How Do You Maximize Shower Points

Reading this swift thread makes my head hurt. You guys are sad. Worrying over 43 miles here and there. Counting down your minutes on your break between showers and net time. Relax a little guys. Your making this way harder than it has to be. The company should adapt to you, not you adapt to it. You have to train the dispatchers how you want to run. They shouldn't tell you how to run.

 

It is real easy to speak when you have a few years in and you have learned the system or how to make the system work for you. It is a lot harder when you are just starting out. Bet that you did not it all your first few months out alone and trying to learn the company way of doing things. Just some food for thought.

 

Actually I learned early on (I had a good trainer) that you have to run how you feel comfortable running. If your tired, pull over and take a nap. If you feel like you need a shower take a shower. As long as it's not gonna make you late for your load then do what you gotta do.
Here's how I run- I get to where I'm going as fast as possible, keep the left door shut. Once your load is delivered then you take your shower, do your laundry, relax. Work first then relax. Never relax in the middle or your screwed the way they plan loads. Now I do not have I ever worked for swift. I started at crst driving team. But I leaned early on if you let dispatchers push you around they will continue to do it. I went through 4 dispatchers in my 8 months at crst just because I wouldn't put up with there bs. I ran hard and proved myself and in the end that is what's gonna get you places. Performance. The ability to time and again show that you can get stuff done.
Having said that you still have to take care of yourself. Not showering for the sake of a few miles isn't worth it. You'll get sores, get sick and those couple miles you were worried about turns into a down week cause your too sick to run. Take care of yourself cause the dispatchers and load planners don't give a rats ### about your well being. All they look at is a number on a screen and if that number can't run this load then this number will.

 

Not me.

I don't take showers or do laundry between loads because there is the too good chance that I will get a pplan while doing it.
If I just put my laundry in and I get a plan that needs to pick up a load in an hour I am screwed.
And I've lost loads because the plan came in just after I went to take a shower, and by the time I got back it was removed.

Now I plan my loads around my needs. I add in the time I need to do things before I ever accept a plan.

 

And at Swift there is a huge difference between dispatchers, planners and driver managers.

The planner is the one that plans the loads and sends the pplans to the drivers.
We have different planners in each part of the country, and much of their planning work is now calculated by the Plus-1 system.
As much their headache as ours, I would imagine.

The driver manager does a range of things, including dispatching a load if necessary. But that is probably the smallest part of their job.
They have the simple job of keeping track of 50-100 drivers and loads, monitoring all the variables like idle time and OOR miles and a dozen other things, playing nursemaid to drivers that call in to complain about everything... and much more.

The actual dispatcher is simply a computer program that, when it is working correctly, automatically dispatches your next load as soon as you do your empty call.
When it doesn't, I call and ask my DM to dispatch me.

 

The majority of drivers have extra showers, ask them, they will give it for free.

 

Or get to platinum level at loves and you get free showers for the next month as many as you want. Plus 3x points in fuel ups and anything you buy in store.

 

This seems to be a tradition. I've given and received a few showers this way. Just stand by the kiosk and ask a driver that seems to be checking in to shower, ask him/her if they have shower credits to give you one as a team. Usually this means you will need to check in at the desk to get a team shower, give one to the person that asked and keep one for yourself. You use only one shower credit for a team.

This is a good idea. How do you get to platinum level at Love's?

 

I do believe it's 1000 gallons in a month

 

I suppose I could start bypassing my fuel route for P/FJ stops, and then stop and reopt when I get to a Love's.