What is up with the Swift haters?

[Bored Insane]

There seems to be over the top Swift haters in this forum, I just wonder why? All mega carriers have their issues I thought, but is Swift truly exceptional?

I can't say that I'm 100% satisfied with Swift (or even 80%), but I've only been with them a few weeks, and still in training. Maybe I just got really unlucky. Few people that I have contacts with during orientation are doing well (going through his training smoothly), I must be the exception with 'dedicated' routes which has limited my time on the driver's seat. Even then, I don't think Swift is any worse than any other mega carriers.

I'm also getting lots of crap from one member in this forum, possibly because I'm working at Swift?

 

[Bored Insane]

If you get into trucking with the attitude that it's so easy a cave man can do it (thank you Geico) you're going to be in for a rude awakening once you get out there on your own.

It's not rocket science but it does require a good attitude and constant regard for safety every minute that truck is moving, and sometimes even when it's not.

Of course I didn't say the GEICO way or anything close to that. I understand that not everyone can be a truck driver, there are requirements. However, those requirements are very minimal or not much required to pass (compare to other profession). If you pass this requirement, you can become a truck driver: this is what I'm saying; it's not difficult to become a truck driver. Thus I would not tout that it's anything.
If you are saying 'it's not easy to become a proficient commercial driver', then I agree with you (just like in my previous post). Being safe, following rules, etc. all are requirements of being a proficient truck driver (like stated before). If you really are a truck driving professional, it's something to be proud of. But no professional would blow his own horn, he just is (and others see that).

Some members in here don't seem to like my 'attitude' towards driver's or truckers, and try to convince me otherwise. (but really, what does that matter?)

I like to see things straight as possible, good or bad, and I say what I see (I try not to say it too bluntly). If you conduct yourself as a professional (in my eyes), then I see you as a professional. Simple as that. If you are trying to convince me that you are a professional by name calling or otherwise acting unprofessionally, then you've just proven my point.

I have different background than all of you (we all have different experiences, or none are same, how can they?), so we have difference in opinion. I just don't see enough evidence that would change my 'attitude' towards trucking or truckers, or what I see in this industry.

I'm telling you that I don't have an 'attitude' towards truckers or this industry (that would be unprofessional). I really think trucking is cool and I like it. Yes, there are many parts of it that seem 'unprofessional' to me (almost all of it), but I don't really care as it doesn't bother me too much. I just try my best to do what I want to do, but reality is reality. I don't pretend to sugar coat it.

 

[Duck]

Clean driving record, no illegal drugs, and no felonies.

Basically that's all that's required to become a steering wheel holder.

My 90 year old grandmother has a clean driving record, doesn't use illegal drugs, and has no felonies.

The last time I saw her, she pointed at a picture of my dad & said "That's my older son. He's all grown up now & he has a son about your age".

About 5 minutes later, she told me the reason my (deceased) grandfather isn't around is because he's in the Philippines fighting the Japanese.

But technically she meets the minimum standards to attend trucking school and get hired by one of these big revolving door entry level carriers.



That's a problem that needs to be addressed, but the big fleets are hard at work lobbying the government to allow them to lower the standards even more so they can hire foreigners who can't even speak English because they'll work cheap.

The overwhelming majority of the people they hire end up leaving the industry within a year because they can't hack it.

They either can't handle the lifestyle or they simply lack the cognitive abilities and spatial awareness to operate a large vehicle and were only passed in the first place due to such low testing standards.

That's how we end up with trucks stuck under bridges, on golf courses, 100 year old pedestrian foot bridges, or on YouTube destroying a truck attempting to make a U-turn on a 2 lane road.

If your point is that it's easy for any idiot to get a CDL & end up behind the wheel of a truck, you're correct.

But if you think any idiot can actually do this job, you're wrong and YouTube is full of proof.

 

[ironpony]

One shouldn't confuse a low bar for entry with the profession being a trivial pursuit. It may look that way from the outside, or even the threshold of the entry, but it isn't.

 

[Bored Insane]

Clean driving record, no illegal drugs, and no felonies. Basically that's all that's required to become a steering wheel holder. My 90 year old grandmother has a clean driving record, doesn't use illegal drugs, and has no felonies.

These are not the only requirements, you know better than this. You need Class D drivers license to get Class A. She won't even have Class D.

...The overwhelming majority of the people they hire end up leaving the industry within a year because they can't hack it. They either can't handle the lifestyle or they simply lack the cognitive abilities and spatial awareness to operate a large vehicle and were only passed in the first place due to such low testing standards....

Do you have any data to support your claims, or what make you say this? It just sounds like your opinion to me. Edit: I think majority of people leave the mega carriers because they know they can make more money somewhere else.

...If your point is that it's easy for any idiot to get a CDL & end up behind the wheel of a truck, you're correct. But if you think any idiot can actually do this job, you're wrong and YouTube is full of proof.

What do you mean by 'can actually do this job', do you mean delivering goods to destination w/o damage to the goods and equipment? Why would you-tube have videos of people driving and delivering goods w/o problems? No one will watch it. You are most likely see the mishaps, or blunders by drivers. Think how many of these same drivers that actually make the delivery on time w/o problems that's not on you-tube?

 

[Southern Fried]

Well now, we all know that "Ice Road Truckers" is scripted and staged for TV.... but.... the terrain is real as a heart attack.

Have I ever really run loads over terrain like that ? Yes, I have. A load that somebody's depending on that really needs to go through? Yes, I have. Quite probably so have several other of our members.

See, that's one of the main differences between a driver and a steering wheel holder. A driver will use his (or her) experience and basic know-how to get it there when needed. The unusual is a challenge not an insurmountable obstacle.

Get a couple of years in. Deal with a few "whiteouts", stuff that ain't within your "comfort zone" and see if you don't have a little better appreciation for the job.

 

[ironpony]

Do you have any data to support your claims, or what make you say this? It just sounds like your opinion to me. Edit: I think majority of people leave the mega carriers because they know they can make more money somewhere else.

In fairness, your opinion is based on very limited experience. Yes, there are folks who move on to greener pastures. There is also a large cohort who leave the industry in the first year due to dissatisfaction with the job, not being able yo deal with the stress, isolation, separation from family, tickets, accidents, etc.

I can't give you numbers off hand, but in discussions with people at my carrier its obvious that this is a large percentage of those who drop out after becoming solo qualified in their first year. Industry statistics indicate this is the case across the whole profession.

What do you mean by 'can actually do this job', do you mean delivering goods to destination w/o damage to the goods and equipment? Why would you-tube have videos of people driving and delivering goods w/o problems? No one will watch it. You are most likely see the mishaps, or blunders by drivers. Think how many of these same drivers that actually make the delivery on time w/o problems that's not on you-tube?

@Duck means exactly what he's written. Getting freight delivered on-time, in good condition, reliably is a big problem. Perhaps you might question this, but talking with brokers and shippers reveals the magnitude of the problem. You can find references to this in industry literature as well.

 

[mndriver]

A driver or independent is worth more business to a broker than you will ever realize.

I have brokers that call me up and give me loads that must get there and pay handsomely for that service. Why? Because once they give it to me they know every step of the way it will be communicated WHAT is happening with the load, where it's at and it WILL be early. Not just on time. Customer service. It's about the only thing that sets one carrier apart from the next. One driver from the next.

If your reputation becomes one of a slacker or damaged goods etc, it will follow you and you'll be the one in the truck stop calling no panties on. The rest of us will be reaching up and turning the squelch up as we roll on by.

Be happy they are kicking you out for 48 state runs. You'll get some good training. Tonight, a nice reminder of the risk of running your tanks low on fuel. I'm talking pegged on the empty side. Accident eastbound out of crashville. Slow traffic for 8+ miles. My fuel stop was at the other side of the accident. Not even getting off the big road would have helped.

 

[Bored Insane]

A driver or independent is worth more business to a broker than you will ever realize.

I have brokers that call me up and give me loads that must get there and pay handsomely for that service. Why? Because once they give it to me they know every step of the way it will be communicated WHAT is happening with the load, where it's at and it WILL be early. Not just on time. Customer service. It's about the only thing that sets one carrier apart from the next. One driver from the next.

If your reputation becomes one of a slacker or damaged goods etc, it will follow you and you'll be the one in the truck stop calling no panties on. The rest of us will be reaching up and turning the squelch up as we roll on by.

Be happy they are kicking you out for 48 state runs. You'll get some good training. Tonight, a nice reminder of the risk of running your tanks low on fuel. I'm talking pegged on the empty side. Accident eastbound out of crashville. Slow traffic for 8+ miles. My fuel stop was at the other side of the accident. Not even getting off the big road would have helped.

I agree with you there 100%.

 

[Bored Insane]

For other posts, it seems members want to disagree w/ me. I agree to disagree there.
I'm off to OTR training. I hope it'll be for 5-6 weeks to finish off my training. Then maybe have some idea of what OTR means.

 

[mndriver]

The issue is being able to work your way through 100 different things each day that is trying to stop that from happening to you.


I could still drive to Atlanta tonight for a Monday delivery. Why don't I? I have to go over monteagle and the curves into chatahochy

Could I do it? Sure. Done it plenty of times. But I've got less than a couple hundred miles to my destination, plenty of hours to do it all and I get to do it in the daylight if I wait.

Operating at night just has inherent risks ( drunks on a saturday and deer among others) that if you don't need to take them, don't.

Experience brings that lesson.

 

[Mike]

Seriously, I have never felt like this was a difficult job.

That said, it will have it's time (very brief periods) where it becomes very difficult. I have arrived at various locations, mostly a long time ago, where it was next to impossible to get a trailer backed into the dock. This was mostly on the east coast, and a few nasty locations in southern California, where people helped each other get backed in, not because they were just nice people, but because it was the only way the trucks were going to get into the docks. Most of these places seem to be either long gone, or I just never go there anymore.

Beyond that, the only time this job becomes difficult for a company driver is when the driver is afraid to say "no" to a dispatch and puts too much of a load on his/her shoulders. Not being able to say "no", or being "that guy" that the dispatcher dumps all the crappy loads on will result in this job being difficult. I was never "that guy". I refused to sit all day, only to be dispatched that evening to get a load that had to deliver the next morning. I simply said "no". Somebody else can be the hero in those situations while I am asleep.

This is only my opinion though. For some, the skills involved in driving a truck may not come as easy. People have different skill sets and abilities. I could do this at the age of 12 though, so it's hard for me to view this job as being difficult.

Steering Wheel Holder vs. Truck driver? Don't even waste your time trying to figure this out. Most of the people who call others "steering wheel holder" are likely no better themselves. On the CB, it is usually the 5 year "veteran driver" who talks about how all the newbies these days are just steering wheel holders. I personally don't get any satisfaction off of labeling people like this. You have experienced drivers, inexperienced drivers, and you have unsafe idiots who need their license taken away.

Ultimately, how you handle the little things you never really thought about will determine whether you make it in this industry. Little things that have nothing to do with driving the truck down the road. Things such as making a delivery in the evening, and not getting out of the dock until midnight and learning just how limited parking availability is at that point. Another reason I don't drive a company truck anymore, I don't do deliveries at night

 

[Mike]

Operating at night just has inherent risks ( drunks on a saturday and deer among others) that if you don't need to take them, don't.

Totally agree.

 

[Rigjockey]

For other posts, it seems members want to disagree w/ me. I agree to disagree there.
I'm off to OTR training. I hope it'll be for 5-6 weeks to finish off my training. Then maybe have some idea of what OTR means.

Maybe. If you make it through the hand holding training stage and I am sure you will.
You will advance to solo and THEN have an idea of what OTR is.

 

[mndriver]

Pointing the truck down the white line is the easy part.

Reading 4-wheelers, traffic, navigating through Chicago, Dallas, st Louis with sudden construction detours, security guards with a power trip.

That'll show you what being a trucker is.

 

[Blood]

There are things in this industry besides what's been mentioned that are absolutely beyond belief.

A pal shagged a load from a drop lot into Chicagoland
.Receiver told him he was 45 minutes early for the appointment and couldn't enter more than 15 minutes before.
Nowhere to park so he called in and told them that the load was refused after he told security to get stuffed.
You'll understand that once you do a few Chicago deliveries.

If enough people would tell those sorts of places to get screwed they'd stop playing such stupid-ass games.


I dunno whether anyone still does it but when I started there were grocery warehouses that would make you take all the dunnage from a 4,000 case floor load with you. So there you are with a yard of plastic, cardboard, busted pallets, etc and nowhere to dump it before you show up with a clean trailer for your next load.

NOW WTF am I suppose to do?

I laughed the first time that happened to me because I thought they were joking.

You're only one of three people here (@Bored Insane ) who haven't been screwed over or sucker punched yet...
and that's only because you haven't started and the other two are damn liars.


Starting out you more or less have to hang in there and take it the way it comes for a year or so.
Nobody loves you but your mother...
and there will be days when you think she may be jivin' too.

 

[Tazz]

Save a Lot DC #4 Austinburg Ohio

The Pilot next door removed all of their trash cans at one point because drivers were just filling them with their dunnage. I am banned because I left mine piled up in their dock

 

[mndriver]

Save a Lot DC #4 Austinburg Ohio

The Pilot next door removed all of their trash cans at one point because drivers were just filling them with their dunnage. I am banned because I left mine piled up in their dock

Walgreen's DC in Rogers MN banned me for the same reason. Wouldn't let me out of the gate and threatened to call the cops unless I went back for their trash. I started to disassemble the gate to leave and they let me out. Told them you can't ban me if I refuse to haul your crap.

 

[Tazz]

I was driving for Titan and cleared the gate before they realized it (it was almost midnight). The next morning my phone blew up with John asking me WTF I did and demanding I go back. By then I had grabbed my toolboxes from Lakewood so I did not have room

I think I was banned from hauling the toilet paper by GP too now that I think about it.

 

[mndriver]

Then there is the fun of going to places like Kraft to pickup. "We're a USDA facility..,blah blah blah"......


Twit yesterday tried telling me what I needed to do to load. She couldn't shut up fast enough when I told her to not worry about my truck, but her facility. When I handed her the "USDA transportation guidelines for eggs and dairy" she got really quiet and walked away. All because a security guard put his nose into stuff he had no business dealing in.


The csr (customer service rep) and broker lit up mine and my wife's phone in no time. I had zero patience for the guard the rest of the time I was there.

These are the things that constantly happen every day driving. The driving portions become the time to recharge from dealing with the stupid.

 

[Blood]

Malone & Hyde, South Haven, Ms (Memphis burb).
2,000+ lb skids of sugar in a down-hill dock.
Driver U/L with a hand jack...
or so they said.

I pumped a skid just so I could say I tried.
Then I called in to report that "These MF's are crazy!!"
I sat there for about an hour until those asswipes finally pulled their crap off with a lift.
Took em about 10 minutes.