Does Swift Allow Drivers to.........

Most terminals allow you to come and go as you please.
The thing is, you will be logging on-duty-driving while doing so. So it might mess up your hours.
Best thing to do is allow yourself enough time while under a load to make the Wally stop.

And it's best not to stay at a terminal if you don't have a pplan. You tend to go to the bottom of the list.
I always try to get out to a nearby truck stop.
If nothing else, there is better coffee.

 

Swift is a big outfit,I imagine they have a shuttle.

 

One advantage of working for Swift is that Walmart is a big customer, so I've found that they are very cool about allowing us to park our trucks on their property. I frequently look for Walmarts for taking my 10 hour break. Generally you can park in a location that is secure and without any trucks idling next to you, so you can open the vents and windows and get a great night's sleep. You have a 24 hr restroom and can restock groceries.

Whenever I have a dispatch I try to look for Walmart's close to the delivery. That way I can take care of shopping while I wait for my next dispatch. I'll go to a truck stop as necessary.... to shower or fuel or if there are no good rest stops, Walmart's, or other truck parking available.

 

I'd like to add one thing. You will notice that more and more Walmart locations are making it more difficult for trucks to park in the main parking lot. They are adding low clearance barriers, posting "No Trucks" signs, and adding tight landscape islands.

The reason they are doing this is because truckers are creating additional work because of the garbage they leave in the middle of the parking lot. At times they have even had to call out Hazmat to remove urine bottles.

All truckers should respect the owners of the property where they park. If you have garbage, then walk over to put it in a garbage can. Remember that urine bottles are a hazmat item. If you return a tractor to Swift or put it in the shop and your cab is a mess they will charge you to clean it. If you leave urine bottles in the cab they charge you for Hazmat clean up, and that can be several hundred dollars.

I was in a Swift terminal where they posted pictures of cabs that had garbage in them, with a dollar amount of how much they charged to clean the cab. One guy's bill was almost $1000, including hazmat. It was unbelievable. Several of the pictures showed garbage literally knee high through the entire passenger seat well and living space.

Be clean. Be respectful. Have a small garbage bag and put it in a garbage can frequently. It will reduce smell in your cab and keep your work and living area more organized and "buttoned down". Be aware that a truck with garbage piled in the dash area is a red flag for DOT at scales and will lead to more frequent inspections.

 

I am a Swift driver.

Each terminal seems to have its own set of rules. Most, but not all, will allow you to bobtail out. I find that since you're expected to have emergency food on-board (breakdowns, road closures, driver illness) the DMs can hardly argue with "I need to buy groceries"!

Most terminals do NOT have shuttles, and what shuttles there are generally go to hotels ONLY, no deviations allowed. If you have internet, be sure to check into local bus service, great for those 34 hour restarts! Houston and Denver both have bus a block or two from the terminal. You also learn to find truck stops on bus lines (Pilot in North Las Vegas for example).

As Lepton1 noted, it's getting harder to park a full rig in Walmart lots. I don't even like to try anymore, I leave my empty in a Swift drop lot whenever possible (North Las Vegas, Spokane, etc. I prefer to avoid the terminals).

 

Call out hazmat to pick up a urine bottle? WHY ARE THERE NOT BIOHQZARD SIGNS ON WALMARTS URINALS?!?!?! every sticking time I walk into a Walmart rest room there are piss rings around the toilet seat, or around the urinals. So maybe Walmart should worry a little less about the parking lot and a little more about their bathrooms. Instead of calling hazmat out to pickup piss bottles they should call hazmat out to clean their bathrooms!

 

I have often wondered how urine (a sterile bodily fluid) could be considered a hazmat danger.

Are other animal's urine treated the same way?

Why don't dog owner's have to conform to HM standards?
How about cat owner's, when dumping the litter box?!!!
And horses? They pee a great deal more than any of us. What about that hazmat danger?

 

Okay, here's a link to an article regarding urine bottles left on the road side and hazmat:

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/HazMat-teams-pick-up-urine-jars-along-roads-2569569.php

From the article: "Urine is considered a biohazard by the state and federal government and the medical community"...

Oregon State U guideline for hazardous materials here:

http://oregonstate.edu/ehs/book/export/html/206

Fundamentally any time you aren't going in the urinal, leaving it a bottle (in the hot sun), then somebody else has to handle it. Walmart isn't going to subject their employees to this kind of hazard, so they call a hazmat team to clean it up.

The short (and correct) answer is that if you really have to use a bottle, then pour it out in a toilet or urinal yourself. Take care of it so someone else doesn't have to.

 

It's not always sterile. A urinary tract infection will make it hazardous to handle.