14/7 vs Dairyland out of Marshfield - need to decide Qs

well i know nothing of the dairyland fleet, but i do run 14/7. so i start out of atlanta and run where ever the freight takes me. 14 days they will run you anywhere, but ive never been any further than midwest, tx, ok, ks, ia, nb. and as far as miles my lowest has been right at 4800 , but that was only 12 days out. im usually 5400 to 5700. i do like 14/7 and it goes by pretty fast, but the 7 days at home is a blink of the eye. trucks are prostars, cascadias and a few columbias, and there are a small number of volvos, and they are 10 speeds. theres a good chance that he will get a newer truck. ohh and the phase 3 training is usually 4 weeks and he will do the 14/7 for that

 

For what it's worth, my recruiter told me that during the 4-6 week "final training" period (when you're out on your own but are assigned a fleet manager whose focus is on new drivers rather than a regular fleet manager) you run on the national fleet schedule, typically 11 out 3 home. It's not 4-6 weeks continuously out. This is before you transition into one of the Hometime fleet schedules. Note that this "final training" period is after the "intermediate training" phase where you are riding along with a trainer for a couple or three weeks. As I currently understand it, during that intermediate phase you are aligned with whatever schedule your trainer runs on.

 

I did a week of orientation class time then 2 wks with a trainer. Would've been 9 days with a trainer but they don't test out on the weekend so I stuck with him bc we got along good for more time behind the wheel. So for me 3 weeks so 6 weeks I'm not understanding. I had my cdl before orientation maybe that's the kicker. Then I flew home on my dime and started 14/7 after some hometime. My trainer was also 14/7 and we went everywhere. When I went solo 14/7 I went everywhere. Now I'm national and I like it much better. My advise is if either a) he has a 2nd job while at home for that week b) you have a job. I too had a daughter recently did the 14/7 which was great as hometime but then my fiancé lost her job and I was the only income. 14/7 for our financial situation wasn't cutting it. Also I can plan my schedule for holidays alot better or birthdays/special events. 14/7 your rotation dictates your time off. Maybe falls on those events maybe not. If it does like for me thanksgiving last year then I missed it so I could make Christmas. But then worked New Years. So financially if you can afford for him to have the time off then yes it's great if not then I wouldn't suggest it. I switched to national, and you'll have the same option if one of the two doesnt work. Not trying to be a downer, Roehls a great company with alot of options, I don't need to know your situation either just putting a different perspective on things. The pay is better also but a week of downtime is a week of no pay. 3 out of 4 weeks the pay as in miles will fluctuate. Coming off hometime for me was low miles trying to cram in loads by the cut off date. Then next week was good miles good check. Then depending on where I was at in the country and routing home or loads getting me home could be good or decent. He might have to hold miles from a load to go on another check for consistency so instead of a lot of miles on one check and low to decent on the next you can hold a load off by scanning after the cut off time for the following weeks check. Kinda confusing sorry. Different stroke for different fokes. 14/7 works for alot of people, national does too. I personally if bad the option would do dairyland, national then 14/7. But hey that's just me. Hoped this helped.

 

@ Lee..So you don't go to the NE? From your post you seem to stay in south and midwest. Am i correct?

 

in 9 months ive been in the NE probably 5, 6 times that i can think of.

 

@Lee..Got to love that sir.

 

I'm doing Dairyland as soon as I'm done with my OTR trainer. I know one of my instructors at school was Dairyland and he liked it.

 

The only decision is how much money you want to make. You will give up some income by having 7 days off every two weeks thats for sure. The other thing with the Dairyland fleet is that its not 7/2 like you would think. You time of is 34-48 hours and there is no set days as to what they will be, just so you are aware and keep in mind when making your decision