Not so Swift

[CharlesD]

I know a lot of people pick on Swift and last night I had an encounter which reinforced whatever negative opinion I might have already had. I was sitting up in Toledo and there wasn't much going on so I decided to deadhead home. I was coming down 75 and I was still a bit north of Dayton where the highway goes to three lanes there around Troy. I'm one of those middle lane cruise control people and I was just cruising along in the middle lane with my cruise on about 67 mph. I was overtaking a Swift truck who was in the right lane and there was a car on the left lane who was overtaking me but wasn't in a big hurry to get around me. About the time I get up next to the trailer of the Swift truck, he just decides that he wants to come over into the middle lane and I don't think he bothered to check if there was anything there first. The turn signal came on right as he was starting to come over.

Now here's where the fun started. Normally I would just shoot over to the left lane to avoid the truck, but there was a car there. I laid on the horn hoping the Swift driver would go back to his lane, but he just kept coming. I hit the horn again and started to drift into the left lane, hoping the car would see what was happening and back off. He didn't. He honked his horn and sped up to keep pace with me, holding his ground instead of letting me over. So then I did the only thing I could do. I hit the brakes pretty darn hard and shot over into the left lane as soon as I had space, coming in behind the car a foot or less off his rear bumper and missing getting hit by the back of the Swift trailer by maybe a foot or two. The driver of the car didn't have a clue what had happened and went into full road rage mode directed at me. He kept slamming on his brakes just to tick me off and showing me his I.Q. out the window. Finally he sped off when he realized I wasn't going to engage in his games.

It all happened so fast and even now I'm amazed there was no contact with either vehicle, or any of the other vehicles on the road. There was quite a bit of traffic out at the moment but the other drivers must have seen what was happening and backed off. I learned a couple things there. I was well rested and my reaction time was good. Proper sleep is a good thing. I don't know how that would have turned out if I had been sleepy or if I had been under a heavy load that would have caused me to decelerate slower when I hit the brakes. There have been a few times in my life where I have felt that God was looking out for me and this was one of those times, but if the Swift driver had been looking out for anything else in the middle lane, he could have saved God the trouble.

Anyway, I feel very fortunate to have not been in an accident last night. The only thing that ticks me off now is that by the time I collected myself, a lot of traffic had gotten between me and the Swift truck and I couldn't catch up to him and get the number off the truck. But now I'm home, well rested, and sitting safe and sound in my own house, and the Sprinter is still unscathed and ready to run. All's well that ends well I guess.

 

[arrbsthw]

We have noticed more and more that big trucks will do that
when you start to pass. It's like they see you coming and
want to make sure you don't pass them. It doesn't matter
whether its on the left or right...they seem to want to get
in the lane with you.

Glad you were not hit and survived Swift!

 

[Moot]

My personal rule when overtaking another vehicle with the cruise set, especially a big truck, is to put my foot on the accelerator and give it a little gas to get by quickly. After the pass is completed and I have some distance between me and the other vehicle, I take my foot off of the gas and let the cruise control take over.

 

[CharlesD]

We have noticed more and more that big trucks will do that
when you start to pass. It's like they see you coming and
want to make sure you don't pass them. It doesn't matter
whether its on the left or right...they seem to want to get
in the lane with you.

Glad you were not hit and survived Swift!

In my experience, it's usually inexperienced drivers with some of those "bottom feeder" companies that I see doing things like this. Most of the semi drivers out there are the most courteous drivers on the road.

 

[CharlesD]

My personal rule when overtaking another vehicle with the cruise set, especially a big truck, is to put my foot on the accelerator and give it a little gas to get by quickly. After the pass is completed and I have some distance between me and the other vehicle, I take my foot off of the gas and let the cruise control take over.

That's what I normally do as well, but this was a case where the right lane was a steady stream of vehicles. It wasn't like you're going to overtake one and be done with it.

 

[Moot]

Swift is a well known entry level carrier. Many of their drivers are fresh out of school. Be especially careful when operating near one.

4-wheelers and motor homes pulling boats, campers and All UHaul vehicles should raise a red flag to experienced drivers. Give them a wide berth. This coming weekend in particular.

Be careful out there!

 

[x06col]

ya may wanna add dump trucks too Moot. I always got pretty flaggy around them.

 

[Jack_Berry]

yeah, what moot said.

 

[Moot]

You got that right Col. Always seems to be rocks and dirt falling form dump trucks.

As for cruise control, I never use it in traffic or slippery conditions such as rain, snow and ice. Cruise control is for the open road, weather and traffic permitting.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Now, I can't judge reaction time from a post, so I'm going to throw something in here, and you tell me if I'm wrong. This is just the way I'd react, according to your circumstances.

First is having the cruise on in heavier traffic. Driving thru a big city usually demands variable changes in speed; ie, cruise OFF.

Second, if something seems fishy, cruise goes off. Swift flying around me tells me something will probably happen. And knowing Swift as one of those companies with 'reckless abandon' written all over them, I'd err on the side of caution.

Third, nothing is wrong with being the sensible one, and slowing and pulling behind another vehicle. You can't control Swift; only your own truck.

Nothing against cruise here, but my truck came with the cruise disconnected, and I haven't had it hooked back up. I don't miss it. And, I'm surprised that my foot doesn't get tired, being that I have a heavy accelerator pedal.

Speaking from experience, you would have been charged with a preventable had Swift hit you, and you survived.

 

[cheri1122]

Hawk, please explain the logic behind charging someone with a preventable accident, because another driver wanted to be in the same space, at the same time - I don't get it.
The part of the story that jumped out at me, was the part about signaling a turn only after it's in progress - this is a dangerous habit that I see a lot of, from 4 wheelers and 'professional' drivers. They've either forgotten the correct procedure for lane changing, ( checking that the space is clear, particularly the blind spot, and signaling the intention to move AT LEAST a few seconds before moving over), or maybe they just feel lucky, cause they always have been so far.....So many drivers forget to really LOOK at the blind spot - even when they remember to turn their head, it's often just a habit, and they don't actually look at all.
The casual attitude towards lane changing is why split speed limits make the roads more dangerous, instead of less: they cause a lot more lane changing than would otherwise occur. Between the careless, impatient, or just 'lucky' drivers, that's a very bad idea,.

 

[x06col]

You'll find out about preventable there Missie when you make contact someday. Bout like the time I was tagged for a rear ender, when a fella put his car in reverse at a toll both and backed into me. You, the driver have a tiny chance of ever getting a non-preventable as long as you are leased to someone. Nuther thing.... forgot about proper procedure??? They as a rule never knew (or cared) about proper procedure in the first place.

 

[kg]

Maybe the next time this happens you should take full advantage of your reaction time advantage and take evasive action, braking etc. and forget the horn.

just my opinion

 

[CharlesD]

Maybe the next time this happens you should take full advantage of your reaction time advantage and take evasive action, braking etc. and forget the horn.

just my opinion

I've been replaying the whole incident in my mind and in hindsight, the whole thing probably happened in a second or less. I think I was hitting the horn and the brakes at about the same time.

What amazes me, and maybe others can testify to this a well, is how at times like that things seem to slow down and you can process so much information and make so many snap decisions in a very short period of time. I've had other close calls over the months and every time I seemed surprised at what I was able to do in a short time frame.

 

[wallytrucker1]

Sure
Wish
I
Finished
Training

I live in the Phx area where they are headquartered and the first thing I told my kids when teaching them to drive; Stay away from big trucks, run away from swift trucks...

 

[RLENT]

Hawk, please explain the logic behind charging someone with a preventable accident, because another driver wanted to be in the same space, at the same time - I don't get it.

Well ..... I'm not Hawk but I'll give it a shot:

Technically, the definition, as given by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations is as follows:

"A preventable accident on the part of a motor carrier means an accident (1) that involved a commercial motor vehicle, and (2) that could have been averted but for an act, or failure to act, by the motor carrier, or the driver."

To fully and truly practice defensive driving (something that one ought to be able to do if one is a professional), one has to anticipate that any and all other drivers on the road will do something at any point in time with no warning whatsoever that will potentially involve you in an accident. Failure to anticipate another drivers possible actions and then take effective action and/or reasonable measures to avoid being in an accident renders the accident "preventable".

Not to pick on the author necessarily (as I wasn't there and he is the only one who truly knows), but merely to analyse the scenario as described, under the Five Keys in the Smith System it appears that at least one of the five keys below was not - or almost not - followed:

1. Aim High In Steering
2. Get The Big Picture
3. Keep Your Eyes Moving
4. Leave Yourself An Out
5. Make Sure They See You

Rather than assuming any error on the part of the author, the use of a couple of the Five Keys above could be stated in the positive to describe how they might allow one to prevent the accident that almost happened, from occurring:

5. Make Sure They See You - although somewhat irritating to the driver in front, a quick flash of the highbeams might have caused the Swift driver to notice that someone was overtaking him on the left.

3. Keep Your Eyes Moving - by constantly checking your mirrors (every 8 to 12 seconds) one might become aware earlier that a vehicle was overtaking the author on the left, and allowed the author to implement:

2. Get The Big Picture (awareness of all that is going on around you)

and then more fully implement:

4. Leave Yourself An Out

A good, professional driver should always leave themselves at least one "Out" in any situation - that allows them to avoid having an accident with any other vehicles on the road - and preferrably more than one out (simply because conditions can change rapidly and an "out" can disappear in an instant.) But always at least one.

Earlier awareness of the vehicle coming up on the left would have allowed: either speeding up to complete the pass of the Swift truck sooner; or slowing down to complete the pass later, thereby avoiding being bottlenecked between two vehicles.

Of course, it is far, far easier for me to sit here and talk about it, than to actually practice it.

Charles, congrats on dodging the bullet - you did well - and I'm glad you are ok.

On a sad note, Don Montagner, a Fedex Home Delivery contractor, brother of a friend (Nick), a friend of, and fellow contractor with, my wife and son, died yesterday in (or perhaps just prior to) a collision while out driving his route. He was based out of the Richfield, OH terminal. Although I wasn't nearly as close to Don as my son or wife were, I had spoken with him a number of times, and always enjoyed his unique sense of humor. He will be missed.

 

[RLENT]

Couple of final points and I shuddup my mouth.

1. The Smith System is an incredible tool to have in the arsenal - and well worth having - it will utterly change the way you look at driving (this was a non-compensated endorsement)

I've been replaying the whole incident in my mind and in hindsight, the whole thing probably happened in a second or less.

Actually that's not quite true ...... the incident actually started well before the traumatic moment that you now identify as "the incident".

If one were to step back a bit (imagine a video camera 100 yards behind the three vehicles filming the whole thing) it would be easy to see the incident start to "form" well before it ever reached "critical mass" and became a matter of immediate, imminent danger. The videos I watched as part of the Smith System training showed this sorta thing repeatedly - and it was all too easy to see possible consequences as vehicles started to bunch up near one another.

 

[Turtle]

#4, leave yourself an out. That's my mantra. All other things considered, you've got to have a place to go. The middle lane of three is easily the worst lane to be in. There's a reason they call the left lane the Hammer Lane, the right lane the Granny Lane, and the middle lane the Dumb Βastard Lane.

If it starts to get even a little bit crowded, as in a vehicle on your right and a vehicle on your left, especially if there's also one right behind you, the middle lane is not where you want to be.

It's not a judgment, it's just something to keep in mind.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

#4, leave yourself an out. That's my mantra. All other things considered, you've got to have a place to go. The middle lane of three is easily the worst lane to be in. There's a reason they call the left lane the Hammer Lane, the right lane the Granny Lane, and the middle lane the Dumb Βastard Lane.

If it starts to get even a little bit crowded, as in a vehicle on your right and a vehicle on your left, especially if there's also one right behind you, the middle lane is not where you want to be.

It's not a judgment, it's just something to keep in mind.

When going thru a city I don't know I always use the middle lane because It maybe a left off or right off...I don't want to be caught waaay on the wrong side. Does a GPS tell or show the exit location?

Looks like I might qualify for the DB distinction award??

 

[louixo]

A careless driver can be from any company, not only Swift. I`m with Hawk on this one. First thing to do when sensing a dangerous situation at 67mph, is hit the brakes and go on the defensive. In this case, as described by Charles D, maintaining the same speed, and trying to drive your way out is NOT the solution. It doesn`t matter who is in the wrong! Hit those brakes and get your truck out of the way!! As frustrating as it is, let the car go by, and let the Swift truck pull into your lane. In a traffic situation, cruise control should NOT NOT NOT be on!. Cruise control is for the open road. CharlesD,though being as careful as he thought he should be, took the correct decision last.