Some truck drivers for Swift Transportation, a unit of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE: KNX), said they received messages via their onboard computer messaging systems around 7 a.m. Dec. 2 instructing them to chain up and drive in inclement weather to get their loads delivered on time.
“We cannot afford to have you down or the load to be days late due to weather,” said the message, sent by a Swift driver leader and posted by Swift drivers on the Twisted Truckers Facebook page. “If we can drive, we will — whether it be 5 mph or an appropriate speed as long as we are safe.”
The social media post received more than 3,700 comments from truckers responding to the message. Some said they would park until conditions improved while others stated that driving in harsh weather conditions is just part of the job.
Winter weather alerts disrupted much of the Northeast on Dec. 2 after a storm dumped snow, freezing rain and sleet across a large portion of the mid-Atlantic and New England regions. Severe weather was also reported in portions of the Sierra Nevadas and the Cascades in southern Oregon to the mountains of northern Nevada and southern Idaho.
A follow-up message was sent approximately four hours later by the same driver leader to Swift drivers clarifying that he did not recommend drivers be on the road “if the weather won’t allow it or you do not feel comfortable.”
Kevin Quast, chief operating officer of Swift, confirmed the message was sent by one of its “newer driver leaders,” but said the statement didn’t accurately convey the company’s position on safety.
“This was not a company-wide statement,” Quast told FreightWaves. “A newer driver leader with us was a little overzealous with what he was trying to do. We’ve coached him and helped him to understand really what he was communicating and we made sure we are all approaching it the same way.”
A post on Swift Transportation’s Facebook page on Dec. 3, a day after the original message was posted, clarified the mega-carrier’s position on its chain usage stance.
“Chains should be used to get a driver out of trouble and to find the first safe/legal place to park,” Swift’s post stated. “They [chains] are not to be used to make a delivery on time or to get through bad weather.”
Dave Berry, vice president of Swift, said he wasn’t aware of the social media posts concerning the Swift driver leader’s message sent via OmniTracs, formerly Qualcomm.
“Loads can be late, but the priority is the people on the highway and the people behind the wheel of the truck,” Berry told FreightWaves.
Since the merger with Knight Transportation in 2017, Swift is becoming significantly safer than it’s been in decades, Quast said.
“We take safety very seriously and are continuing to improve and work hard to become even safer,” he said.
FreightWaves’ Stephen Oatley contributed to this report
Tim Locklar
For the drivers who said it was just part of the job fire them now. This is one of the reasons i gave up driving.Drivers with no common sence drivers using their trucks as a weapon. Racing on the fuel isle.and those no good ELDs.
Paper logs worked if you used them right and you had a good dispatcher. As the article suggests some are not all to bright and of course the company heres nothing sees nothing says nothing at least nothing truthful
JANEAN
I never got a message like that ever myself, I was stuck in Wyoming in that date as well, the roads were shut down and the pass was closed to all both directions the fallowing Wednesday, don’t know what part of Wyoming he was at, but the leader should have known the state was under snow storm attack, here’s a number to call next time from your cell phone, 511 for Wyoming, there was obviously miscommunication going on, I have Never seen a message like that from any leader, there are times you do have to move , chain up and roll on, if your pulled over on the side and the roads are bad then chain up to get out of the situation and into a safe haven, but if you’re already in a safe haven sit and wait for the roads to open. I wish you well in this new chapter of your life, your being trained, this is where you deside if you really want to be a trucker, be glad your getting trained in these conditions, summer students get turned loose after their weeks are up then when winter comes they don’t know what to do to in their situation. So good Luck Trainee
Anthony Jones
If you tell them it’s not safe to drive, the are responsible for anything wrong, but that could be too late, and if you make it there in time ,no one still may not be there. To all the drivers out there be safe, use your own judgement, and always tell them it’s not safe to drive.
Gabriel
I worked for a month with Swift and I resign because they don’t listen to the drivers and have no respect for us and our decisions, they don’t care if we set our PTA at one time or other , they just see a driver with HOS who can drive regardless of the time they been up waiting for a load because they know that if the wheels don’t roll the driver will not get pay and every driver want to make money to support their families. Swift didn’t care to use quick pro quo in order to get what they want. Swift is not a company to work for.
Bob Corrigan
This shows the common, unprofessional, idiotic, arrogant and “dont give a damn” attitude and behavior of most dispatchers, driver leaders. , etc.
99% have never drove a truck and are totally clueless about what drivers have to endure. Thry specifically are ignorant of the danger and high stress level when a driver has to drive in bad weather.
They sit in their little chairs in their cozy cubicles, insulated from the weather and decide for the drivers what the drivers ” should be able to do.!
James
If they aren’t willing to drive. They wouldn’t make it in Canada
Michael Lass
It seems to always be about numbers. He had numbers to meet and that is what he focused on. Follow ups only come when social media gets involved.
BOB
Ice road trucking for 10.00 an hour after taxes lol
WILLIAM
Too bad Swift doesn’t tell their drivers not to drive if they have no clue to what their doing, all swift trucks would be parked, I have never seen a more senseless group of idiots in my entire life. Any doubts to what I’m saying go to you tube type in swift Swift and see how many videos of their drivers destroying other people’s trucks and property there are swift is a danger to everyone especially the drivers they get from foreign countries that dont speak nor understand english or have never driven a car much less a truck guess they are an equal stupidity employer.
leslie kelley
That william is one of the reason we are called stupid truck drivers,grow up son and worry about yourself asshole