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SWIFT getting a little too close to my house with their latest foul up

:popcorn:
 
Dummy! Not dummie! Proving my point!!!! Lol. Just kidding. But, it's not only Swift. It's England. And Prime. And several companies that barely train these guys. Swift is just the biggest and the most noticeable. Not every driver at Swift is a bad driver. I get that. But, in their case, it's hard not to throw the baby out with the bath water. I've met several damned good drivers with Swift. But I've met even more bad ones. Is that on you? Of course it's not. But it is on the people who run that company. Yes, they're a billion dollar business and much to the chagrin of those who hate Swift, they aren't going anywhere. But the truth is, what happens with their woefully inadequate training program will start chipping away at the stone.
My dream job, one that I would never get bored with, is to be the guy in a megafleet's safety department who has to send the wreckers to all of their f'k-ups, receive the text messages from the drivers when they're told to get pictures, and talk to the police and wrecker drivers on the phone.

I'd want to have underlings to take the boring calls for fender benders, non-fatality backing incidents, topped trailers in Chicago, etc.

I just want to deal with the situations in which a driver gets to explain how it's not his fault that his truck ended up on an ATV trail in a forest.

I want to listen to them explain how it's not their fault the truck ended up stuck underneath the yellow pole with the "9 foot clearance" sign at a McDonald's drive thru.

I want to be the guy they have to explain why I'm looking at live aerial footage on TV of their truck stuck between two pedestrian foot bridges in a park in Milwaukee.

And I want to be the guy who gets to listen to them explain why they thought it was a good idea to enter a parking garage with a 7 foot clearance.

It would never get old. :rolllaugh2:
 
Yes, they're a billion dollar business and much to the chagrin of those who hate Swift, they aren't going anywhere. But the truth is, what happens with their woefully inadequate training program will start chipping away at the stone.

...as opposed to whose "adequate" training program?
Watkins & Sheppard?

The fact is, there are few companies that hire brand new ink-is-still-hot-on-the-CDL drivers. Those that do are the larger companies that can self-insure and absorb the cost of the rookie mistakes and people who, while they were able to get a CDL, have no business behind the wheel of a go-cart, much less a Class 8 truck. The can't-dos have to be weeded out somehow and it can't be done until they show they can't do it. The only way to find out is to put 'em to work because, by all outward appearances, they can do it. They have been given the same qualifying documents as people who are capable. That's on the state.

Swift tries to mitigate this by running its own school, in addition to accepting applicants who got their CDLs through another source. Swift's school generally fails 40% of the people who start the class because they can't "get it." The other 60% are able to make it under direct supervision. But that's only to get the skills necessary to pass the state's CDL practical test.

My position is, if you have a CDL, you should be able to safely drive the class of vehicle you are licensed for. If you can't, you have no business possessing the CDL. State and federal governments set the standards for determining whether somebody meets expectations to acquire a CDL. If everybody is so concerned about new driver standards, it needs to be addressed at the testing level. Schools (company, independent and community colleges) will teach to the level required by the state.

As for the skill level of Swifties in general, we're not doing too bad. We're right about industry average overall and when you eliminate the new drivers (one year of experience or less) from the equation, our drivers far exceed the safety ratings of the industry as a whole. It's simply a fact that we have far higher percentage of new drivers than the general industry simply because Swift hires them.

They do the best they can to evaluate them, but you know as well as I do that once you turn somebody loose with a truck, you can't babysit them forever. At some point, they have to be left alone and trusted to do their job. That's usually when the stupid property damage stuff happens.

As for catastrophic multiple-fatality collisions, the drivers involved in those are almost always experienced between seven and 25 years, with one to two million (or more) miles behind them. They get complacent and overestimate their skills and the capability of their equipment while underestimating their reaction times and stopping distances. It's not the nervous noobs doing this. It's the old hands who look down their noses at the noobs.
 
Dummy! Not dummie! Proving my point!!!! Lol. Just kidding. But, it's not only Swift. It's England. And Prime. And several companies that barely train these guys. Swift is just the biggest and the most noticeable. Not every driver at Swift is a bad driver. I get that. But, in their case, it's hard not to throw the baby out with the bath water. I've met several damned good drivers with Swift. But I've met even more bad ones. Is that on you? Of course it's not. But it is on the people who run that company. Yes, they're a billion dollar business and much to the chagrin of those who hate Swift, they aren't going anywhere. But the truth is, what happens with their woefully inadequate training program will start chipping away at the stone.

You see, I got you to back up just a little bit! You aren't as hard headed as you want us to think you are! Stay safe driver.
 
...as opposed to whose "adequate" training program?
Watkins & Sheppard?

The fact is, there are few companies that hire brand new ink-is-still-hot-on-the-CDL drivers. Those that do are the larger companies that can self-insure and absorb the cost of the rookie mistakes and people who, while they were able to get a CDL, have no business behind the wheel of a go-cart, much less a Class 8 truck. The can't-dos have to be weeded out somehow and it can't be done until they show they can't do it. The only way to find out is to put 'em to work because, by all outward appearances, they can do it. They have been given the same qualifying documents as people who are capable. That's on the state.

Swift tries to mitigate this by running its own school, in addition to accepting applicants who got their CDLs through another source. Swift's school generally fails 40% of the people who start the class because they can't "get it." The other 60% are able to make it under direct supervision. But that's only to get the skills necessary to pass the state's CDL practical test.

My position is, if you have a CDL, you should be able to safely drive the class of vehicle you are licensed for. If you can't, you have no business possessing the CDL. State and federal governments set the standards for determining whether somebody meets expectations to acquire a CDL. If everybody is so concerned about new driver standards, it needs to be addressed at the testing level. Schools (company, independent and community colleges) will teach to the level required by the state.

As for the skill level of Swifties in general, we're not doing too bad. We're right about industry average overall and when you eliminate the new drivers (one year of experience or less) from the equation, our drivers far exceed the safety ratings of the industry as a whole. It's simply a fact that we have far higher percentage of new drivers than the general industry simply because Swift hires them.

They do the best they can to evaluate them, but you know as well as I do that once you turn somebody loose with a truck, you can't babysit them forever. At some point, they have to be left alone and trusted to do their job. That's usually when the stupid property damage stuff happens.

As for catastrophic multiple-fatality collisions, the drivers involved in those are almost always experienced between seven and 25 years, with one to two million (or more) miles behind them. They get complacent and overestimate their skills and the capability of their equipment while underestimating their reaction times and stopping distances. It's not the nervous noobs doing this. It's the old hands who look down their noses at the noobs.
The truth is, most of the training programs are not adequate. Doesn't matter the company. And yes, most major accidents are caused by more seasoned drivers. You're right there as well. But I hold to my guns here, If Swifty and the others would take the time to train these guys properly, you'd see a lot less of things like the OP out here. And that's not saying I will not help. I help these guys all the time. I was new. It's not their fault most times that they weren't taught the right way. The lack of common sense, yes, that's their fault and it's something I see at my own company. Like the guy who didn't set his brakes in yreka and let the truck roll down the hill or running into the back of a Prime truck. Stupid stupid stupid. No reasons for that. And that's something different than training. That's hiring standards, which most companies really don't have much of. This industry as a whole would do better if we looked at getting better as opposed to bigger.
 
...and I say it's not up to the hiring company to make sure a person is skillful before getting a CDL. Trucking companies do not issue CDLs. States do that. If an individual possesses a valid, current CDL, he or she should be able to drive the truck without further driving instruction. If they can't, how the hell did they get the CDL? The failing here is not the trucking companies. The failing is in the states' testing standards and procedures.

No company should have to train a licensed commercial driver how to drive. That's Watkins & Sheppard's position, so they don't have a training program at all. They have an orientation to show the licensed drivers how to navigate the company and then give those drivers keys to their trucks. W&S hires brand new licensees all the time.

If there is any issue with skills standards, it lies completely with the states.
 
The truth is, most of the training programs are not adequate. Doesn't matter the company. And yes, most major accidents are caused by more seasoned drivers. You're right there as well. But I hold to my guns here, If Swifty and the others would take the time to train these guys properly, you'd see a lot less of things like the OP out here. And that's not saying I will not help. I help these guys all the time. I was new. It's not their fault most times that they weren't taught the right way. The lack of common sense, yes, that's their fault and it's something I see at my own company. Like the guy who didn't set his brakes in yreka and let the truck roll down the hill or running into the back of a Prime truck. Stupid stupid stupid. No reasons for that. And that's something different than training. That's hiring standards, which most companies really don't have much of. This industry as a whole would do better if we looked at getting better as opposed to bigger.
I forgot to set my brakes my first day out. Nerves.

Shit happens. Happened again on the anniversary of my year. Security said I was the third one that day. Lol.

Doesn't make us incompetent. Just means brain fart. Doesn't help that these automatics have hill start assist and don't roll when you first take your foot off the brake pedal and are still in the damned seat.
 
...and I say it's not up to the hiring company to make sure a person is skillful before getting a CDL. Trucking companies do not issue CDLs. States do that. If an individual possesses a valid, current CDL, he or she should be able to drive the truck without further driving instruction. If they can't, how the hell did they get the CDL? The failing here is not the trucking companies. The failing is in the states' testing standards and procedures.

No company should have to train a licensed commercial driver how to drive. That's Watkins & Sheppard's position, so they don't have a training program at all. They have an orientation to show the licensed drivers how to navigate the company and then give those drivers keys to their trucks. W&S hires brand new licensees all the time.

If there is any issue with skills standards, it lies completely with the states.

I've been out here nearly 12 years and I still don't know what I'm doing but somehow I manage to make it work
 

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