Document and Entity Information - shares	6 Months Ended
	Jul. 01, 2018	Jul. 16, 2018
Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Jul. 01, 2018
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2018
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
Entity Registrant Name	TBI
Entity Central Index Key	TrueBlue, Inc.
Current Fiscal Year End Date	0000768899
Well-Known Seasoned Issuer	--12-30
Voluntary Filer	Yes
Reporting Status	No
Filer Category	Yes
Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Common Stock Shares Outstanding (in shares)		40,627,334