Home Time expectations:

That's a tough question.. In my experience,it is as variable as the weather;not much help,I know...

 

With Con-way Truckload you earn one day home for every 7 days out. Must be gone either 10 or 14 days before you can highlite for home. Then they have upto 8 days to get you home. So it is up to the driver. I prefer to stay out 4 weeks and take 4 days off. Be aware that there are some companies that have a limit as to how many days off you can take off at a time. Some as little as 3 Days.

 

How many days out do the dispatchers do and the office staff before they go home?

 

I don't know. Why don't you give 'em a call and find out.

 

I would not work for a company as a driver.

I had the experience of dealing with them in the past.

I come and go and my own schedule.



I was just trying to show the unrealistic expectations that they have in my opinion.

 

Im not a Prime driver but my friend is and he is usually out about 4-5 weeks. He says that is what seems to work best for him,but he is also a trainer and leasing. On occasion he comes home sooner but not much. From what I know about Primes training you can expect to be gone a good bit til training is over. I know they prefer that you try to get your training done before goin home but do allow a break or two I think with the first being after you pass your cdl instruction on the truck then I think one more break in the middle of getting your co-driving miles done. It will seem like forever but once its over then you wont have to do that again so just try to hang with it. It can be hard on the family with you being gone so try to have them prepared and help them to know what to expect. Trucking is a lifestyle not just a job so be sure your family will be ok with you being gone for things like ball games etc and that they can go withou seeing you for long periods. Understand that while most companies try to get you home when you request that sometimes things just dont go right and sometimes that happens a couple of hometimes in a row so your family shouldnt expect you to be home at such and such a time. Leave wiggle room in your request. If you reall need off on a friday to goto something important that night with your family then request off thursday to be sure you have wiggle room. Communication with your fm is also a must,I tell drivers at my company that if you dont communicate your needs then they cant read your mind. If there is something very important on a particular hometime make sure your fm knows that hometime request is different from others. I also recommend a good cell phone plan and a good phone with internet connection so you can email,facebook,send pics and even face chat with your family. It makes time away from home so much more tolerable than it used to be.

 

7/1 accrues, as a company driver you are limited to 4 day off at a time (not counting arrival date/departure). During my first stint with Prime as a company driver I averaged about 6 weeks out before taking time off, but was running the old 11 western so was through home fairly often(not avail anymore). As a leased I've been told as long as you make your payments as long as you want, when ever you want. We'll see how that works in actuality. It also depends on time of year, you might not want to take the time off if you are running strong and don't want to jinx a good thing and just take an extended 'holiday' during the dark months. Just my .02, I start my lease class tomorrow so may have more info than.