Anyone With Swift Understand Their Layover Pay

Stop using the phone for things lime money, us the QC so your DM has it in his/her database. They will usually get to it. If no response then get on phone, if no response after that go over their head to DM boss.

From my experiences, these companies will weasel themselves out of having to pay you almost always. It seems like they sort of "make up" policies on the spot to disqualify you from qualifying for layover pay.

I never worry about it. There's a million more important things on your mind daily. The stress in this job is very high, try to not stress about every single small detail out there.

Indy, we always welcome constructive feedback. There's no reason you should regret having that opinion. :)

From my experiences, these companies will weasel themselves out of having to pay you almost always. It seems like they sort of "make up" policies on the spot to disqualify you from qualifying for layover pay.

I never worry about it. There's a million more important things on your mind daily. The stress in this job is very high, try to not stress about every single small detail out there.

Indy, we always welcome constructive feedback. There's no reason you should regret having that opinion. :)

I haven't started my career yet. I agree with you on this Daniel. As well as Old School and Brett. I wouldn't worry about the small things like layover pay. I would just enjoy the downtime and reset my mind. Anything to get ready for some more work. Be positive it will keep you from going insane. It would be nice to get payed to sleep though....

I'll probably end up sorry for chiming in here... but I disagree with Brett and Old School on this. I understand very well what they are saying, but I think they were/are in a situation where they were/are able to be more philosophical about sitting and waiting than, say, a guy with a young family that is depending on every cent he can bring home, in addition to him getting home for a decent amount of time. Every day that this guy sits without making any money is another day he's gotta stay out, to make up for it. Now, if you're young, with no dependents, then it's not a problem to have a day off to go exploring or read a book... likewise, but maybe to a lesser extent, if your kids at home are grown.

Hey Indy, you don't need to feel like we're gonna blast you for disagreeing with us, but I'm almost thinking we may not have made ourselves clear. I don't think either Brett or myself meant our comments as "philosophical". The advice we gave is really practical stuff for surviving out there on the road. It is so easy to let things like layover pay get you sidetracked and upset about your job that you end up hating life on the road and thinking, like so many drivers, that the trucking companies are out to destroy you. I didn't even mean to imply that he shouldn't try to get his layover pay, but wanted to re-enforce the idea that once you have established yourself as a producer they are going to be doing everything they can to keep you moving. I've certainly received my share of layover pay, but my focus is all on being their "go to guy". Don't frustrate yourself by chasing down fifty dollars when you can be taking in much more.

The other side of this coin is that as you learn more about managing your clock you will be able to figure out how to take advantage of delays and sometimes even make them work to your advantage. There is so much to learn when you first get started in this career. We try to point people in the right direction for focusing their energies because we've seen so many people just burn out real quickly by getting all worked up about the small frustrating stuff that sidelines so many new drivers.

It's not that we are in a position that we can afford to just not concern ourselves with getting the layover pay. We are both the type that pushes hard for every bit of the pay we are due. We just think the focus of our efforts should be on moving freight as a reliable dependable driver. I realize that we all get delays, and we should be recompensed for them, but we don't want you new guys to let yourselves get all focused on those things to the detriment of your satisfaction and enjoyment of your new career.

In the long run, if you can focus on being the best you can be at this stuff, you will very seldom have any reason to worry about layover pay.

Hey i am just mad i am sitting cause the roads to my shipper are covered in ice... i want to run, but its not worth it to drive on ice covered roads to get there.

Indy, I totally get what you're saying and ideally we would all be paid for everything we do. But the guys above summed it up perfectly. It's really a "big picture" thing. You want to enjoy yourself, you want to get along with the people you work with, and you want to make good money. On top of all that, you need to be safe. You might miss out on a few chances at layover pay in a year. What's that amount to....$150? In a year? It's not worth worrying about. If it happened on a weekly basis and you were talking thousands of dollars a year then it would be different.

Also, it's important to keep in mind we're trying to help new drivers survive that first year and 90% of that is mental. Everyone can figure out shifting and backing well enough. But the stress of being away from home & family, the erratic sleep patterns, the stress from all the risk you're taking every day, and a million other things all adds up and becomes quite overwhelming at times. So we're not really saying, "Don't worry about getting paid what you deserve." It's more like we're saying, "If you want to keep your sanity and survive out there that first year you need to let the little things go."

In this case with the small amount of money we're talking this would be considered a little thing.

Oh, and don't forget - I'm the guy always saying I support the unions so the workers get treated fairly. But even I'm willing to overlook something like this for the sake of long term survival.

Thanks all for the thoughtful replies... I totally get it about having to let some things slide and focussing on the big picture.

I think the idea here is put in for and if you get it, great. If not then just blow it off. There were a couple of good points made about getting what you have coming to you. I totally agree with this because the company will not hesitate to get every dime out of you if the coin is turned. Knowing this, i was at a TA did not have running water at the pumps for some reason so i had to go buy a gallon of water to top off coolant reservoir. I scanned the receipt for reimbursement.