Swift - Where do I park when I get time off?

Sounds like phoenix is the place to do the upgrade if they have a list of trucks to pick from, my home terminal will be lewiston

 

I've been home once so far. I had to empty out the truck and leave it. I called the day before I was scheduled to go back and was told the truck was gone, it was already given to another driver. The next day when I went to work, they gave me the same truck back.

My wife says taking the trucks away is the punishment for daring to actually go home.

 

I don't doubt it! I think I may be sitting so much lately because I put in for hometime a few weeks ago. They gave me a little teaser pre plan last week. Sent me a preplan from Houston to Phoenix delivering the day after I wanted to be home, knowing that I couldn't make it on time they pulled it from me before I could respond...

 

I guess I've been lucky. I haven't had those types of problems with my home times.
I alternate between Denver (to see my girls) and St. Paul where I am actually 'living'.
Each time I just t-call a load or drop the mt and head 'home', after setting my pta with either my dm or the dispatch window.
I usually take 2-3 days, after being out 3-5 weeks.

Never been asked to turn in my truck.
My terminal is Otay Mesa, by the way.

But I think a lot of the problems are because Swift is really trying to get more drivers to lease a truck.
They put pressure on you in certain areas, like home time and idle time, because they (and you) know that by simply leasing a truck those problems 'go away'.

I've been considering it more lately.
I don't get pressure from my home times, but I do get it from my idle times. But I have ignored the idle time issue for well over a year, so I don't think of it as any real big issue.

No, what has me really thinking about it now is this latest truck they put me into.
A 2013 Volvo.

I'll be in it forever, unless I take so much home time that they take me out of it. (and then I will probably be back in a '07 Volvo with 512k miles and all the problems, or worse - like my last '09 ProStar that was in the shop 25% of the time I had it)

This truck is just too small.
I'm 6'1", and the bunk is only about three inches longer. It's also much narrower than the ProStar and Cascadia, so I can never really stretch out and relax.
And the new Volvo's don't have the storage bins that the older ones have, so I have to store stuff on the top bunk - and I like to have the top bunk up and stowed for the headroom.

Still on the fence about leasing, though.

Don't really want the extra responsibility and paperwork, and I can't really be sure of the miles week to week.
Like my current load. Picks up Friday afternoon and delivers 1300 miles away on Tuesday morning. Holiday weekend...
And that was after delivering Wednesday in Montana, and sitting for nearly 2 days for a load out.
So that is one week that the miles and pay are very low.

On the other hand, I would have a bit more control over the loads I take and I would have access to Mac 'whateveritis' to have a choice of loads in my area.
I could also choose my best route, instead of being routed on the sometimes slower and more fuel costly 'back' roads.
I could idle as I choose, as long as I am willing to pay the fuel.
I could take any number of home time days I want, as long as I had the money for truck payments.
And I would have a truck that goes a bit faster. (that's a big plus, since I could get there quicker and the engines are usually set up to get the best mpg at speeds between 65 and 72)

 

moose.if your seriously considering l/op then ask some of us who are allready doing that,some of what you said about it is true,some not....so if you get ready to do it...just ask i know most of the lease ops here would be glad to give you good accurate info.....just sayin...

 

Don't lease just because the company is being stupid. Try another company instead. Only lease if you really want to lease.

I quit Swift over the truck issues. I kept the truck up to 4 days off, but anything over that I turned it in. Two times I came back to no truck. The first I waited 2 weeks, the second time I waited 4 days. That's time off over and above what I earned and asked for. Not that I mind time off, but after a while it's time to get back to making money, you know?

The biggest issue with slip-seating is there is no reason to take care of the truck. Given the long wait times at Swift shops, I simply quit fixing anything that wasn't urgent or safety related. I turned in trucks with all kinds of stuff broken. It wasn't worth my lost productivity to fix a truck I was required to give up anyway.

 

That's what I decided to do with this truck. AC blows nice and warm and occasionally, it'll blow smoke into the cab when I try to run it. The summer heat sucks, but it doesn't bother me enough to sit at a shop for 3 days. Someone else will fix it eventually, I have to turn the truck in next week anyways.

 

We thankfully live reasonably close to the Phoenix terminal on the West Side, sadly our HOA would have a field day if my man wanted to park at the house, Our dream house has an RV garage big enough for a bob tail rig.... My man parks at Phoenix, keeps a car there and drives to and fro. This might work for guys who live farther from a terminal. A lot of your guy's concern over getting a new truck each time you have hometime is why my man bit the bullet and leased. I'll let you all guess who he is We are vacationing in San Diego next month, I've been told there is not much space to park a truck at OT Mesa so depending on the route my husband will drop in Phx and drive out or drop in Fontana and I'll drive up to get him.
I saw an ad from an OTR guy looking for a room to rent on the west side of Phx.... made me think I could offer a private room and bath, maybe even a living area for the right price... It is desireable to live close to a terminal...

 

Where I stay isn't too close to the Phoenix terminal, east Mesa. But it's a heck of a lot closer than driving from my home terminal, Fontana, to home in tehachapi and back.

 

I might help.