Swift As A Company To Work For

thanks for that advice, but will you get in trouble from the company for being late, or do they account for that come winter?? Just thinking i do not want to get fired because i choose not to drive on ice.

I know places like the northeast take care of their roads better then VA does, but i also know that 20 miles from where i live is one hell of a steep mountain where 64 meets up with 81 that get closed nearly every wither due to snow and ice and has even been closed due to wind. Hell in my jeep coming over Afton mountain the wind has been so bad it threw my jeep from one lame to the next i do not want to think what it does to a truck.

So long as you keep in contact with your DM about your ETA, you'll be fine. I had a load that I ended up being 5hrs late for due to weather. I had to sit and wait out a snow storm in Denver and my load was suppose to be in Colorado Springs. I sent a message in every hour with an update. Once the weather broke and I could see I sent a message stating im resuming my run and will be at my final at XX:XX time.

thanks for that advice, but will you get in trouble from the company for being late, or do they account for that come winter?? Just thinking i do not want to get fired because i choose not to drive on ice.

I know places like the northeast take care of their roads better then VA does, but i also know that 20 miles from where i live is one hell of a steep mountain where 64 meets up with 81 that get closed nearly every wither due to snow and ice and has even been closed due to wind. Hell in my jeep coming over Afton mountain the wind has been so bad it threw my jeep from one lame to the next i do not want to think what it does to a truck.

So long as you keep in contact with your DM about your ETA, you'll be fine. I had a load that I ended up being 5hrs late for due to weather. I had to sit and wait out a snow storm in Denver and my load was suppose to be in Colorado Springs. I sent a message in every hour with an update. Once the weather broke and I could see I sent a message stating im resuming my run and will be at my final at XX:XX time.

so i assume if they shut down the roads they kinda give you a pass then?? I remenber atlanta getting closed down and issuing a state of emergancy this past winter.

thanks for that advice, but will you get in trouble from the company for being late, or do they account for that come winter?? Just thinking i do not want to get fired because i choose not to drive on ice.

I know places like the northeast take care of their roads better then VA does, but i also know that 20 miles from where i live is one hell of a steep mountain where 64 meets up with 81 that get closed nearly every wither due to snow and ice and has even been closed due to wind. Hell in my jeep coming over Afton mountain the wind has been so bad it threw my jeep from one lame to the next i do not want to think what it does to a truck.

So long as you keep in contact with your DM about your ETA, you'll be fine. I had a load that I ended up being 5hrs late for due to weather. I had to sit and wait out a snow storm in Denver and my load was suppose to be in Colorado Springs. I sent a message in every hour with an update. Once the weather broke and I could see I sent a message stating im resuming my run and will be at my final at XX:XX time.

so i assume if they shut down the roads they kinda give you a pass then?? I remenber atlanta getting closed down and issuing a state of emergancy this past winter.

If an interstate gets shut down, (such as I-80 or I 90) and you can't find a safe alternate route, then you'll just need to send a message explaining that the roads are closed due to storms and you will keep them updated every hr or so. Theres nothing in the world that is worth your life when it comes to dangerous weather. If its snowing, I'll drive, but if I can't see due to white out, I stop and shut down tell I feel Im safe to drive. if its 30 min or 24 hrs. doesn't matter. Nothing they can do that can force you to move if its unsafe condition. but the thing is to stay in contact with them.

Really Daniel? You just had to ask.......

Would you really risk your life for boxes of macaroni and cheese?

And the answer would be...... If going to a customer then no.... If going to my dinner table then he'll yeah! I love Mac and cheese!

OK that was a bit of silliness but had to lighten up this thread some.

But seriously winter driving is no different than taking your jeep off road for rock hopping. You go normal speed when ya can but slow down when you must. It's no different. You are correct to worry about the winter but it's nothing you can get through. I have been driving beauty 17 years and I still eat the seat during certain whether conditions.

I will never encourage dangerous or reckless behavior but there are certain times when ya don't have much choice. Below is a link to my YouTube channel and the video shows exactly what I drove through and on during that night but seeing how there was 3 inches of ice covering all surfaces we, meaning my truck and the one that was following me, had no choice but to keep going. This was on 278 in Maryland and every second sucked but going slow, 10 mph, we were able to make it safely through.

When it's to dangerous to keep driving but to dangerous to stop

Daniel, I will save and print what you just wrote as a reminder. I was going to ask about MPG and bad conditions like snow and chains, and I assumed I would be told that I gotta man up and drive despite not making any money and the safety risks involved. I was scared to ask. What you just described is exactly how it should be. Drivers should never sacrifice safety and pay just to get to their destination.

Really Daniel? You just had to ask.......

Would you really risk your life for boxes of macaroni and cheese?

And the answer would be...... If going to a customer then no.... If going to my dinner table then he'll yeah! I love Mac and cheese!

OK that was a bit of silliness but had to lighten up this thread some.

But seriously winter driving is no different than taking your jeep off road for rock hopping. You go normal speed when ya can but slow down when you must. It's no different. You are correct to worry about the winter but it's nothing you can get through. I have been driving beauty 17 years and I still eat the seat during certain whether conditions.

I will never encourage dangerous or reckless behavior but there are certain times when ya don't have much choice. Below is a link to my YouTube channel and the video shows exactly what I drove through and on during that night but seeing how there was 3 inches of ice covering all surfaces we, meaning my truck and the one that was following me, had no choice but to keep going. This was on 278 in Maryland and every second sucked but going slow, 10 mph, we were able to make it safely through.

When it's to dangerous to keep driving but to dangerous to stop

so there was no place for you to stop???

Really Daniel? You just had to ask.......

Would you really risk your life for boxes of macaroni and cheese?

And the answer would be...... If going to a customer then no.... If going to my dinner table then he'll yeah! I love Mac and cheese!

OK that was a bit of silliness but had to lighten up this thread some.

But seriously winter driving is no different than taking your jeep off road for rock hopping. You go normal speed when ya can but slow down when you must. It's no different. You are correct to worry about the winter but it's nothing you can get through. I have been driving beauty 17 years and I still eat the seat during certain whether conditions.

I will never encourage dangerous or reckless behavior but there are certain times when ya don't have much choice. Below is a link to my YouTube channel and the video shows exactly what I drove through and on during that night but seeing how there was 3 inches of ice covering all surfaces we, meaning my truck and the one that was following me, had no choice but to keep going. This was on 278 in Maryland and every second sucked but going slow, 10 mph, we were able to make it safely through.

When it's to dangerous to keep driving but to dangerous to stop

so there was no place for you to stop???

All the ramps in that area go up Hill when exiting. And you seen what the shoulders of the road looked like. With ice that bad if I were to take the exit ramps I could have easily gotten stuck on the ramp and if I would have took the shoulder to pull off on might have slide off the road into a ditch. Since the weather was like it was and with no easy alterative the best thing to do was to keep moving. Not the easiest choice to make but one that I had to make.

There will be times during your trucking career where you will have to choose between two bad decisions and pray the one you chose will get you through.

You can see by the shaking camera how rough the road was. And no the was not camera vibration. The entire truck was shaking that bad. The Ice was so packed that the snow plows were only cutting up the Ice and making things worse. Luckily enough I have spent years driving on I-80 and I-90 where there are times you will be driving on ice cause the off ramps are just to slipper. Slow it the word of the day in bad weather.

Eckoh, the biggest thing to keep in mind is that the first year is simply about surviving and learning. You play it safe, you take it slow, you learn all you can. So if you hit weather you're not comfortable driving in, you park it. Simple as that. As time goes on you'll get better at handling that rig and judging the conditions so you'll be able to push through in weather that a lot of people wouldn't. But in the beginning it will be the opposite. You should be parking it if you're uncomfortable with the conditions regardless of how many others are pushing through.

As far as getting your training just before winter - if it really concerns you and you have the luxury of waiting until spring there's nothing wrong with that at all! I was born and raised in the snowbelt outside of Buffalo, NY so I've spent my life driving in it. If you said you were waiting til spring I would say that makes perfect sense. If you said you're ready to do it now I'd say go for it and take it slow when the weather hits.

That's one thing about trucking - you have to be strong enough to make the right decisions for yourself...decisions you feel are going to give you the best chance at being safe and successful out there. Most importantly, you can't let the decisions of others force you into doing something you're not comfortable with. This situation is a great example of that. If you're comfortable getting started in the fall then go for it. If you think it's unwise then wait. There is no right or wrong answer. There are only safe or unsafe outcomes and that's all you should be concerned with. I'm confident that people can get going in the fall, start their solo career in the winter, and do it safely. It would be a bit safer getting some experience first of course, but as long as you make safe, smart decisions you can do it either way.