Swift Driver Routes

If it's within your route it's perfectly acceptable. If not.. They won't be happy.

 

Basically, don't go "out of route". Different carriers have different ideas as to how far constitutes that. I'd say don't exceed what the trip would normally be by 15 or 20 miles. Ask your dispatcher. If you were headed north on 77 and went straight to rt 8, that would probably be fine. But if you were coming from Columbus or Toledo, not so much.

 

Play the Swift card. You got lost and your GPS routed through Stow, OH. Perfectly normal, everyday occurrence for a Swift driver.

 

What about this scenario.........

What if you are early for your delivery and instead of trying to deliver early you park it and take care of some personal stuff.

As long as you make your deadline is that OK or will the carrier get upset that you aren't trying to fit in every single possible mile by trying to deliver early and get on another load?

 

Actually I doubt it. However, while there might be other trucks there getting unloaded before you and they make you wait... wouldn't be long enough anyway to run any errands besides eating a quick meal. They won't let you bobtail and leave your cargo behind either. In fact many company driver manuals don't allow bobtailing at all without approval.

 

One thing to remember about this scenario is that you are on e-logs. Even if your driver manager allowed you to take this out of route, you are going to end up using an additional one to two hours on your 70 hour clock.

The name of the game in this business is to maximize the use of your 70 hour clock. Visiting Stow Ohio would end up using up to two hours of time that you won't be paid for. If you are visiting friends in Stow then have them drive over to meet you at a convenient truck stop.

 

In this scenario I would always call the customer in advance to see if I can deliver early. If they cannot take the load early then of course I will find a convenient place on route to park it and take personal time. Those are the times that I would do laundry or other things that I need to take care of.

 

You can be surprised how many places will take your drop early anf always smart to call ahead anyways they might have info on something that could make your life easier like a construction reroute or parking they have until your scheduled drop

 

I work for Swift, and my trainer told me that we're allowed 5% out of route. So, if Stow is about 40 miles away from Cleveland, you would need to be on about a 1600 mile load (gotta figure for to and fro) for it to be within that rule. That is if you are coming from the opposite direction, if you are passing by it, you wouldn't need such a long load.

I usually just keep with the fuel routes - the few times I have been out of route, they didn't say anything, but I don't want to push it.

If you need to keep track of time, maybe you could plan your 30 minute break around it, having it in Stow?