Swift - Time off questions. How long do you take and when does it officially start?

If you request time off on a Tuesday, and you arrive at 1 PM in the after noon, your time doesn't start till the next day. You're supposed to get 3 days off, so figure Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and out Saturday AM. OR, get a load that just picks up Friday evening.

 

i'll have to reread the policy, but i thought it said one day for every 6 days out. i've always taken 4 days off(when i was otr, not this local ross thingy i'm doing). also beleive the policy states that company drivers must turn truck in if taking more than 3 days, but my dl says no more than 4 for me.

 

My first DM told me this...

If you work that day, it is not a day off.
If you deliver your load on Thursday then your first day off is Friday.

So, if I deliver Thursday and have 3 days of home time - that would mean Friday, Saturday and Sunday (for 3 FULL days off) - I would come back on Monday.

I've gone with that ever since. I like it, and it makes sense to me.

I set my PTA at 1200 for the day I'm returning.
The reasons being that my last morning of well earned home time I won't be waking up at 0500, I might need to find an mt for my next load and I might need time just to get back to the terminal. Not to mention I need to get stuff back in the truck and stored.
After 4-5 weeks out, I'll not be up early and rushed to get back.


Some terminals and/or DM's don't see it that way.
They might see it as from the hour off to the hour on.
That would mean, sending your empty call at 1000 on Thursday would put 3 days of home time completing at 1000 on Sunday.



"when I asked my DM I was surprised to learn that our time off starts on the day requested, regardless of what time we arrive at the place we park our truck or when we go empty. "

Really?
I have gotten home 2 or 3 days after my requested date.
Would that mean that I simply have no home time left when I finally got there?

Tell your DM to stuff it.
Better yet, get a different DM because that DM if full of something that might be thrown at a fan.

We are given 1 day of home time for every 6 days out.
However it is calculated, if we are out for more than 3-4 weeks at a time we never really get that much back.
Well, unless we want to turn in our truck and wait to be assigned another.

They say it is because they can't have the truck sitting that long without making miles, but that doesn't fly with me.
Being out 6 weeks and taking 5 days off makes more money than being out 3 weeks and taking 3 days off.
It's one more day making miles, and far fewer days for the planners to plan you home and back out.

I think the bean counters really don't know how to count that well, or even know what beans really are.

And if push comes to shove, we only have to do one thing.
Take 2 days home for every 12 days out.
The day you get back, put the next home time request in for 12 or 13 days later.
The planners would pretty much have to keep you fairly close to home to manage it.
It would tie up the entire system, and even the thought of what OTR really means.

 

there are also some funky situations. For instance i started my hometime yesterday and will not go back out until sunday, however i emptied out tuesday. The screwed up thing is the kroger i was at chewed up my hours doing an unload so i emptied tuesday but could not get home due to HOS. I will not let a reciver kill my hometime

 

An HOS break is on company time, not yours.

That is time logged IN the truck, and on company time.

 

also was told you couldnt bank days off. if you were out 4 weeks and only took 2 days off, you start at zero again.

 

That's true from my experience.

However, I can see that as fair to some degree.
It is how many days out from when you come on last.

 

Why is it so important for various drivers to have the same truck one has started out with?

As long as the truck is mechanically sound, safe & legal to drive, everything is working as light bulbs not being blown out, wipers not worn out, etc., inside of truck is fit to sleep in, and meets inspection standards all the way through, why should it make any difference whatsoever?

Wouldn't these various drivers just be grateful that the company is continuing to keep them on the payroll and be grateful that they have a truck to drive, building up miles to earn their paychecks?

Perhaps I am the dumbbell and not fully understanding the whole picture here.

I have gone all throughout my working life being grateful for the job that I had, and that I had worked with whatever equipment and supplies the boss or company gave to me, without question.

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

i have a brand new truck i do not want to give it up and end up with a POS