a real wannabe/newbee question - how does home time work?

Gordon insisted to my face (repeatedly) that hometime was NO PROBLEM. And that was true enough unless I wanted to get home. Then, all bets were off. I think Gordon hit it about 50%.

Nor did they blush. They just didn't do it. No apologies.

Oh, you wanted a REAL answer.

It is.

 

Depends on the company.

Usually they route you a load pretty close to your house.
If you requested 4 days and finished your load Wednesday, you'd probably go back to work on Monday.

Also, another factor would be, if they let ya take the truck home or not.
They might want it in a secured location while you are on home time, so you would have to make arrangements.

 

One thing about home time is YOU have to be flexible. You want to live close to a terminal to have somewhat consistent home time. This gives them more options to work with in routing you there. If the company doesn't have regular freight in your area or going through the area I would shy away from them.

 

Ask for their home time policy in writing.

Its their truck, so you have to expect they'll get you home when it suits them - load has to be paying right, etc.

I would expect them to give you 1 day off for every 7 days out, and not to count the day you came in on.

Once you get out of the rig, the clock starts.

Honestly, I think home time is ridiculous. Try catching up on sleep, family, dentist, doctor, lawns, bills etc. in 48 hours every 2 weeks. Bigger discussion, I guess.

 

The nice thing about hourly, local work... they want you to clock out and GO HOME!

Pays better, too.

 

That depends on the time you head home..Your hometime starts once you have completed your last load.If in the morning but in the afternoon your hometime wouldn't start till the next day.Have to ask the company.A company I drove for the hometime would cut off after 1 pm.But in the morning then that's part of your hometime once load is completed and your dispatcher knows you r heading home.

 

Hometime at most of these OTR companies suck !

One day off for every week out. So in a month you can have a total of 4 days off !

 

I would definitely go with a company with a terminal or drop yard very close to your city. I started out with USX and I saw my home once a month because according to my dispatcher, there just wasn't a lot of freight going through Arkansas nevermind the fact they had a terminal 2.5 hrs away outside of Memphis AND a USX global terminal in my city lol... I transferred to a smaller company that was contracted to USX at the time but was bought by Celadon earlier this year. The terminal is 5 miles from my house and I'm usually there 2 to 3 times a week so I don't even take home time unless I need to be there on a specific date. Life has been much better being about to see my home often. Definitely find out what the home time policy is for whoever you plan to drive for and like others have said, remember their freight is going to come first before you home time so be flexible and always request for the day before the actual day you need to be home, trust, they will manage to get you home a day late on the regular.

 

I agree,it does suck but you knew that when coming into this profession.So either deal with it or find another line of work.