[lilchemmaster]

When a Company's trainers don't do their jobs, when it comes to training, the Company should be taking responsibility for their trainer's incompetance and ignorance. However, they won't. Then, they blame everything that happened on the person that they terminated and blackballed, by putting the phrase "Unsatisfactory Safety Record" on their DAC Report. Which, happened to me. And, the Company that did it was Swift Transportation. Which, that should come as no surprise to any seasoned driver. Swift has one of the worst, if not the worst, reputation out there on the road.

However, what really peeves me is: "HireRight (formerly known as DAC) lets the Company decide whether anything should be taken off. And, when the Company decides not to, it basically screws a person out of having a chance at getting an opportunity to actually get trained the proper way. Because, compnies won't take a person with three accidents/incidents, even if the trainer was there when one of those acc/inc happened." I know that the last part is true, because I have contacted numerous small, medium, and large trucking companies to try and get a job. And, they've all said the same thing, "We want you to have more experience. For example, one company said that if I would have had, just, another 3 or 4 months of experience, I could have gotten hired with them. And, one company went as far as to say that I would need two years of good driving and a clean safety record. All of those companies say one other thing, "We here where you're coming from, when it comes to not being trained properly, but since you don't have more experience, we can't help you out. You need to get hired by someone and then get back to us when you get more training and have more experience." One of the companies even told me to get more experience and training, then they'd allow me to get time out on the road with one of their trainers. Now, "Why would I want to get more training, if I'm able to get properly trained by someone else?" That makes absolutley no freaken' sense.

What really gets me is that even the companies that train won't hire a person so that they can get properly trained. How do they expect a person to get experience if there's no companies that will hire them? It's the easiest way for a Company to blackball a person. Here in Iowa, within the regular business world, a Company can't tell another Company as to why the person was fired. They can only say that they wouldn't hire them again. However, in the trucking business, companies use the DAC Report to blackball former employees, because they know they can get away with it. And, HireRight, by not allowing an independent review of the disputed claim, continues to allow trucking companies to use them as the blackballer of the individual fired from the trucking Company.

It's a bunch of horse-hockey that companies can put stupid cr*p on the DAC Report, even if it was due to their own, or their trainer's, incompetance and ignorance.

[Fozzy]

Originally Posted by lilchemmaster

When a Company's trainers don't do their jobs, when it comes to training, the Company should be taking responsibility for their trainer's incompetance and ignorance. However, they won't. Then, they blame everything that happened on the person that they terminated and blackballed, by putting the phrase "Unsatisfactory Safety Record" on their DAC Report. Which, happened to me. And, the Company that did it was Swift Transportation. Which, that should come as no surprise to any seasoned driver. Swift has one of the worst, if not the worst, reputation out there on the road.

However, what really peeves me is: "HireRight (formerly known as DAC) lets the Company decide whether anything should be taken off. And, when the Company decides not to, it basically screws a person out of having a chance at getting an opportunity to actually get trained the proper way. Because, compnies won't take a person with three accidents/incidents, even if the trainer was there when one of those acc/inc happened." I know that the last part is true, because I have contacted numerous small, medium, and large trucking companies to try and get a job. And, they've all said the same thing, "We want you to have more experience. For example, one company said that if I would have had, just, another 3 or 4 months of experience, I could have gotten hired with them. And, one company went as far as to say that I would need two years of good driving and a clean safety record. All of those companies say one other thing, "We here where you're coming from, when it comes to not being trained properly, but since you don't have more experience, we can't help you out. You need to get hired by someone and then get back to us when you get more training and have more experience." One of the companies even told me to get more experience and training, then they'd allow me to get time out on the road with one of their trainers. Now, "Why would I want to get more training, if I'm able to get properly trained by someone else?" That makes absolutley no freaken' sense.

What really gets me is that even the companies that train won't hire a person so that they can get properly trained. How do they expect a person to get experience if there's no companies that will hire them? It's the easiest way for a Company to blackball a person. Here in Iowa, within the regular business world, a Company can't tell another Company as to why the person was fired. They can only say that they wouldn't hire them again. However, in the trucking business, companies use the DAC Report to blackball former employees, because they know they can get away with it. And, HireRight, by not allowing an independent review of the disputed claim, continues to allow trucking companies to use them as the blackballer of the individual fired from the trucking Company.

It's a bunch of horse-hockey that companies can put stupid cr*p on the DAC Report, even if it was due to their own, or their trainer's, incompetance and ignorance.

So how many incidents and collisions are you thinking that drivers should get away with before it is noted? How much damage should a company just eat for you? Why should there not be a system in place to warn other carriers that the potential employee has a record of running into things for no apparent reason? I hear this all the time.. "Gee.. there was no real damage so it should not count"..

[lilchemmaster]

Originally Posted by Fozzy

So how many incidents and collisions are you thinking that drivers should get away with before it is noted? How much damage should a company just eat for you? Why should there not be a system in place to warn other carriers that the potential employee has a record of running into things for no apparent reason? I hear this all the time.. "Gee.. there was no real damage so it should not count"..

When there are so many trailers on the road that seem to have so much damage to them, it's hard to actually agree with your point. It appears that the money received from the insurance companies don't seem to go towards fixing any of the damage done, especially the minor scrapes. So, when I see the fixing getting done, I'll think as you do.

Instead, I'm thinking along the lines of companies holding their trainers accountable, instead of the students that don't get taught what they should. For example, when a trainer is talking to his mistress, instead of his wife, for 6 - 7 hours/day, and not dealing with the person they're getting paid to, the student. I would say, "That trainer is stupid, incompetant, and has no business even being in a truck." Or, when the trainer is more interested in using the student as an "experiment", because the trainer has never trained anyone. What about not telling a student what a "relocation order" is, when the student was actually asleep in the bunk when the trainer accepted it. Or, what about when a student knows that he's/she's not ready to run as a team, and gets absolutely no say in it, because the trainer decides when it happens? Are those competant and reliable trainers? Is that what a company should rely on? Would the accidents happen, as offen as they do, if the companies start holding the trainers responsible?

Is it possible that there really are inadequate drivers out there, because of the stupidity, ignorance, and blatant disregard of the trainers to make sure that their student is capable of doing the job correctly? Isn't it the responsibility of the companies to make sure that EVERYONE that is trained can do the job properly? Both answers are YES!!! Beside that, you have no idea as to what type of damage was done or any of the facts. You're basing your judgment on a generalization of protecting the company's bottom dollar, instead of reliability of the trainers to make sure proper training is done, so there is a far less amount of accidents, by newer drivers. Companies should be held accountable, as well.

[RebelDarlin]

Have you read this?
http://www.classadrivers.com/forum/a...t-doj-ftc.html

[lilchemmaster]

I did. But, HireRight (DAC) is still doing what they've done in the past. That's where my argument originally started, about the blackballing that is being done on the DAC Report. I just filed a dispute with HireRight, on August 30, 2012, against Swift Transportation. And, Swift was the one that decided nothing should be changed. Therefore, I can't get hired by any companies, because of "Unsatisfactory Safety Record". That was the point I was trying to make. However, the conversation got changed, due to the praise for the company's bottom dollar, by Fozzy.

At any rate, I'm still wondering why the FTC has continued to allow HireRight get away with doing what they do? I understand that paying the fine is punishment, but it hasn't stopped the practices that they were guilty of in the past.

[lilchemmaster]

I filed a complaint with the FTC. Now, we'll see if there's anything done.

But, I'm still saying, "Companies should be held responsible for the incomepance and inadequate trainers. And, the fault shouldn't be put on just the student, by blackballing them through their DAC Report."

[LogBook]

someone need to man up here. if you hit something(maybe even 3 something) its not becouse the trainer dint have a bull horn and red flags to walk you hand in hand it was becouse you dint use your eyes and brain. did you get your class a from a crakerbox or a school. did not the school teach you to back-up,go farward and use the mirrows and that round thing in font of you. take you around town and on the big road. the trainer is to teach you how to do the job and sharpen your skills. you should know how to drive befor you get your class a. as for the trashed tralers the big comp. are self insured so why should they spend there maney on miner scraps....i mean look at who they hirer. there are company out there that will hire you, you just need to look behind the ones that pay for all this avitizement. but first ask your self if your fit for this carear, then ask if your fit to be a doctor, this job is not for everyony as being a doc isnt, you have to have skills to fit the job.

[lilchemmaster]

Originally Posted by LogBook

someone need to man up here. if you hit something(maybe even 3 something) its not becouse the trainer dint have a bull horn and red flags to walk you hand in hand it was becouse you dint use your eyes and brain. did you get your class a from a crakerbox or a school. did not the school teach you to back-up,go farward and use the mirrows and that round thing in font of you. take you around town and on the big road. the trainer is to teach you how to do the job and sharpen your skills. you should know how to drive befor you get your class a. as for the trashed tralers the big comp. are self insured so why should they spend there maney on miner scraps....i mean look at who they hirer. there are company out there that will hire you, you just need to look behind the ones that pay for all this avitizement. but first ask your self if your fit for this carear, then ask if your fit to be a doctor, this job is not for everyony as being a doc isnt, you have to have skills to fit the job.

I see there are three (3) issues you've raised here.

1) I went through a 240-hour course in order to get my Class A. Yes, we went on the highway and all of that stuff. It was 1 3/4 years after I received my Class A. That was my first job and, so far, my last job. However, for being short, I can drive a truck. And, I do have what it takes. I just need proper guidance and training, which I was supposed to be getting while I was with Swift.

2) You said, "The trainer is to teach you to do the job and sharpen your skills." That was EXACTLY the point I had already made. "My trainers were not there TEACHING me, nor where they there helping to SHARPEN my skills." They were there to collect a paycheck and pay attention to everything but see that I was capable of doing the job. Because, they can't be talking on the phone all of the time while a person is driving and still teach them and help them sharpen their skills. My student driver manager was informed of the situation that was going on with my first trainer and provided me with one that did just the same, when I requested a different one. In fact, my first trainer had decided to go with another company, even before I was done in his truck. So, that truly shows where his priorities were. So, that says alot about the responsibility that the company felt to ensure that their people are effective drivers.

3) I did "man up" and take responsibility for what had happened. I also agreed to the fact that I DID make mistakes. And, I had no problem with being reprimanded for the failures I had. But, for Swift Transportation to say that I had an "Unsatisfactory Safety Record" is going way too far. The mistakes I made were small compared to some of the drivers that they continued to let drive for their company. And, yes, they were MINOR mistakes. NO product (freight) was damaged. NO person was harmed or killed. They were ALL Non-DOT recordable accidents. And, there were NO dents even put in the trailers. If they would have never been reported, there's no way they would have known that they had happened. So, really, they were MINOR. See, here in Iowa, if you have an accident and the amount of damage is less than $500.00, you don't have to report the accident and it doesn't go on your driving record. Therefore, no potential employer (i.e. pizza delivery place) even knows that a MINOR incident had occured. And, they can't hold that against you. However, a Non-DOT recordable accident still goes on your DAC Report and thousands of companies use that against you, when they look at hiring a person. - Means: BLACKBALL

[Windwalker]

Originally Posted by lilchemmaster

I see there are three (3) issues you've raised here.

1) I went through a 240-hour course in order to get my Class A. Yes, we went on the highway and all of that stuff. It was 1 3/4 years after I received my Class A. That was my first job and, so far, my last job. However, for being short, I can drive a truck. And, I do have what it takes. I just need proper guidance and training, which I was supposed to be getting while I was with Swift.

2) You said, "The trainer is to teach you to do the job and sharpen your skills." That was EXACTLY the point I had already made. "My trainers were not there TEACHING me, nor where they there helping to SHARPEN my skills." They were there to collect a paycheck and pay attention to everything but see that I was capable of doing the job. Because, they can't be talking on the phone all of the time while a person is driving and still teach them and help them sharpen their skills. My student driver manager was informed of the situation that was going on with my first trainer and provided me with one that did just the same, when I requested a different one. In fact, my first trainer had decided to go with another company, even before I was done in his truck. So, that truly shows where his priorities were. So, that says alot about the responsibility that the company felt to ensure that their people are effective drivers.

3) I did "man up" and take responsibility for what had happened. I also agreed to the fact that I DID make mistakes. And, I had no problem with being reprimanded for the failures I had. But, for Swift Transportation to say that I had an "Unsatisfactory Safety Record" is going way too far. The mistakes I made were small compared to some of the drivers that they continued to let drive for their company. And, yes, they were MINOR mistakes. NO product (freight) was damaged. NO person was harmed or killed. They were ALL Non-DOT recordable accidents. And, there were NO dents even put in the trailers. If they would have never been reported, there's no way they would have known that they had happened. So, really, they were MINOR. See, here in Iowa, if you have an accident and the amount of damage is less than $500.00, you don't have to report the accident and it doesn't go on your driving record. Therefore, no potential employer (i.e. pizza delivery place) even knows that a MINOR incident had occured. And, they can't hold that against you. However, a Non-DOT recordable accident still goes on your DAC Report and thousands of companies use that against you, when they look at hiring a person. - Means: BLACKBALL

And, you were being "trained" in a "team truck", weren't you? I've said many, many times, that "team-training" is not training. There is absolutely no training going on when the trainer is in the bunk, sawing logs. I've been a trainer. There is no training going on when the trainer is sleeping.

[lilchemmaster]

Originally Posted by Windwalker

And, you were being "trained" in a "team truck", weren't you? I've said many, many times, that "team-training" is not training. There is absolutely no training going on when the trainer is in the bunk, sawing logs. I've been a trainer. There is no training going on when the trainer is sleeping.

The first trainer had us signed up, as a team, about 2 1/2 weeks after I was assigned to his truck. The second trainer had us signed up as a team BEFORE I got on his truck. Here's a timeline of how everything went, from 04/25/2011 (Day Orientation Ended) to 08/09/2011 (Day Fired from Swift). Not all days and times are inserted. Would be too long. Most important dates and times are listed.

04/25 - Was told that there were no trainers available for me, at that time. Required to take bus home and wait for Swift to contact me.
04/27 - Was contacted and informed that my trainer would be available for me on 05/01.
04/28 - My trainer contacted me and let me know when to meet him in Sioux City, Iowa, on the 1st.
05/01 - Met trainer, in Sioux City. Did just a couple backing tests, along the curb, behind Southern Hills Mall, where he was set to unload.
05/02 - Unloaded trailer. He drove to Sibley, Iowa to pick up load. When load was picked up, he had me drive to Portage, WI.
05/03 - Trainer had me drive through Chicago, Indianapolis, IN, and Cincinnati, OH. I wasn't even supposed to be driving in any BIG cities at all, for the first week, according to Swift's policies.
05/07 to 05/09 - Sat in Denver, CO, at Swift Terminal, waiting to get dispatched with load.
05/15 (approx.) - Trainer had us signed up as team. But, he wouldn't let me drive to the businesses, where we were supposed to be loading or unloading. I would have to switch with him sometime before we would get into the city or town. Then, he would drive there.
05/17 (approx.) - Trainer accepted a load going out towards West Virginia. Stayed three (3) days out near Augusta, WV, with HIS former trainer.
05/20 (approx.) - Trainer accepted the LAST load that we would take together, to Des Moines, Iowa. We sat in the Des Moines area truck stops for two days. We never did any backing practice or anything. He didn't want to be on the clock or put fuel in.
05/25 - We headed back to Eau Claire, WI so that he could have his hometime for the Memorial Day Weekend. And, I went and stayed with my uncle in Wisconsin Rapids, WI.
06/01 - We left Eau Claire, WI and headed to Inver Grove Heights, MN so that he could turn in his truck. And, he left me there to wait for my new mentor.
06/02 - I emailed my Student Driver Manager and let him know that I needed a new trainer, because my trainer had decided to go with a different company. I received a message back saying to contact my Student Driver Manager and we would talk about getting me with a "good" trainer. Because, I had informed him of the problems that I was having with my previous one (i.e. not accepting almost any loads for the previous two weeks.)
06/02 - Put in truck with new trainer. Was told that we would be running as a team, from the time I stepped into his truck.
06/05 - 2nd trainer was given "relocation load" from Tacoma, WA to Willows, CA. However, I was not informed about it, nor was I informed about what a "relocation load" was.
06/08 to 06/11 - Sat in Denver, CO while truck was in shop.
06/14 - Had backing incident, in Home Depot Drop Yard, in West Columbia, SC. Scrapes were put on our trailer and another trailer. Trainer was standing outside of the truck. I DID get out and check to see how I was doing, while he stood there talking on the phone. I thought I was doing fine, but ended up catching the corner of the trailer next to us, on the passenger side, with the side of our trailer. He contacted my Student Driver Manager. Then, proceeded to help a driver, from another company, help him get into his spot. Yet, he was just so busy talking on the phone, while I was backing up, to even help me out in any way, shape, or form. That was my first acc/inc.
06/18 - I was "graduated" from my 2nd trainer's truck.
06/22 - I was given my own truck. Had to pick it up in Sioux Falls, SD and head home with it. I received a total of 4 1/2 days of "home time", since I was "officially" done with training, by their standards.
06/27 - I was given a load out to Swedesboro, NJ. I really didn't want to take it, because I had never been to those areas of the Country. Neither of my trainers would go to NY, NJ, or places like that. However, my DM told me to take it anyway and everything would be just fine.
06/30 - Got lost out near Hopewell, PA (east of I-99 and north of I-70/76, in western PA), on my way to Swedesboro, NJ. As you can imagine, I wasn't supposed to be near that area. I had missed my turn east near State College, PA, that would have taken me on 322 east. However, I was a sign that said 22 east. And, I didn't realize they were both the same road. So, when I got down to Highway 30, I turned east and followed the road. I couldn't find anywhere to turn around. So, I followed it until I came to Highway 915 north. I followed the road. And, boy, is that one steep-a** road!!! Anyhow, I got to the intersection of 915 N and 26 W, where there's an old-time steel bridge. My tandems had been all of the way to the back of the trailer. Which, I NEVER was told that they shouldn't or couldn't be to haul a load. So, when I got to the bridge, with the tandems all of the way back, I didn't make it around the corner. I was going so SLOW that I only put some black scuff marks on the driver's side of the trailer. YES, the Safety Department at Swift's Jonestown, PA Terminal did look at the trailer and verified that there were only scuff marks on the side. NO other damage was done. That was my 2nd acc/inc.
07/02 to 07/05 - Truck was in Swift Terminal's shop, in Jonestown, PA, to have the Regen (spelling) unit looked at.
07/19 to 07/21 - Home for Medical Appointments.
08/02 to 08/03 - de Pere, WI to have Regen unit looked at again.
08/08 - Accident in Flying J Truck Stop parking lot, in Winchester, WV. I was having a hard time backing into a spot. So, another truck driver asked me to go around the parking lot and head over to an area where there were two open spots, next to each other. I proceeded to do so. However, a truck was parked at the end of the driving lane, next to the scales. He wouldn't move. I mis-judged the amount of space between a legally parked truck and his illegally parked truck. I caught the legally parked truck's front end, with my trailer, and did some fender and light area damage. The Flying J Personnel and other truck drivers were all in agreement that "had that illegally parked truck not been there, the accident would have NEVER happened". The Flying J Personnel signed a note stating that the illegally parked truck's owner had continued rufusing to move his truck well before the accident had happened. It wasn't until the accident that he finally moved his truck.
08/09 - Swift fired me.
08/11 - Swift reported "Unsatisfactory Safety Record" to HireRight (DAC) and had it put on my DAC Report.

So, with all of the sitting around, for almost two weeks with no loads and a trainer that refused to do any training during that time, and running as a team for much of the time, there was really no possible way to get adequate TRAINING and SHARPENING of my skills. Not to mention the amount of time that was being taken up by sitting in the Swift Terminals, either waiting for loads or having trucks worked on.