But parking on the street in Otay Mesa outside of the terminal away from any cameras or physical presence is an approved, secure location!
exactly I live in Tehachapi, has some of the nations lowest crime rates....and the truck was close enough for me to watch it and check it multiple times a day which I did
OK I am new to trucking just wondering can you bank swift home time? Or is it use it or lose it situation?
your supposed to get 1 day a week, some people takes a week off at a time, I go out for a month then take 3-4 days off dont think you "lose it"
You don't lose the home time, but you might lose your truck. (Well, once you go home the clock resets. So in that case, no, you can't 'bank' it) Certain terminals only allow a certain amount of time off before they take your truck and assign it to someone else. Then, when you get back from home time, you wait more days for an available truck. Phoenix might be the worst. From what I have heard, if you take more than 2 days you give up your truck. Many others, it is 3 days. And try taking home time every 2 or 3 weeks to keep up with what is due you. You will never make any money. Also, who wants to clean out their truck just for home time? You would spend half of it unloading and loading. Swift can be really unfair when it comes to the home time they promise you. On the other hand, every time you go home you can count on at least 2 very low paychecks. That's because you lose miles in the week you go home, and you are short miles the week you come back. I say 'at least' 2 low paychecks because you might have to take an advance the week you come back just to be able to eat. And maybe the week after. I usually stay out about 4-5 weeks before taking 2-4 days home time. I don't think my home terminal has any strict rules for my time off vs giving back the truck - but then, I also never take my home times near my home terminal.
I have never taken an advance, if I didnt make enough to go home for a couple days then I stay out another week. But yeah the next check is always small because of home time my terminal says 34 hours and you lose the truck but it also depends how many trucks are available and how many drivers need one etc. I have not lost my truck yet but I always unload it, takes me about 30 minutes to unload and load. My wife picks me up and she helps, I place things out the door and she puts it in the car then reverse when she takes me back to the truck. I try to pack everything up the night before that I dont need to use.
Are you saying that if you have 8 days of home time, and then only use 3, you lose the other 5? Because that hasn't been my experience.
i think for the most part you can take as many days off as you want when you want but you wont be making any money and you might be fighting for a truck like he mentioned
Home Time: One of the primary reasons I leased my truck. I can take as much or as little home time as I please. And yes, if you plan correctly you can take home time and still money. I've spent over 10 days at home in August and still ran nearly 10,000 miles.
