Am I Expected To Not Plan or Schedule ANYTHING At Home

Don't know what all the complaining is all about here. Unless your name is on the door, and you're running under your own authority, you are not anybodies #1 concern. #1 for any company is making money. For trucking that's moving freight, period. Work any job anywhere and you won't get the hometime you think you'll deserve. Things like OT, schedule juggling, etc. will conflict with your wants.

So if you want the hometime you think you deserve, then go out and buy your own equipment, get your own authority, and put your name on the door of the truck. Then you can decide when you want to go home. Until the bank comes a knocking.

 

Believe me at 26cpm I ran over 10kmiles in 3.5 weeks I'm pretty sure my co made plenty of money off me. Maybe that's why they don't want to get me home lol.

 

g/man, you do have a point! Yes it is the individual's fault for the position they end up in. However, if they aren't doing thorough enough research and are only to be greeted and consulted face to face by a recruiter then it is downhill from there. It's like a person who is curious about buying a new car, they somewhat know what they want, don't quite have the money, do "some" internet research then show up to a car dealer who immediately sits them into a brand new car and throws a low monthly payment at them financing them no matter what situation they are in. After they drive the car home the "new car" cloud dissipates and suddenly there is buyers remorse. Now they realize the car really isn't that great, they will paying on it for 7 years, and it has already significantly dropped in value.

Now I know this sounds far fetched but my main point is that if you don't do ample enough research and aren't talking to the right individuals then yes you will find yourself a month into the game, $6000.00 in the hole and wondering what the hell you have gotten yourself into. Your spouse is riding your butt because now if you quit you still owe that money and you will have no way of paying it back. So you are scared S###less don't know what you are doing, away from home and out of options. So you tell yourself you will try to push though a year and then go local. Now if the planets align and you get lucky you land that $10hr local gig which you paid $6000.00 to learn to do.

 

I think that a lot of people get into this business using their emotions rather than their head. They have lost their job, the economy may be down and they don't know how to earn enough money to keep the repo man off their back. They may have always wanted to drive a truck and when the opportunity comes along they are so excited about driving the big road and seeing the country or making the big bucks that they don't take the time to sit down and look at their options. They may not look at what they will actually be doing or what may be required. They only consider that they will be driving. If they have been accustomed to working a regular shift then they may not be able to connect the dots. They may not realize what it will take for them to be away from home for 2-3 weeks at a time. The newbie's family may also not realize what it will entail for their husband or wife to be away from the family for that long. There will be adjustments to be made by all concerned. An otr driver will mess some events at home. Plays, recitals, games are but a few things that you will probably miss. Some you can make it home for, but not all. Those who drive otr and military personnel should expect that those who are in the business are not going to make it home for every event. No matter what anyone tells you, it isn't going to happen, even with the best of companies. I believe that most carriers will do their best to get drivers home as requested, but getting home for a specific date can be difficult. We don't control the freight or the weather. Both can impact your ability to get home.

 

Well said! Most of the time getting home lies in where the freight is going and which broker is dealing with your company or DM.

 

What are the usual rules for out of route driving? For instance, I live less than 20 miles from the junction of I-57 and I-64. Would this, theoretically, be better for home time and/or would it be possible to sleep in my own bed during my 10 hour break?

Thanks

 

20 miles isn't too far, but it will cost your company approximately 8 gallons of fuel for you to make that trip. If it is 20 miles one way, then it will be 40 miles for the round. At 5 mpg, it will take 8 gallons of fuel. That means that your company will pay approximately $32 for you to sleep in your own bed. If you idle your truck then it will cost about the same. A truck will burn about a gallon of fuel per hour when it is idling.

If this is something you want to be able to do, you should discuss it with your company. Some carriers are very strict about drivers going out of route and for good reason. With fuel at around $4/gallon it is very costly to add miles to a route. If this were something every now and then it might be over looked, but if it were every night, then it could present a problem, depending on the carrier.

One other difficulty that carriers face with allowing drivers to get by the house is that they may not want to leave. It could be a problem if you have a JIT load on the truck. Drivers could be delayed due to problems at home which could result in the load being late. The best thing would be to discuss it with your dispatcher.

 

If you have someone at home who can pick you up, just park at one of the truck stops in Mt. Vernon, drive home for the night and come back in the morning. I live in Mason City and more than once I had to park at Thornton's in Lincoln. My wife would pick me up and bring me back in the morning.

Freight and how your company moves determines a lot of how hard it is to get home. It's also important how much they care about getting you home. Roehl, US Express, Crete and several others have a drop yard in East St. Louis. There is a secure parking lot for personal vehicles. So if you are willing to do some driving to get home, it can be easier to get you home than trying to route the truck past your house. I've gone o/o and deadhead from EStL a lot. Drop the load at the drop yard and head home from there. On the hometime fleet that was the transfer point for slip seating.