I Cut A Corner And It Turned Out GREAT!!

This is going to take a while to explain, so get out your popcorn.

When my truck broke down a few weeks ago, I knew it was going to be in the shop for at least several days so I started asking for a different truck. My DM was gone that week so I was pretty much on my own. The normal truck assignment person at the Ft. Worth terminal was also gone that week so I started talking to the guy who was filling in. He asked me if I could drive a manual and I said yes. Yeah, I know, big mistake. So they eventually found a truck for me a few days later and I took it--a 10-speed 2013 Volvo. I haven't driven a standard since cdl school, but I picked up shifting again waaaay quicker than I thought I would. It's been a few weeks and I've got it down pretty darn well now.

I thought everything was going just dandy until I checked my RA score (Swift's "risk analysis" score) this morning to make sure my clean inspection was reflected on there. My score had skyrocketed!! "Overspeeding" was listed as the cause.. I called my DM freaking out, thinking there was some mistake. No mistake. Apparently, coasting is illegal. I face-palmed so hard I nearly knocked my head back into the sleeper. Yeah, Paul, great idea!! Let's do EXACTLY what they teach you NOT to do on the cdl test! I had been doing it to try to improve my fuel economy because this truck gets lousy fuel mileage, not nearly as good as the Cascadia I was in. I also didn't think anything of it because the automatic did it all the time and a former trucker I know said he used to do it. I'm so ****ed at myself that it didn't even occur to me that it was illegal. Common sense...

So we talked about the coasting and my DM told me to try not to get any more RA points. He's seen people get fired for coasting before.

Oh but it gets better!! Yesterday I bobtailed about 50 miles to pick up an empty. It was raining really hard too. I hate bobtailing in the rain so I took it really slow. Someone cut me off and I hit the brakes and skidded. It gave me a hard braking event. It hasn't shown up on my score yet so I don't know how many points I'll get for that, but I'm anticipating at least something.

I got my next run already for tomorrow, so that's a good sign, but I'm afraid I'm gonna be fired once the braking event comes through.

So what the hell am I supposed to do? Yeah this is my fault, I'm a dumbass, I know. In my defense, I've been super careful about keeping all my logs legal, permits up to date, not speeding at all, not tailgating or cutting people off, even wearing my seatbelt when I'm backing so I don't get a drivecam violation. And my service record is still 100% on time. None of that makes this better, but will it help me get myself out of a jam?

My first thought is to leave now before I get fired. There are tons of local trucking jobs where I live and I have enough experience for a lot of them. My marriage hasn't been doing too well either so I've been thinking about getting something local anyways. And otr is really starting to get on my nerves. I really enjoy driving a truck, but all this sitting for really long periods of time drives me nuts and I don't focus nearly as well as when I drive for shorter periods. I already talked to the student loan department at Swift and they said I would just owe them the remainder of the loan. It's not much at this point and it's interest free. Financially, it's not as good as staying but it is a good deal. And no enjoyment contract, like with CRST for example.

My second thought is to talk to safety and explain the whole thing. I doubt they would do this, but I could try talking them into lowering the points if I got back in an automatic and stayed in one. I mean, if I do that, there's no risk of me coasting again. Or maybe they would at least let me keep my job. My concern with this is that, even if they don't fire me this time, if anything else happens in the next few months, I'm screwed.

I didn't want to share all of this on a public forum but I know this is the place to go if I want to know how to keep my career afloat.

Paul, get yourself a chill pill. The coasting is probably significant, but the hard braking shouldn't be on you. (Yes, bobtail is actually more dangerous than hauling an empty trailer, but you knew that.)

Don't fire yourself. You have absolutely no worries unless you have to talk to Safety. (but you did learn things!) Once they realize your heart is pure, and you are a conscientious but inexperienced driver, they'll let you go with a serious wag of the finger. Then you go back to rolling to your first million miles.

Wag of the finger.

I was called into the Safety carpet for exceeding HOS drive time three times in one month. The Safety guy started the conversation by getting out a ruler and lightly "whacking" my wrists.

Paul, get yourself a chill pill. The coasting is probably significant, but the hard braking shouldn't be on you. (Yes, bobtail is actually more dangerous than hauling an empty trailer, but you knew that.)

Don't fire yourself. You have absolutely no worries unless you have to talk to Safety. (but you did learn things!) Once they realize your heart is pure, and you are a conscientious but inexperienced driver, they'll let you go with a serious wag of the finger. Then you go back to rolling to your first million miles.

I don't know. My ra score is 38. They called me into the office when it went to 20..

I recall something from Swift about there being no consequences for braking events. The thinking was that having consequences might discourage braking and cause collisions. Maybe it was a video. My point is breathe, relax, listen to Errol.

Paul- What is so great about this? Your header says you cut a corner and it turned out great.

Really enjoy your postings. Keep writing!

Paul, to be honest I think penalizing you for coasting is dumb. Everyone does it. Well, everyone that doesn't get penalized for it. I used to pop it out of gear and coast to a stop all the time. I used to coast up to the fuel islands sometimes. I mean, why the heck would I keep shifting the stupid thing when I'm coming to a stop anyhow? What's that going to do? It's hard on the drivetrain, it's a pain in the *ss, and it doesn't do anything to help you. It's pointless to keep downshifting to a stop.

"You're out of control when you're not in gear" they always said. I always thought that was dumb. You're not out of control. You're out of gear. If you need to pop it in gear you can. Big deal. You're still steering and braking, and you can pop it in gear quickly and go if you need to. And in 1.5 million miles of driving I can't remember one single time it was ever a problem.

I also drove an automatic and you're right - the automatics do coast to a stop. Ours did, anyhow and I remember that clearly because they used to say you're out of control if you're out of gear. Then they program the trucks to do it. So if safety tells you it's dangerous then ask them why the automatics are programmed to do it.

Like you said, you didn't know it was going to be a problem. I would be proactive and call safety. It's not like they don't know your score. They know. Call them and explain to them exactly as you did to us what happened. You drove an automatic, it used to coast to a stop, so you did the same thing with the standard hoping to save fuel mileage. You thought you were helping the company save money.

Listen, don't stress over it. IF they fired you, and that's a big IF, there would be 1,000 companies lined up to hire you. You have some experience now and you didn't even get in a wreck. The conversation would be:

"Why were you fired?"

"Oh, because I coasted to a stop."

"Ok then when can you start with us? We'll send you a bus ticket to our terminal today if you're ready."

Like I said, I would call safety and explain what happened. You obviously care deeply about being a safe professional out there. Coasting didn't hurt anything and the hard braking prevented an accident that would have been caused by another driver doing something dumb. Just make it clear that you love working there, you're concerned about your job, you understand that coasting is not allowed now, and you wanted to make sure everything was ok going forward.

Seriously, though, if they fired you for something so stupid it would be someone else's gain because they'd quickly and easily pick up a driver that's dedicated to being safe out there and cares deeply about doing a great job. Your company has dozens, if not hundreds of wrecks out there every day. If they make the mistake of getting rid of a great driver then that's on them. I don't think they'll do it though. They already have enough bad publicity from people making big mistakes and wrecking trucks. I wouldn't think they'd want a good driver going around telling people you'll get fired from that company for little stupid things like that.

Keep us updated and try to relax and focus. You know how it goes out there - if you let yourself get upset and distracted you're going to make an real mistake and it might be much worse.

Things will work out great one way or the other. Just relax and focus.

Paul, to be honest I think penalizing you for coasting is dumb. Everyone does it. Well, everyone that doesn't get penalized for it. I used to pop it out of gear and coast to a stop all the time. I used to coast up to the fuel islands sometimes. I mean, why the heck would I keep shifting the stupid thing when I'm coming to a stop anyhow? What's that going to do? It's hard on the drivetrain, it's a pain in the *ss, and it doesn't do anything to help you. It's pointless to keep downshifting to a stop.

"You're out of control when you're not in gear" they always said. I always thought that was dumb. You're not out of control. You're out of gear. If you need to pop it in gear you can. Big deal. You're still steering and braking, and you can pop it in gear quickly and go if you need to. And in 1.5 million miles of driving I can't remember one single time it was ever a problem.

I also drove an automatic and you're right - the automatics do coast to a stop. Ours did, anyhow and I remember that clearly because they used to say you're out of control if you're out of gear. Then they program the trucks to do it. So if safety tells you it's dangerous then ask them why the automatics are programmed to do it.

Like you said, you didn't know it was going to be a problem. I would be proactive and call safety. It's not like they don't know your score. They know. Call them and explain to them exactly as you did to us what happened. You drove an automatic, it used to coast to a stop, so you did the same thing with the standard hoping to save fuel mileage. You thought you were helping the company save money.

Listen, don't stress over it. IF they fired you, and that's a big IF, there would be 1,000 companies lined up to hire you. You have some experience now and you didn't even get in a wreck. The conversation would be:

"Why were you fired?"

"Oh, because I coasted to a stop."

"Ok then when can you start with us? We'll send you a bus ticket to our terminal today if you're ready."

Like I said, I would call safety and explain what happened. You obviously care deeply about being a safe professional out there. Coasting didn't hurt anything and the hard braking prevented an accident that would have been caused by another driver doing something dumb. Just make it clear that you love working there, you're concerned about your job, you understand that coasting is not allowed now, and you wanted to make sure everything was ok going forward.

Seriously, though, if they fired you for something so stupid it would be someone else's gain because they'd quickly and easily pick up a driver that's dedicated to being safe out there and cares deeply about doing a great job. Your company has dozens, if not hundreds of wrecks out there every day. If they make the mistake of getting rid of a great driver then that's on them. I don't think they'll do it though. They already have enough bad publicity from people making big mistakes and wrecking trucks. I wouldn't think they'd want a good driver going around telling people you'll get fired from that company for little stupid things like that.

Keep us updated and try to relax and focus. You know how it goes out there - if you let yourself get upset and distracted you're going to make an real mistake and it might be much worse.

Things will work out great one way or the other. Just relax and focus.

Thanks Brett. Well, this is the embarrassing part and why I'm kicking myself...I was doing it while driving like 60 mph. The automatic did it all the time, sometimes for really long stretches, so that's part of why I thought it was fine. They said I did it for more than a minute on three separate occasions.

Brett explains:

Paul, to be honest I think penalizing you for coasting is dumb. Everyone does it.

The problem is, coasting down hills is illegal in many states. There is an incomplete list on Stack Exchange.

But then again, what police officer will stick their head into a moving vehicle just to see which gear, if any, you are in?

You will be OK Paul, I doubt it's not as bad as you may think it is. Have you considered doing local with Swift or getting on shuttle? You should have enough seniority now to get on local and it seems like the Denver terminal is never short on local work. Hope you get some time to just relax and cool down. You will be alright!