SWIFT drivers...about those mattresses in the sleep area...

There is no telling who was previously inside that truck either.

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

More stains equals even better too I suppose????

 

It wasn't who had it last, it was where it was parked.
Those bugs are all over the place at that terminal. They cover the walls outside the buildings.

It had sat for a time and the batteries were dead when I showed up at 0300 after a long bus ride (and cab) from Memphis.
It was very damp... dripping damp. No one at the terminal so I had to sleep in a dead truck.
I didn't notice the bugs until the next day, and I was stuck with the truck. They would crawl up from the door window, out from everywhere they were hiding, for weeks.
And you can't simply squash them.

That wasn't the biggest problem with the truck, however.
I picked up a load and then shut down that night. When I got up in the morning the rear of the truck and front of the trailer was splattered with oil.
I didn't notice the problem earlier because of all the condensation on everything.
The transmission output shaft was leaking - something the shop SHOULD have fixed.
So it went back in to a shop (not Swift), and they took 3 days to 'fix' it.
They replaced a gasket.

2 days later it was leaking again.
It went in to Salt Lake city terminal to fix the problem.
And it didn't last very long before it was leaking again.
Then it went to the Inver Grove terminal to get fixed during a home time. That one didn't last even 1 day, so I brought it back.

I told the mechanic that it had been 'fixed' at least 3 or 4 times already, and all ANY of you do is replace the gasket! It is NOT the GASKET!!!!!
Try looking for a score in the race, I told them. Because oil is getting past all those new gaskets, even with sealer.
That, finally, fixed that problem. They replaced the housing because the race was scored.

And they all could see the history on the computer screen, but they all chose to apply the same 'fix'.
Patch it up without a real though in their little brains as to why it didn't work the last time or two.


That wasn't the end of problems with that truck by a long shot.
I had the truck for 6 months. It was in the shops for a total of 6 weeks during that time.
Needless to say, it dropped me down to a very low Bronze level which was a long time working out of.


Sorry for the rant, but that experience still bothers me.
That Swift would try to keep in service SUCH a lemon of a truck, that mechanics (Swift and otherwise) were SO incompetent, and that I ended up being penalized for it with my ranking going from Platinum to low Bronze in just a few months - not to mention the miles and paychecks...


And the whole point I would like to make is this...

Need a new mattress? Ask for it - and demand it if you have to.
A newly assigned truck has problems? Ask that the problems be fixed - and demand it if you have to.
And do not sign off on ANY truck that you are not happy with - within reason, of course.
If you are not a 'problem' driver with service failures, accidents and a history of complaining and laziness, your request should carry some weight.

Swift drops the ball from time to time. But in my experience they are a good company to work for.
Just don't let anyone walk on you when you think you are right!

 

That terminal needs to fumigated clear and clear through.

HOLY MOSES!!

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

To original poster


Use a blacklight


If it comes back heavily stained it is a keeper

 

@Moosetek13
Were you at one a diesel mechanic, have you worked on trucks in the past?

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

Don't use a black light! You will never sleep. Especially if the previous driver parked too close to the buildings with the bugs leaping into trucks.

 

Swift really should have given you a decent running replacement truck while the mechanics were trying to fix the problems with your problem truck.

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

I never liked the factory mattresses, instead I always bought a twin xl from Ikea or Walmart and added a "cooling" pad on top. 200$ all in, but you sleep 10x better.

 

For what it's worth Swift is a company full of little whiners and cry babies. The guys who work for them on here have probably seen the guys I'm talking about.

So if you get a truck that is a real turd put your foot down and demand a new one, they're used to this behavior. They see it all the time and they'll feed you any sort of story they can come up with to get you to take whatever junk they give you. Just have to put your foot down with them sometimes.

To answer your question directly though. They gave me a new mattress but only one. Top bunk didn't even have one. If you both are gonna be in the truck I'd request a mattress for the top bunk too.
If they give you a crappy mattress when you're inspecting the truck just pull it out and toss it in the dumpster. Walk back into the shop and tell them the truck didn't have a mattress in it.
Easiest way to avoid the bull crap of "what's wrong with this one"

Good luck to you both. With two of you in the truck if things get rough at Swift like it often does with them it might be worth your while to look into switching to a company that has APUs in their trucks after a few months. A lot more comfortable.
There are OTR companies with big bunk sleepers, APUs, fridges, and beefy inverters that would be much better for someone with a long term passenger.