Okay, i finally have my own Swift story. Not something i did, but saw when i was driving. I was coming up I-40 from SC/NC, and just before the NC/TN boarder, there was a couple BIG signs saying "TRACTOR TRAILER TRUCKS NO PASSING" Not to mention the 4 big words painted in the hammer lane saying NO TRUCKS THIS LANE......so what happens? a fellow swift driver PASSES ME. not an O/O...but a company driver.

few seconds later, someone gets on the radio and says, "now there is a driver who cant read" and i said "yeah, i was thinkin' the same thing !"

 

Swifties do that all the time.. I've had swifties pass me all the way over in the far left hammer down lane where it clearly says no trucks allowed.. not to mention the time where a swifty rode in the middle hammer down lane all the way cross the bay bridge in maryland where it also clearly says trucks stay in the right lane!!

 

Wow...this thing is driving me nuts!!!

It does NOT MATTER WHO'S NAME IS ON THE DOOR!!!!! Anything I've seen a Swift do, I've also seen any number of drivers do, from any number of different carriers, both large and small. I've seen O/Os with thousands tied up in their business ride someone's tail like they have nothing to lose, as much as I've seen company drivers for any of the mega carriers weave in and out of traffic.

Here at CWTL, we have our fair share of lousy drivers, as much as any company does...nobody is exempt from that!

 

Thank you, TomB985!!

It doesn't matter whose name is on the door!!

 

While I agree that no company is immune to lousy drivers, some companies have more than their fair share.

 

A U Turn on that road or dirt path what was that driver thinking ? Im still in trucking school and I know you can't make turns that tight. What was he/she doing on that road ? looks like there should have been a dead end sign right at the begnning of the turn oh well dispatch and manger must have been real happy to hear about that one.

 

What was that driver thinking, doubleclutcher? He/she was probably 100% into a freak-out. Panic.

What was he/she doing on that road? Ah, who knows? Wrong turn (it happens), bad directions (just you wait), vague directions, misinterpreted good directions, directions from hell. Any of the above at night. Any of the above at night and after a long day. Don't count on 'dead end' signs being where you think they should be. Sometimes, directions assume you're coming from the opposite direction, so left and right are reversed.

It would be easy for us to say he/she should have backed out, but all we have to go on is that photo. Sometimes, backing out could mean backing out onto a highway or onto a busy street--don't even think about doing that without a ton of help. Maybe backing out would have meant a blind-side backup and he/she was afraid of that. Maybe he/she thought that there'd be a place to turn around if he/she just kept going. I'm not judging him/her or you. Stuff happens. Drivers get lost. Welcome to trucking. Absorb every lesson.

P.S. Since you're just starting: there's lots of truck-related clips on YouTube. Search "trucking," "truck driver," "Swift truck driver," "Werner truck driver," "truck wreck," "truck crash," "truck accident," etc. Google images will give you lots of pics. Enjoy. Safe trip to ya.

 

I'm willing to bet that it isnt JUST a swift driver who does the above mentioned infraction. Like one poster (cant remember if it was here or on the other trucker board) who says 'everytime he has driven the 54 express around chicago, he has always seen a Swift truck pokin' around in the hammer lane'. Kind of like saying you always see the same street light "red", so that means it must never change.

But yet today i saw another swift move. Heading to the Costco DC in Morris, you turn north off the interstate, and you cannot miss the enterance. SERIOUSLY CANNOT MISS IT. Well I was pulling out of the road from the guard shack and overheard one driver say to the other, "...you know you arent supposed to be doing that..." I look up to see a swift driver pulling a u-turn in the middle of the road. Imagine the suicide lane (turning lane) down the middle, and two more lanes on either side of it. granted there was NO traffic to be seen other than me, the other driver, and the one doing the U-turn. But still, why pull a u-turn on a road where there could easily be sudden traffic. that is just an accident waiting to happen.

i mean being a swift driver myself, it is almost somewhat embarassing to see that kind of crap....or to be at a shipper, and have another swift driver taking a half hour or more to dock their truck. Not saying i'm the best driver in the world, but it dont take me no 10 minutes to back a truck up. and i am smart enough to only pull a u-turn when i've eliminated one direction for a possible accident.

 

its called tunnel vision. you get it when you start to panic. I'm assuming this was a newer driver he found himself in a bad situation. unfortunately one of the first things that happens when you panic is you get tunnel vision. also pride can get in the way. this driver probably made this mistake because at the time in his mind it was the only choice he had. every one can see that he would never make that turn and i'm sure in the back of his mind he knew it too. he probably thought it would work "because it has to"

the lesson in this? if you find yourself in a bad situation. stop! calm yourself and collect your thoughts. make sure that what ever you do is not going to make a situation worse. often times these things happen because of a lot of little mistakes not one big one. it snow balls out of control.

not signaling you out or anything.

 

it takes alot to rouse those swift trainers from that sleeper!
obviously that first swifty saw something real scary down the road and not knowing how to back up and dont dare wake mentor just make a quick ufloppy. that other fellow wasnt real eager to practice backin either hope he didnt dump level 1 mentor from the bunk!