Orientation - Day Two

Another fun filled day at the Swift Terminal in Edwardsville, KS.  If Swift wanted to drill home just one thing during this orientation it would have to be compliance.  As the driver of a fully loaded 80,000 lb "Lethal Weapon" I have to be responsible for not only my safety, but the safety of the general public that I come into contact with during my travels.  Since this is such a great responsibility, the federal government (the Department of Transportation) has come up with some very stringent rules and guidelines that I have to learn and follow.

We were treated to some very scary statistics in regard to accidents and when they happen.  Most of the accidents that involved Tractor Trailers happened between the hours of Midnight and 6:00AM.   Most of these accidents are caused by some type of driver fatigue.  We spent several hours today going over how we can stay in compliance with these rules.  The rules have been put into place for our safety.  They also protect the driver from becoming a liability to themselves and the public traveling on the roads with them.

I have been given a federal license to drive a commercial vehicle.  If I don't follow the rules that go along with that license, I will be in violation of federal law.  Federal law violations result in federal prison time.

So here are some of the rules:

CDL holders have three key limits when it comes to time spent driving and working.  They are only allowed to drive 11 hours in one single 24 hour period.  They are only allowed to be on duty, driving and not driving for 14 hours during one 24 hour period.  They are only allowed to be on duty, driving and not driving for no more than 70 hours in an eight day period.  In order to reset the 14 hour clock, we have to spend ten consecutive hours off duty or in the sleeping bunk of the trailer.

We are required to keep a log of our time and how it is being spent.  We have to account for every minute of every day.  We have to log this time in four different categories.  1.) Off Duty  2.) Sleeping in the sleeper berth of our tractor  3.)  Driving  4.) On Duty not Driving   We have to account for our time not only on the days we are working, but also on the days we are not working.  We can and will have these logs audited at any time.  If we are found not to be in compliance with proper logging, we can be ticketed.  The fines associated with the tickets are not the companies responsibility, they are the drivers to pay.

One example of how to spend the day driving and stay in compliance would be to start your day driving at 6:00am.  Drive for four hours until 10:00am.  Go off duty for one hour.  Have something to eat.  Let your tires cool down.  Then start to drive again at 11:00am for four hours until 3:00pm.  Go off duty for two hours.  Eat some more food, go for a walk, get some other type of exercise. Start to drive again at 5:00pm for three hours.  Stop driving at 8:00pm. Go off duty for one hour. Relax, read a book, catch up on email.  Crawl into the sleeping bunk at 10:00pm for eight hours until 6:00am.  Stay off duty for another hour, eat breakfast get ready for the day.  Start the next day of driving at 7:00am.

All in all, I am glad that I ended up with Swift.  They are one of the largest training fleets in the country.  This is a good situation for someone like me.  New to the industry.  I am glad that I will have all the resources of the company to rely on while I am learning.

Thats all for now........Tom