What does "bobtail" home mean? Does that mean drive their truck home? If so, What if you live many miles away?

Bobtailing is driving around in just the tractor, no trailer behind you. Whether or not you can use the tractor to bobtail around depends on the company and their policies. Whether or not you take the tractor home or not depends on numerous things, like having adequate safe parking, a community that doesn't restrict truck parking, having a safe (non hazmat) load onboard if loaded, and other factors.

My employer has a rule that says we may not take the trucks home simply for our convenience, but if we are under a load and can safely park there is no problem with going home. In other words, I can't just drive it home because I don't want to pay for the fuel in my car, but if I have a Sunday am delivery, I can go home with it over the weekend because it's a loaded truck under dispatch and as a result our insurance carrier covers it. If I am empty on a weekday, and it is shorter to go to my home than to drive an hour and a quarter to our yard, and back again in the morning, then that is acceptable.

Basically, what most companies are looking for in this area is application of common sense and judgement. Since I am pulling a tank not a van, no one is going to try to open the doors and get their way into a load of cigarettes or electronics. Instead, they might find their way into some baby powder if they opened a pipe on my trailer. The more pilferable your loads are, the more restrictions the company is likely to have.

Thank you Burky,
So in order to make sure a person can get home for their off days without driving hundreds of miles, he should really find a carrier that either allows them routes near or past their homes and will let them take the truck home, or has a hub within reasonable distance so he can drive his vehicle back and forth?
Kinda makes sense I guess. That is one reason I thought Swift might be good because of their Denver hub, but after all the bad reviews I have read here about them I don't think that will work.
Most of the larger carriers that will train newbies don't have hubs near Colorado Springs. And I only have two personal vehicles. One is a '03 Ford F250 King Ranch and the other is a mint Chevy SS factory customized 1/2 ton pickup. I really wouldn't want to leave either parked in some lot for extended periods of time.
I just had to replace the mirror on the Ford because some ##$%^&* decided he was jealous and smashed it in the parking lot of where my wife works. Cost just under $600.00 to fix! I couldn't imagine what it would cost if a vandal really got ahold of it.
Thanks for your advise. This site is excellent for information. Us wannabees and newbies can really learn alot from you veterans.
Maybe someone will start a forum about the glass industry. I am a veteran there and can warn anyone interested to turn and run like the wind.....

Dude I am in Toledo right now, and I could really use that baby powder since I don't wear underwear. So I got (2) 55 gallon trashbags and a plan.

What about Averitt Express any good advice for a new hire as a regional driver, would appriciate some advice or input, Newbee 45

Just wanted to thank you for your post BB! I have been trying to navigate the jungle of CDL training without getting killed with little success. I read your post, checked out all the info I could on Schneider and called them today. They are sending me a package. This sounds like the best opportunity for me being I can't afford to go to a Community College or independent school. I resigned myself to being 'indentured' for a year after getting my CDL and am prepared to 'suck it up' and do the best job I can while learning as much as I can during that time. I told my best friend (he drives out of a small company in TX) about Schneider and he said he talked to a lady last night who recommended them. Said they have excellent training and are a great company for a new driver -- especially a woman. Seems like this is the route I'm going to pursue. Thanks again for taking the time to post.

Kee, you should look around to see if you can find a cheap training school out there somewhere. If you do, you should do whatever it takes to scrape together the funds to go to that school. Hock your car. Hock your other possessions. Whatever it takes. I say this because becoming an indentured servant is risky. Too risky, in my opinion.

If you have nothing to hock and can't get a loan, I guess Schneider will be okay. Just keep your nose clean. You don't want to give them an excuse to can you just when you see the light at the end of your contract tunnel.

Best of luck.

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--Paved Dudley--

Yeah I drive a Swift truck
And that means one thing
It means she's slow
It's a typical company truck
It's just all show and no go

I'm gettin' passed by Yella
And even Overnite
I'm gettin' passed by ever' body in sight
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight

No, my hometown's nowhere in sight
And if you think I'm pissed off
You're right
46 days on the road
And I'm not gettin' home tonight


Love pissing off those trucking company insiders.

Uh...That's more than we really need to know.

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Z-Lady's devoted hubby.

I will say this.

I am just finishing up my boot camp process with the orange army.

So far, i am extremely satisfied. Everybody on at the Green Bay academy was very friendly, helpful, and really had a great attitude about the company, the students, everything. I've heard nothing but good things from anybody about thier training (except from those who flunked it.... and trust me, there were plenty just out of my group) It seems as though many of us are already driving better than long term drivers of other companies (JB, swift, etc)

as far as the cost, they are competitive with local colleges and other training programs that take 3-4 times longer and still cant guarentee you a job. Might as well stay there for the year and let them pay for your schooling and rack up some miles under your belt.

I will be finishing up and taking my SQT and getting my CDL along with being assigned a truck all by the end of the week. Then i can feel like Cinderella, driving around in my very own giant pumpkin

First: Yes Dispatchers play favorites but its a little different than the Term Implies.. The Dispatcher will Rely on What he or she knows and IF your a noob the "Hot load" wont go to you its going to someone that they know can handle it.. my personal feeling is that its a necessary evil b/c if u loose that customer's freight thats just making your pool even smaller and increasing your Sitting time..
and if he worked there for 10 months like you said What was his ontime Delivery %, if your dispatcher is passing u up for time sensative loads after 10 months you need to seriously reevaluate what your doing and Correct the Situation as soon as possiable weither it be you or Dispatch
Also: Was he aware that there are Freight Seasons and during certian times Freight is Very short.
(on a personal note)
I feel that not making it known upfront about freight seasons to First time Drivers Damages their First impression towards the Company and is factor in Turnover..

IF he only worked at Schnider for 10 months im suprised that they even let him on Dedicated usually Dedicated is like a Reward for hard work and if your hubby was working hard then he wouldnt have been passed up on loads by dispatch either.. and if it was like Dedicated Dollar General or Dollar Tree lol those accounts are the Worst possiable dedicated accounts

The qualcomm is a Drivers' best friend out on the Road, they Record everything and can be used as evidence and all the Trucks have a black box recorder in them that can store alot of msg's.. IF your Dispatch Forces you to break DOT reg's Ask for them to send it Via Qualcomm soon as u do things change and they change and all of a sudden the shipper needs to push back your delivery time or that load just got cancelled let me see what i can find for you.... ect...
if you had the conversation with dispatch forcing you to operate illegal and they were dumb enough to do it over the qualcomm you can also call your Safety Dept and have them look at the messages, if they refuse or try to play down the situation simply tell them your going to call DOT and see what they have to say about it, I've done it myself to US Xpress and they never bothered me in the middle of my 10hrs again...

Last: IF your Upset i STRONGLY RECCOMED that u dont Directly call Dispatch and vent, there should be, from the posts i read, be a dept u can call at schnider to resolve issues, if there isnt one Call your Spouse or someone to cool down 1st and approach the situation with a level head..

Try looking at it like this
Yes your dispatcher is Required to Give you Loads But if your ticked at what a shipper did, or cant get loaded early or been sitting for a day or so dont go yelling at dispatch thats like Biting the hand that Feeds you.. See if you get more miles that way i doubt you will...

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There are Old Truckers and there are Bold Truckers, But there are no Old Bold Truckers.