Originally Posted by Ducks

I've been wondering... and valorandarms' question about getting home for Christmas has prompted me to post it. Maybe it's been answered somewhere before, but I cannot find it.

What are holidays like for drivers? I'm sure the various companies have different policies, but I'm thinking specifically of certain drivers here and wondering how they handle the holidays with their employers. Do trucking companies have paid holidays, or is pay strictly a matter of miles, regardless of for whom you work?


Some pay holidays, some do not.


For example, gas haulers (as a whole) must be required to run 365 days a year. Do senior drivers get the holidays off and the newer drivers work those days? Do the newer drivers get a "comp" day for working the holiday? Or is running on a holiday optional... or required if it falls on your assigned "shift"?

When I was hauling crude oil to the refinery you worked holidays unless it happened to fall on one of your regular days off. I imagine gas would be like that too. You could ask for additional days off. No promise was made that you would get them.

What about drivers who haul food grade bulk for processing plants.... or perhaps flatbedders delivering stock to steel companies? I would assume that most manufacturers would close for major holidays, which would mean the receiving dock would be closed. If a driver is scheduled to deliver the morning of the day following a holiday, that would mean the driver would have to be on the road -- working -- during the holiday, right? Do you often spend holidays in the cab of your truck, or is there a way dispatch can manipulate your loads to give you some extra time at home?


Only holidays I missed away from home were like July 4, Labor day, memorial day, and new yrs. I always managed to get home for the major holidays.(One yr my truck broke down and I didn't think I was going to make it home for christmas, but I got another ride and walked in the door at 11:45pm Christmas eve) Most of the scales you can count on being closed so less hassle there. Some of the truck stops will make slightly more effort to notice the driver on a holiday. Other wise its just another day in the life of a driver moving America forward.


Is there such a thing as "holiday pay" in the trucking world? What about sick time? And how does a driver deal with an unexpected illness en route that would make him unable to drive for a day? How does an OTR driver handle doctor appointments and dental check-ups when you have no guarantee of specified home time? Are you forced to take health care with an assortment of on-call physicians, dentists, and eye doctors in the communities through which you pass or find yourself during your 34-hour re-set?

Some companies do offer holiday and sick pay. Just depends on who.

Illness on the road can really suck. I've always been lucky so far but you do what you can. Call a cab to take you to a DR or if it gets too bad an ambulance. Many super Wal Marts have eye DRs in them. I had to go that route once when I had an eye infection. My regular eye DR when I got back home said the other dr was grossly incompetent and I was lucky to not have gone blind by his lack of knowledge. But at least he gave me an antibiotic and I made it back to my eye DR for further care.
For medical my wife and I have been using the walk in clinic here for a long time. Its easy because you don't have to make appointments.

There are so many things we non-drivers take for granted that just don't seem to comfortably fit into a driver's world. What are the rules you are forced to play by in these situations?

Originally Posted by Ducks

I've been wondering... and valorandarms' question about getting home for Christmas has prompted me to post it. Maybe it's been answered somewhere before, but I cannot find it.

What are holidays like for drivers? I'm sure the various companies have different policies, but I'm thinking specifically of certain drivers here and wondering how they handle the holidays with their employers. Do trucking companies have paid holidays, or is pay strictly a matter of miles, regardless of for whom you work?
In the Company that I work for, we have 11 paid holidays. We have 5 paid sick days and one personal day.
Vacations are determined on length of service. Generally our drivers are brought home for the holidays. At times maybe a rare case of staying out.

For example, gas haulers (as a whole) must be required to run 365 days a year. Do senior drivers get the holidays off and the newer drivers work those days? Do the newer drivers get a "comp" day for working the holiday? Or is running on a holiday optional... or required if it falls on your assigned "shift"?
Hubby hauled gas for a bit and he got nothing extra like holiday pay for working the holiday...if the holiday was in his normal work week.

What about drivers who haul food grade bulk for processing plants.... or perhaps flatbedders delivering stock to steel companies? I would assume that most manufacturers would close for major holidays, which would mean the receiving dock would be closed. If a driver is scheduled to deliver the morning of the day following a holiday, that would mean the driver would have to be on the road -- working -- during the holiday, right? Do you often spend holidays in the cab of your truck, or is there a way dispatch can manipulate your loads to give you some extra time at home?

Is there such a thing as "holiday pay" in the trucking world? What about sick time? And how does a driver deal with an unexpected illness en route that would make him unable to drive for a day? How does an OTR driver handle doctor appointments and dental check-ups when you have no guarantee of specified home time? Are you forced to take health care with an assortment of on-call physicians, dentists, and eye doctors in the communities through which you pass or find yourself during your 34-hour re-set?
Alot of this depends on the Companies health plans if any.
Our drivers are taken care of when it comes to an emergency whether for themselves or need to get home for a family member.


There are so many things we non-drivers take for granted that just don't seem to comfortably fit into a driver's world. What are the rules you are forced to play by in these situations?