Insulted By Shipper

Topic 18191 | Page 1

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miracleofmagick's Comment
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So I went into the shipping office at a Wal-Mart dc where I was picking up a load. She asked who I drive for then asked what trailer I was picking up. I answered both questions and she proceeded to look through a stack of bills looking for the ones for that load. She couldn't find them. After looking several times and looking to the pick up number on the computer, she finds the bills. She looked at them and said but that's Werner. I said correct. She looked at me and said why did I think you drove for Swift? Lol shocked.png

How insulting! rofl-1.gifrofl-2.gif

Pianoman's Comment
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Great Answer!

Ok why does Swift get ragged on so much?

They're huge. I would say it's the average starting pay for rookies, but companies like Prime have considerably higher pay and STILL get ragged on at other sites. You just get lots of drivers who say they don't like being "just a number." And because Swift is so huge and hire alot of rookies, it is pretty easy to find lots of their wrecks on YouTube. We actually have a decent CSA score, but when you have 15,000 trucks, even a small percentage of accidents is a good sized number.

Our trucks are governed at 62 for fuel economy, so we are a nuisance to the guys who can go alot faster.

I think the biggest reason is that Swift (and other large companies that train, like Werner haha) are often dubbed "cdl mills." They are accused of training lots of new drivers and getting rid of them before they "have to" give them raises. Alot of the people saying this stuff actually believe Swift and other similar companies don't even have many experienced drivers. Alot of the people spreading these rumors either have never worked for Swift or were let go for "stupid reasons." Well, in reality, Swift actually has tons of experienced drivers, but you don't usually encounter them in the truckstops complaining at the counter with everyone else. Alot of these guys are on nice dedicated accounts where they're home more often, or they're out running hard, not wasting their time in the driver's lounge.

One of the guys on the Target dedicated fleet here at Swift (one of the yard hostlers) has been driving for like 30 years. He's been at Swift since before I was born. I asked him why he went with Swift as an experienced driver if they had such a bad reputation. He said, "I didn't give a s#$/. They gave me a job. As long as I proved myself to them, they kept me running." Now he's got enough seniority on the Target fleet he can get almost anything he wants. He said every time he asked for a raise he got one and he has his pick of a schedule.

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

  • Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
  • Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
  • Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.

CSA:

Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)

The CSA is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities that are related to commercial motor vehicle

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

EPU:

Electric Auxiliary Power Units

Electric APUs have started gaining acceptance. These electric APUs use battery packs instead of the diesel engine on traditional APUs as a source of power. The APU's battery pack is charged when the truck is in motion. When the truck is idle, the stored energy in the battery pack is then used to power an air conditioner, heater, and other devices

G-Town's Comment
member avatar
Great Answer!

Patrick wrote:

I am a rookie as well. But, I am not walking up to someone at night while they are going back and forth in frustration. If that individual decided to pull their brakes and actually get out and look, I would of got out and asked if they needed help. Besides, we are ALL taught GOAL. There isn't a school or company out there that doesn't beat that into new drivers heads. Do I GOAL every time. No I don't. I GOAL when I am having issues and I am unsure of what kind of space I am working with. I get out when I need to. The driver was having issues. They should of got out and looked. I help those that help themselves. Have I been where that driver was. YEP sure have, but then again I kept GOALing. In that lays the difference.

Patrick,...yes, you are a rookie, so not sure why you are in judgment of another rookie, clearly with less experience than you. Has it occurred to you the guy having issues backing was a student driver in training, maybe even a new student? It might have been his first night "teaming" with his mentor. You have no clue what the circumstances were with this guy entertaining you. Were you born knowing how to back a semi? Rhetorical, but relevant because at some point in your fledgling career (or in the military) you have been in this guy's shoes, struggling to back, likely very tired.

Yes he should have GOALed,...that's the extent of what I will agree with. Doesn't matter what company a newbie drives for, backing is very difficult to master and takes a lot of time, some more so than others. It has nothing to do with Swift and I do not like it when someone who should know better, takes cheap-shots at my employer or anyone else's for that matter.

Save this kind of crap for Trucker's Report, it's doesn't belong here.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

OWI:

Operating While Intoxicated

Tractor Man's Comment
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That is SO DISRESPECTFUL! If I were you, I'd LAWYER UP!!!

rofl-1.gif

miracleofmagick's Comment
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I know right?

Seriously though, how do you hear Swift when I said Werner? It's not like they sound anything alike.lol

Tractor Man's Comment
member avatar

My experience shows that the sharpest tools in the shed don't always work in Shipping/Receiving!

smile.gif

Trucker Kearsey 's Comment
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You want a real insult...I was getting loaded by my home...like five miles away. There was a water mane break in front of the dock so I lined up and pulled way way in front of it to open the doors and slide tandems.

This yard dog comes flying by "wtf you soon? You're in my way you dumb redneck southern hick."

He saw the MO on the truck.

I yelled back, "you can kiss my jersey @$$. I graduated with your sister, and she's just as nasty as you. Wait a freaking minute."

He then laughed and waved.

That is how we say "howdy" in NJ hahahsh

Tandems:

Tandem Axles

A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".

Tandem:

Tandem Axles

A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".

Rick S.'s Comment
member avatar

I'm sure our Swifties will arrive momentarily to debate this topic with you.

Rick

Pianoman's Comment
member avatar

So I went into the shipping office at a Wal-Mart dc where I was picking up a load. She asked who I drive for then asked what trailer I was picking up. I answered both questions and she proceeded to look through a stack of bills looking for the ones for that load. She couldn't find them. After looking several times and looking to the pick up number on the computer, she finds the bills. She looked at them and said but that's Werner. I said correct. She looked at me and said why did I think you drove for Swift? Lol shocked.png

How insulting! rofl-1.gifrofl-2.gif

You need to do your research. According to Trucker's Report, Werner is just about as bad as Swift!

Tim H.'s Comment
member avatar

Ok why does Swift get ragged on so much?

Terminal Rat ( aka...J's Comment
member avatar

Some guy was yelling at me on the cb the other day for being in the #3 lane doing 60 mph. The one and two lanes were ending in the next few miles anyway. He yelling "All you Swift driver's need to learn how to drive". I just started laughing and told him his old lady likes the way I drive. Not another word...LOL!

JJ

Pianoman's Comment
member avatar

Some guy was yelling at me on the cb the other day for being in the #3 lane doing 60 mph. The one and two lanes were ending in the next few miles anyway. He yelling "All you Swift driver's need to learn how to drive". I just started laughing and told him his old lady likes the way I drive. Not another word...LOL!

JJ

Hahaha

rofl-1.gifrofl-3.gif

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