Document and Entity Information - shares	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2019	Apr. 15, 2019
Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Mar. 31, 2019
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2019
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Trading Symbol	TBI
Entity Registrant Name	TrueBlue, Inc.
Current Fiscal Year End Date	0000768899
Well-Known Seasoned Issuer	--12-29
Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false
Entity Small Business	false
Common Stock Shares Outstanding (in shares)		40,152,708