[Hawkjr]

ok clown what does my message say... "WHEN GOING DOWN THE INTERSTATE......." AGAIN GOING DOWN THE INTERSTATE... I myself Cut my CB down or off once i get into truck stops, my distributing center or backing up...but why would i laugh at someone who drives for swift or someone who gets out their truck to look at something they need to clear?? is that your mindset based on truckers?? your just a clown..

and also you come on here to ask questions, so when someone who has experience, and alot more than you don't give you the answer you want to here you act like a big baby!! dude get real

Just go ahead and get your fifteen mins of fame in trucking and walk away and quit like majority of the newbies that goes to swift in the next few months!!! because it sounds like your already primed for it!!! (no knock on syscronix or dorb_4u)

[Kevin0915]

i come on here asking questions, then when i get a responce that is ignorant, tell me why i shouldn't remind posters this is a message board to HELP drivers, not put them down because they are new or drive for a certian company.

As far as the CB goes, i was told before i even entered school, another driver told me, "...whatever you do, keep your CB off for the first year...". He is also the driver who told me get my two years in with swift, then drive for someone else to make better money. Already planned that, but i will listen to him.

Again, you have this pre-judged mindset about me based on who i drive for and/or where i went to school. Bummer. But if you think you know me, and think i will quit in the next few months, based upon words on a message board, i think the only clown you'll find is the one looking back at you when u look in a mirror. It is kinda funny how you think that ONLY drivers who quit in the first few months ONLY drive for swift. You're trying to tell me that other companies dont lose drivers in the first 2-3 months? LOL....dumb.

We'll see where I am in a couple months....

[Colts Fan]

You obviously have a problem with reading comprehension. I don't see anywhere on here where anyone has judged you based on your starting company or school. That must be some sort of Freudian issue you have with Swift. People judge you based on your character.

I don't know what you can do behind the wheel. But from what you have said you will listen to guy who told you to "keep the CB off for the first year." Why would you do that? Well, I guess if you are a really terrible driver who can't back then I guess I'd heed that advice.

Anybody's opinion of me is like the 'fog' that flows out of a reefer trailer when you open the doors.....it disappears.

The fog seems to linger with you. :rolleyes:

[Kevin0915]

You obviously are the one who can't understand that i could care less about others opinion, or 'how they judge me'. And you clearly skip all the posts from members saying how more 'bad' a driver is because they drive for swift. isnt that half the reason why most drivers out there show no respect to anybody in a swift truck? they know it is a 'training company', and most of the drivers have less than a year or two experience. i can tell which posts have that underlying tone and which ones dont. But until you actually see me drive, how can anybody 'judge' how safe or unsafe i am??

as far as an earlier remark goes, how 'dangerous' i am or how complacent i 'will become', i hardly will become complacent. I will always have respect for the 40 tons of weight i'm controling rolling down the road. I know my mentor thinks i am 'too slow' sometimes, but i dont really care at this point. You can always do things 'too slow' as often as you want. you only get one time to drive 'too fast'.

i've got all i can get out of this thread, so i am done watching it anymore. thank you to those who honestly gave me helpful information, you know who you are. as for the rest of you, who just like to get on here, and harass, bait and troll, just keep that hate built up inside you about swift...and feel your blood pressure build everytime you see a truck with a swift trailer on it. just remember what goes around.....really goes around.

[Kevin0915]

...you will listen to guy who told you to "keep the CB off for the first year." Why would you do that? Well, I guess if you are a really terrible driver who can't back then I guess I'd heed that advice.

I will listen to the guy who told me to keep the CB off. but remember i said i would turn it on when trying to find out about backed up traffic, etc.? think you're the one who has a problem with comprehending. Why would i want the CB on, to hear all the flack i get just because i pull forward once or twice?? I was watching a swift guy pull forward 8 times.....so what. Sure it took him 5 minutes to park it, but s/he did it. Why would i get on the CB to show everyone listening how ignorant and unprofessional i am? Just because it might be 'funny'? or one would feel the need to 'join in'? Too bad i know i graduated high school a LONG LONG time ago.

You know when the best time to back is?? NEVER. if you dont need to back why do it? I am sure i would get grief from other drivers who would think i'm a bad driver just because i found a spot i could 'pull thru' rather than having to back.

And just because a driver cant back, dont classify him as a terrible driver. For your information, i passed my state test, with 3 weeks experience, with 1 point. I scored a zero on the 45* and 90* backs. But too bad how well you did on your tests dont get posted on your CDL when you get it, huh. I've got the same piece of plastic in my back pocket (minus the doubles and triples endorcement) as most every other driver. i have 18 wheels on my tractor-trailer...just like most other drivers.

[headborg]

Where as I agree with the statement to "limit" the backing, if there's only two spots open in the whole parking lot- one being a some-what straight back( some room to maneuver ) and a tight pull-through between multi rows of trucks. I'd advise going with the back. Seen too many newbies scraping and damaging other trucks trying to get in that 1 pull-through. Besides with idle air taking over- there's less and less "pull through" spots these days.

[Kevin0915]

That is what your mirrors are for. As someone said on another truckers board, if you cannot pull your truck and trailer thru a fuel bay without banging into something, you dont need to be driving a big truck. Kinda the same goes for pulling thru. If you can't pull thru without hitting something, you need to pack it up. Gotta make sure your trailer is straight and watch your mirrors. If you cant pull a truck forward 100-150 feet and keep it in your spot, something is wrong.

[Hawkjr]

you have taken one example and blown it way!!!!! out of proportion!!! I used an example and you have just clearly taken it the wrong way.. hell most drivers even don't have a cb or they keep it turned down or off... So listen it was a damn example shut up already, i can care less if you have one or not of if u even it use it, its just one less idiot over 19..

Second, what do you mean no one shows respect to a swift driver?? I've never heard that one in my life.. I've heard drivers say swift is one of the last companies they will start they career with but why would they dislike other drivers for it?? I've never heard my cousin talk about how at a Small ass Pilot (we know how small those things are) that other truckers were laughing at him because he was swift driver putting a truck in a small space. I haven't seen people ragging on Dorb4_U and Syscronxix cause they drive for swift.. MAYBE YOU NEED TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR and see why you might hear people rag on swift!!

I'm telling you, i hope you didn't go to swift training school because you will be paying that 5,000 dollars back pretty soon cause you are destine to fail!!!

[Kevin0915]

Originally Posted by Hawkjr

I'm telling you, i hope you didn't go to swift training school because you will be paying that 5,000 dollars back pretty soon cause you are destine to fail!!!

DAD, IS THAT YOU ???

whos getting all upset now. you open your mouth and show just how ignorant you really are. Ever see "Smokey and the Bandit"? I like that scene when Bandit is on the CB and talking to Justice, and he says, "...do the letters "F.O." mean anything to you?" man, i like that scene. what do you think?? You clearly get your information from the wrong place. Swift school is $3900, and as long as i stay with Swift for a year, it wont cost me a thing. We will see where i am in a year. I've been told that drivers will not make it 2-3 months before they quit. But i am willing to bet there are signs they should have quit a long time ago before they actually DO quit. Funny how i havent come close to seeing any 'signs' yet. I am happy with my current situation.....that is all that really matters. Or should i think about quitting and look at getting on with another company just because someone tells me it would be a good idea? you think i should care about others opinion of me?? hardly.

Funny how i took your 'example' and kept it totally in context. you should really use spell check, or take bigger breaths in and out, to help lower your blood pressure and heart rate when posting a responce. you clearly either type too fast, or are so in a hurry to get what you're thinking on the computer before you forget about what you wanna say.

Keep watching Dr. Phil and Oprah. Heck, throw in a few episodes of Maury so you can feel better about your life. all the while ill be driving, wheels turnin, and earnin'....

[golfhobo]

I have tried to stay out of this one for a variety of reasons, but I READ the whole thing. I understood Headborg's post that "supposedly" started the fray, and it was in NO WAY meant to offend or question the O.P's abilities. It was ALL about how many miles the Training truck might have made on a certain day due to circumstances.

Now.... turning your CB on AFTER you find yourself past the last exit and stuck behind accident traffic is a mistake. You can make that mistake if you want, but I won't. You can turn it off in the T/S parking lot so as not to hear the "stuff" if you want, but ONE of those guys might be warning you of a hazard that can end your career. Just toughen up and "monitor" the CB without taking everything personally.

The best time to "back" is every dang chance you get, as a newbie, for the practice. You can't get good at bumping docks if you always pull through. Now... maybe you plan to pull doubles (not for swift.) In that case, when you try to stop in that crowded Pilot, you will be THANKFUL for the guys who took the time to back in a slot and LEFT you that pull through.

Also, there's almost never such a thing as a straight pull through. You will almost always be dragging your trailer in at an angle, one that is increased by the distance your tandems are from your kingpin. It is actually EASIER in many cases to back in, because the "swivel point" is now closer to the entrance to the hole.

And I agree with Colts Fan that it sounds like you have told YOURSELF that starting with Swift is something to look down on, and you approach everything and every driver here with that chip on your shoulder. Every thing you say about the CB, the board, the posters here, and truckers in general indicates that you EXPECT to get chit on because you are a Swift newbie. You don't even wait for it to happen..... you bring it on yourself.

This is trucking. We pick on people or companies like sports fans rag on whoever is at the bottom of the heap that year. Not everybody on the CB is a Rambo looking to bust your b@lls. When you've been out here for awhile you will find that out. But, if you take everything said as a challenge, you will NEVER find that out.

Oh yeah, almost forgot. Deep Vein Thrombosis is the condition referred to earlier that comes from sitting for so many hours without exercising your legs. It can be fatal on the FIRST episode. And just because you are not sleepy doesn't mean that something might not be amiss 60 feet behind you. Get out and check your equipment a couple of times a day. Especially, if you happen to be pulling a reefer! You need to check the temp in the box BEFORE an equipment malfunction spoils your whole load. The lights you see in your mirror don't really mean a thing.

Best of luck, guy.