Added: 4 years ago
From: CrystalDragonn
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  • I have to agree with all the rest of the driver trainers that commented on this film. the only thing wrong with the mentors training is that he didn't have his student get out and look. swift drivers are knitorious for hitting things because of this.

  • G

    O

    A

    L

  • im getting a job with swift (i hope) as long as nothing screws me over ill be back on the road after 2 years of caring for my mother

  • of course the swift driver needs help

  • Fantastic job by the student! I've seen people struggling to park their little Toyota Camry at the super market. I can only imagine how hard it is to park a trailer in a tight space like that.

  • I would be parked for 20 times while that your driver is make a one time...

  • get back to hauling for swift!

  • At first that is exactly what you do, Or you get a spotter. But after some experience you get to a point where you can tell more or less how far back you need to go, then you only have to get out and look once or twice.

  • How exactly do you know just how far back you have gone so you don't take out a fence behind you for example? I mean it's obvious if you have a 53 trailer next to you and when they line up you know the distance but what about when you have no idea? It would be very time consuming to jump out of the cab, check and get back in..

  • a real trainer would have him get out and look. thats why swift backs over so much stuff

  • oh no. a swift driver. what a joke.

  • Products out of date, by the time he's done......

  • I've gotten my class A CDL license Back in December of 2010 and now have a hazmat and tanker endorcement but how do I get on the job when all the carriers require years of driving experience? what company that doesn't require years of experiences and accept graduate drivers?

  • Its a real bitch backing 28 and 38 ft pups...The damn things get squirrely real fast if your not steadily lining it up.

  • nice video i drive truck and ive had times where i would get so pissed when i had problems backing especially when there are people waiting to do the same thing

  • Good video. Just passed the written test for air brakes and next month i will go for the road test and pre trip test--i will work hard to pass that too. After that, its on to studying the combination vehicles written test and passing the written test. I will go with Swift because they will give me a start in trucking.

  • Backing skills are learned over a longer period of time then driving it down the road. After nearly 20 years driving there were still days I just could not get the truck straight. But over all, for a normal backing requirement, 3 to 6 weeks of practice a few times a day.

  • tell me how long does it take to learn how to back up a 18 wheeler

  • Better than working at the uneducated factory.

  • $60,000 a year to back up a truck is pretty damn working man.

  • nice vid, but stupid never never stand behind a backing truck.you should be up front guiding him in like you were taught in trucking shool.

  • SWIFT= SURE WISH I HAD A FASTER TRUCK!!!!!LOL LOL

  • I have learned that being a big rig driver is a skilled job with 3 parts: handling the truck; knowledge of laws and regulations; managing paperwork. (and dealing with whatever idiots work for the truck company)

  • SWIFT!?! I've watched this circus a million times at the truck stop!!! Swift trucks cant drive foward!!!

  • and a shipyard like apl or mersk lines there 6inch on each side and a trailer width between the row your backing into and the row across from you he would be there for awhile piers aint no joke your backing ability dictates how much money you make for that day or weather or not your stuck in the port for there lunch hour

  • it all starts with trailer truck position and angle / these vids are great for sure but lets see some 20footers backed up that would be a good test

  • it all starts with trailer truck position and angle

  • Not a good idea to be in a back of a moving vehicle.

  • The camera guy is neurotic.

  • BACK AWAY THERE'S NOTHING ON FRONT OF YOU :)

  • yes he is driving but not for Swift, I paid off what he owed them and he is driving for a good company now and making good wages

  • @1966omc Thats cool, to often when a new driver leaves before his initial time is up they have a hard time getting a good job. I am glad to hear this was not the case for your son.

  • @CrystalDragonn he got lucky, called a local company in Seattle and got on with them and he is already making 32 cents a mile so he is doing pretty good. My advice to anyone thinking about Swift is keep thinking and try and find a good school in your area and get your CDL that way, if its a good school you will get a job before you are done with your training

  • @theartonthewall Good companies? depends on what your looking for in a company.

  • @INDIANAJESSE Hope its going well for you.

  • @randywebb717 Yep, quite right, but we wanted to make more money and see the country, not back trailers all day and stay in one place all the time..

  • Dude you really need spelling lessons.

  • not to bad a job of backing up for a new driver and that is kinda tight to get into and not a lot of room to pull up don't listen to the butt heads hacking on ya because you are a new driver, most of them are probably not even drivers any ways and everyone has to start some place and Swift is not that bad of a company, like any thing you do you will get out of it what you are willing to put into it and no I don't drive for Swift but if I were to go to school I would go with Swift

  • @1966omc He has been driving a couple years now and is one of the best drivers I know. Swift was a great company to work for but has gone down hill sence then.

  • @CrystalDragonn I agree on that, my son went through the Swift school in Idaho and then started his ORT training out of there Sumner Washington facility and he got the hell out of there as fast as he could talk me out of the money to pay off what he owed them for training. They put him out on the road with a trainer that barley had a year of OTR experience and the guy had no idea what the hell he was doing and shouldn't have been training anyone let a lone driving a semi

  • @1966omc Is he still driving?

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  • fells like this happened to me today in downtown Brooklyn NY at about 3 pm ))) it was first time today i backed a trailer and i made promise i would never make fun of anyone anymore !!! most of people learn how to drive out in open wide spaces but for all of us the city people we have to learn in places where most of truckers simply refuse to even pass by ! ever seen those ads in jobs section "drivers wanted class A CDL NO NYC "

  • man, who ever was filming this sucks and needs to learn how to use a camera.

  • @pillowtalkie I believe I have said more then once I am a driver not a camera man... LOL

  • I love all the comments from people who cannot remember when they were new. The guy said he was a trainee --- how bout cut him some slack.

  • damn Swifty, by the time he got that wagon to the dock, I would had been "Dropped, Hooked" and up the road

  • I, can't tell which warehouse drop yard the vidio was shot at. By the looks of the student's backing ability and he/she does become impatient out on the road. (Meaning behave as a super trucker.) He as the makings of becomming a good driver.

  • @Thepolarcat He did become a good driver, He drove for a couple years, he has since stopped driving because of pension issues.

  • @Thepolarcat I'm trying to be rude,but you really need to brush up on your spelling.

  • yea swift i hate them thay like to hit things just seen one the other day

  • man those swift trailers love to squeak

  • i back double better than that daily.

  • swift mentors?... hated having my last mentor through them, couldnt even back a trailer my way, hell the mentor told me the angle of the front steer wheels, where I should brake and everything... had a hell of alot of trouble backing... after I went on my own forgot everything my last mentor showed me on his way of backing. now can back with less then 2 pull ups. MY way haha.

  • rite on man,theres always more than one way to do it right.

  • Is it harder to back up a tractor-trailer than a truck-trailer?

  • @JeJa21 By your wording I am assuming you are meaning a small POV truck and trailer vs a Big Commercial truck and trailer. The answer is neither is "easy" but I personally think the small one is harder as the trailer swings faster and can get away from you faster.

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  • wow bogeys at 39ft what a gift lol

  • i drive a truck and that was great job driver but one thing to add when ur backin a trailer always have ur hazards on even in the junkyard

  • you seem like a good patient trainer congratz to you..when i get my CDL..i hope i have someone like you to train me!

  • @theartonthewall To be honest with you I could only recommend going to work with a specialized carrier. Oversize, bulk or tanker are the only big companies that still respect their drivers. Depending where you live I know John Christner is a good outfit if you dont mind pulling a reefer.

    Where do you live at? I have several contacts that are pretty good to work for, but hire locally so they can get the drivers home weekly.

  • Im sure this student is proud to have his moron trainer filming him trying to back in.

    So Henry Godfried, have you quit Swift yet and went to a GOOD company to drive for?

  • @bravo4848484 He did infact go to a different company, but not for those reasons.

  • Yes thats true about the union drivers, the union drivers drive legal, sleep in hotels every night, have full benefits, get a pension, and are treated like human beings..Oh and top of that make $75,000 plus a year.. Yeah must be better to drive for SWIFT...STUDENT WITH IDIOT FOR TRAINER

  • @jkaderly lmao!

  • im a trucker myself and you did a good job buddy, took a little while like it does us all when we first started but you did not hit nothing.

  • hey man, u didnt even put the first part of the set up, u just show the truck at a 45????

  • Ok, how many pull ups did it take? Was this a student?

  • try that with a w900

  • i hear that..long frame trucks. is a bitch to back

  • He is letting a student back up with real parked trailers?! He is about a centimeter away from the trailer!

    Cones would have been smarter.

  • @novoneiro He had already completed "Ground school" with all the cones and white lines on the blacktop and guys yelling at him and everything else, this was the beginning of his practical OTR experience.

  • because most swift drivers can't drive. this guy is the exception to the rule.

  • it looked like very slow movement at the start, but having watched it to the end, that driver did it perfectly

  • geat job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • o would never stand behind a swift driver that is backing up... you never know what will happen

  • Werner either haha

  • i love this job, trucker 4 life 301

  • I had fairly good experience with Swift. I just ran from Anniston Al. to Clearwater FL. on the Target account with a trainer. Can't speak of all trainers but mine was cool.

  • would swift be a bad company for me to start out with? i'm only 20.

  • You would have to go with a big company like swift. they are the only ones who would take newbies

  • Fed law requires 21 to get CDL, to drive under 21 you would have to go with an intrqastate carrier rather then an interstate one.

  • its 18 for a CDL ive had mine since i was 18, 21 to leave the state, 21 for doubles endorsement, 21 for hazmat

  • @CarlosCoy135

    Yep 18 to drive intrastate and 21 to drive interstate all endorsements can be obtained other than haz mat which can be obtained at 21.

  • my 12 year old brother can do that in one shot; no lie i will be adding him doing to my videos shortly.

  • swift is a joke, and you filming him walking behind his trailer and being all over the place while hes still new and probably nervous isnt helping at all...i wouldnt even back up at all if i had an idiot walking around the back of my trailer with a camera, thats how people get killed

  • he was like "i told u i would never tell you what company i worked for" kuz your fucking embarrassed!!!!

  • they told me alot of things they never delivered, such as pay and my time off. and the training was a joke... gave people a cdl that would make me nervous driving a car.... just a bad company. but i got them back

  • PEOPLE THIS IS NOT EDUCATIONAL, THE DRIVER IS DRIVING FOR SWIFT!!! HAHA COME ON, WATCH SOMTHING FROM 18wheelsoffaith or seansuth THEY HAVE RELILIABLE TOUTORIALS

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  • Setting it up in the beggining is the key to parking a truck. Which is pretty hard to do itself. Most new drivers, oversteer when they park, or worse they turn the wrong way. There is no rule of thumb in parking since every situation is diffrent, and it just plain takes practice. Quit laughing at swift, and new drivers, we've all been there before, more power to all you newbies, and stay safe.

  • swift...LOL

  • that might have been the best that ive ever seen

  • i wanna drive a truck so bad and get that gwop

  • Ive never backed a semi but have backed several goosenecks and bumper pull trailers (longest being 30 foot) ... especially into tight spaces (between support beam and another trailer or building side and trailer) ... backing is just something that takes practice

  • Even though there was a spotter, the driver should still have used GOAL at least once!

  • SWIFT=

    See

    What

    I

    Fuckup

    Today

  • SWIFT= Stop Whinning Im Fu*king Trying. this video of the slowest backing ive ever seen proves it. or Still Wish I'd Finished Training, or backwards Two Fu*koffs In White Semi the list never ends lol

  • Its called Straight Line Back.

  • Sometimes it is good to go over the old comments, you sometimes see one you missed before. Crystal Dragon comes from a few sources. In a book I read years ago on guided meditation they reference a place in the mind called "the Safe place" and this place has a door, you can tell a lot about a person based on the door to this place they see in their mind. I chose crystal because clear glass and crystal were referenced as being the most open, I plan on being open about my thoughts and opinions.

  • Dragon comes from an old joke. When I first started with swift the trucks were only going 57 mph, so I was drag-in my arse around the country.

  • couldnt see shit, terrible camera work

  • I hate swift i drove for them...the worst time of my life

  • people need to stop blaming the drivers for the company's problems. i drove for swift and i could back up better than alot of drivers before i was even out of training. but i guess most of that goes to my trainer who had years of expierence.

  • good thing he has a camera to document when Swift decides to "See What I Fuckup Today" =]

  • The guy driving didnt do too bad..lets not forget he IS a rookie. his dumbshit so-called trainer should have kept his ass away from the truck and not walking behind it!!

  • Hahaha I just realized something. This guys more worried about trying to teach the people watching this than his own student! Now tis is something a Crete trainer would never do. Trying to be a film producer while your student, that you are supposed to be training, cant back up for shit!

  • I hope this is more of a what not to do, like drive for swift, than a tutorial!

  • S.W.I.F.T backwards,two faggots in a wide semi.JK dragon.

  • S.W.I.F.T.-Still Wish I Finished Training

    Stop Whinning Im Fuckin Trying

  • non-union scab driver and a stupid southener at that...we call up here in the north east, forward gear drivers. Morons can't back up worth of shit, and this proves every one of my points exactly. And Swift....poor swift, poorest quality drivers in the entire industry...how is it working for a mere .37 cents a mile....scabs

  • .37... they start at .26 and stay there for 10 months then its .28

  • Swift, Shneider and other trucking companies that offer academies will always have non unionized noobs. Get off their ass. Rooks gota start somewhere. Not all of us are priviledged enough to have daddy trucker teach us.

  • Yep. and as long as I am driving and live in a free country I will drive for a non-union company. Unions had their time but that was 50 years ago or more.

  • @CrystalDragonn phoenix AZ, that's here i live, looks like im coming here to train.. huh, i might recognize u then haha,

  • @HalomasterA69 Not likely, I don't work for swift anymore.But good luck out there.

  • @CrystalDragonn haha ok man. :) ill try ma best.

  • thanks man, im sick of these guys bashing everyone, i always heard truckers stick together but i guess not anymore!!!!!

  • Hmmm, at what point did you get the idea I am a southener ?

  • @fuddmethen

    At least he appears to be employed - which is more than what you can say about many [former] union employees...

    Not to be mean, but there's a reason why union membership has plummeted over the years. It's not due to scabs, either.

  • @disillusions can only speak for myself....EMPLOYED! over 13 years and union proud!!! Its due to the customers looking at a dollar sign instead of quality workmanship. They'd rather ship their products with a company that will do it for over half the price, and they don't give a shit that the drivers are out there moving their goods, driving like unskilled idiots

  • i couldnt keep watchin let me know when he hits somethin

  • damn that guy really suck... (and yes, i could do it better)

  • this guy really sucks at backing.......i could of had it in ther 10 times in the time it took him

  • hahahaha good ol swift

  • Gunny my man! I find it really freaking awesome to read this comment coming from you... As i just left the same comment up above, I was scrolling down reading messages and BLAM here you are posting already almost the same thing i WROTE. You my friend are a brilliant and as professional as any trucker can come! SALUTE!

  • No two backs will ever be a like. I have backed well over a million times and tho the principles might have stayed close the backs are all different.

  • Manny yeah he is right about this one... There are no favorites, this is not a game. It is all business.

    You are planned according to the information you have supplied. Give they have the freight.

  • Sayeth CrystalDreagon:

    "Old trucks actually had 2 or even 3 gear shifts, depending on how far back in time you want to go. "

    That's very true, and to confuse matters a lot you could have two trannies in a box (as offered Spicer 7000 series), or main and back,(Sp.8000 series) or main and rear axle differential stick (trust me, I have read above back transfer sticks!)box,etc.,etc.

  • what kind of transmissions do swift volvos and freightliners have?

  • All the trucks I have had with the exception of 1 had the Eaton Fuller 8 or 10 speed. I had one that had something else but that was so many years ago I now dont remember what it was.

  • There goes my hood and mirrors! lol

  • LOL, well as they say "Stop Whining I'm Frustrated Too!!" HEhehehe

  • nothing is worse than getting a bad trainer lol. u get 1000 miles from home with them and cant stand each other or he is a dick head...its BADDDDDdd. i hope u get a good one man

  • nice video man thanks for sharing

  • Buses, and I THINK trucks, in the old days often had a switch or seperate shifter to reverse!

  • Old trucks actually had 2 or even 3 gear shifts, depending on how far back in time you want to go.

  • crystal dragonn, does swift have a reefer division? and do they give solo drivers them volvo 780?

  • yah swift has reefers

  • Yes they do, it is called Speciality Division.

  • as for the volvo 780, when a student is done with their mentor they get the first avalible truck, if that is a 780 then yes, if it is a FLD then that is what they get.

  • that isnt always the case, I have been driving for over 18 years now and 10 of that with swift, and I still get crappy lads, just depends on where you are and whats avalible.

  • that basic idea will work, rovided you have the room out front, if not you have to adjust a bit.

  • actually I never had the cam to my eye, my eyes were on the trailer the whole time, I was simply pointing the am in the general direction.

  • Just as well, if he had been learning in a ete for the smae time frame, he would have been ready for the differance in length and view.

  • not bad not bad at all but 1 question whos gonna roll the landing gears down.u should have rolled them down until they just drag the ground and bac up untill they r just off the grnd providing there r no big holes in the yard then all u have to do is release the fifth wheel and drop the bag and pull out slow and u wont have a hard time squeezin between the trailers to roll the legs down,and another thing is when u r backin up remember LOSE SIGHT TURN RIGHT.AND IT WILL COME BACK AROUND WHEN BCKNG

  • I use that trick sometimes when the trailers are close together, but whenthere is plenty of space I would rather not do that for the very reasion you mention, pot holes, never know where one might be.

  • That was actually a pretty good job for a student. I remember those days.

    I wish my trainer had your patience. All he wanted to do was scream and yell. Really easy to learn a difficult maneuver when someone is reaming you out.

  • i remembe that-in 1993. i had a good trainer...if we had more trainers like this guy, we'de have a better lot of drivers comming out-not to say we don't have good drivers, only meaning we could have more(#301624)

  • swift was doing better when they didn't have volvo trucks

  • AMEN to that, I personaly dont like volvo trucks, but hey I didnt buy it, so I cant really bitch to much.

  • Why would he need to open the doors when hes not docking it, hes parking it on a lot with other trailers behind him.

  • that one kinda confused me as well, we were dropping the trailer in the backlot not the dock.

  • cool

  • he was a student at the time in his firt week, and I am not a cameria man I am a truckdriver....

  • I dont understand, screwing around with what?

  • nope, haven't even heard about that.

  • you took some crazy risks walking behind the truck where he couldnt see you... I'd never do that. where was his hazard lights too? is it not required there?

  • read other comments

  • Of course it is required Sean! Let us not forget that he also had to raise the volume of his voice which is often intimidating to the entry level driver.(two way radio's could have come in use here, i always have mine with me.)

    One more thing telling your entry level driver what he needs to do exactly(turn left pull forward, now right, so on and so forth)Never helped anyone learn.. One thing is for sure SEAN...... There are TRAINERS/INSTRUCTORS and there are teachers.

  • getting ready to take cdl drive test .. how much do they test on backing up 53" footers

  • Depends on where your testing, sometimes it is just one back into a dock, sometimes it is several types of backs, 45deg, 90deg, blindside, parallol, "S" back. All depends on where and who.

  • Portland oregon We deliver bread snacks to al winco food stores... I went through all the gears tonight just got back driving to downtown Portland 9 speed

  • I am not sure about Portland, if Swift is a outside tester then likely you will just have to do a single back into a dock, if you have to goto the DOT for the test then it is more likely they will test you on several types of backs.

  • Turn tractor to right and trailor goes right but the actual tractor itself goes left.Correct?

  • Well if while backing you turn the wheel to the left while the trailer is streight behind you the front of the trailer will goto the left, but due to the pivot point at the fifthwheel the back of the trailer will goto the right.

  • But the best way to look at it is this: when looking at the mirrors if you see to much of the trailer on one side, turn the wheel towards that side to bring the trailer back behind you. It will feel like your doing it "backwards" but your not stearing the trailer directly, your stearing the pivot point.