2019 Roadcheck is next week, June 4 – 6, and we sat down with Jeff Swan, a risk advisor with HNI who retired from the Wisconsin State Patrol with over 30 years of experience. Jeff talks inspections, encouragement, and unbelievable stories from his days patrolling.
From Giving Tickets to Giving Advice
Jeff has given his fair share of Level 1 inspections – he spent 34 years in the Wisconsin State Patrol as a trooper, then a sergeant, and finally an investigator with the motor carrier enforcement unit.
Hear how his experience doling out tickets set him up to become a risk advisor with HNI. He’s changed from maintaining order through tickets to preventing disorder as a risk advisor.
Keys to a Stress-Free Inspection
Jeff shares how to keep an inspection “boring” – just the way it should be. Because the only one who may enjoy an “exciting” inspection is the officer getting a break from an otherwise mundane shift!
Telling Tails
After three decades in the state patrol, you know Jeff’s got stories. He’s seen some pretty odd things. Jeff shares a few tales from the road, one including a pretty exotic tail – it wasn’t a puppy tail, that’s for sure!
Quotes
- “I try to tell them to be prepared by doing all the things you can ahead of time. Do your good walkarounds; make sure your pre-trips are quality pre-trips – not just walking around the truck. So that you’re comfortable with the fact that everything’s working on your truck that you have control over.”
- “If you’re more organized it makes that contact with the officer boring – and that’s what you want! You want a boring contact.”
- “I enjoy coming down here because this is truly best in class. A lot of people claim to be best in class, but this is best in class.”
- “And I thought, ‘Is this a miniature person jumping out at me?’”
- “If you do your walk around or if you check those lights every once in a while or leave that phone alone – all those things, if you just do those little things right, there’s a better chance that you’re not going to have an issue or problem. But we sometimes get complacent.”
