant slow down too much because then I risk really getting stuck in that lane as everyone passes me on the right.

For clarification, you're only required to take ONE 8 hour break if you're going to drive after 8 hours. I took my first one at 7 and a half hours into my shift to cover the DOT requirement but my company pays us for that break, and an additional 30 minute break which is why I'm taking 2. If you try to take your break after 5 1/2 or 6 hours you will not need to an additional one even if you have a 14 hour day.

You'll definitely have a better idea once your out here dealing with it, the best part about electronic logs is it tells you exactly what you have

Today I spent nearly 2 hrs and 50 minutes "on duty" for pretrip and unloading at stores, and currently on my 2nd 30 minute break I'm logging off duty. I have 2:38 of remaining time available for the day and only 10 miles from the terminal so I'll easily make it back. One thing to remember is once you log on duty your 14 hour clock will not stop, or be full again until you have 10 hours "off duty" or "sleeper". Once I get to 1 hour of drive/on duty time remaining it will pop up a screen counting down the minutes. If i close out of that it will pop up every 15 minutes.

Another option may be JBS Carriers. I've talked to a few of their drivers and they seem very happy. Pretty much pull their loads from packing plant to grocery warehouses. Drop and hook at the plant, lumpers unload you at the drop off. In the state of Wisconsin they offer a weekly guarantee and hire new students, as well as those with a CDL but no experience.

Marc with some of these companies that have denied you, if they have their own school have you offered to downgrade your license and go through their company sponsored school as a permit holder? That may be something that's holding you up is being a CDL holder with a stale certificate and no real experience. I know you dont want to do that but if you're willing to run the idea by them it may change things. Either way, keep applying. We're all pulling for you.