How do you measure one year OTR?

It's mega doctrine 101. Your personal info is in a box at the top right of the dispatch / planner screen at your company. This is no BS. They purposely route you away from where you want home time, because they are afraid you will quit.
I worked for a guy and he showed me the dispatch screens, same as the big boys use.
Sad but true.
Everybody gets boned by the mega's. Your new, your dog meat for the first year until you can get a better gig.
If you wanted home time in Maine, guarantee you'd be on a west coast regional.
If your working for Schneiser, most of their freight is back east.
It sucks for you.
I book my own freight, and could, and often do pass by Oxnard once a week.
You just have to get a better gig.
Just clear your head, and ask yourself where do you want to be in a year, two years? Now what do you need to do, and keep that focus.

 

I totally agree.

FFE had no clue I had family in Indy for years. Until I requested three days there time off. They said why? (I was parked in the Pilot south side off 4b which happened not to be a very good truckstop what with prositutes and a strip joint across the way...) I made the mistake of saying I got family there.

That was the very last time I saw Indy in all of our loads with FFE the remaining of our year. Literally.

It fits in with all other companies dispatcher who learn what cities you have family or interests in. Then they make a list and route you away never to see em.

That comes in handy sometimes. I asked for time off at the boston market seafood one time after a encounter with a tough... (That was dicey, fortuantely tire thumper took care of him and I have his chain in my closet as a trophy...) called dispatch and asked for time off right here in Boston. Why? Because I got a girlfriend here (Lie, but you have to come up with something. Anyone who has been at that market knows there is a house of illrepute across the way...)

Presto I no longer got routed to Boston. FREEDOM!!!

 

My home terminal is Otay Mesa, CA (San Diego), and I live in Burnsville, MN.
My home times are split between MN and Denver, CO - and I seldom get to San Diego.
If I actually come face to face with my DM twice in one year, it is astonishing.

But when I put a home time request in, they get me there pretty much on time. Within a day or so, but usually on the date of request.
I am not routed to the other side of the country so as to make it more difficult. And if I do happen to be far away I simply refuse any loads that don't get me closer to home. No brainer. And they have always found me a load (or loads) to get me home.

It has been that way ever since I started with this company nearly 7 years ago.

One of the only valid reasons for flat turning down a load is a home time request. And it seems to be gospel.
They may ask that I take a load heading away from home 'to get me to a better freight area' - but they have ALWAYS made good from there. They get me home.

And this, from 'one of the worst bottom feeder Mega' company out there.

 

I can see there point however.
I wanna run hard. I wanna run hard. I wanna run hard.
Until you run hard.
Then they have loads planned, they are committed too, and your with your kin, and now don't wanna run hard, or just feel like fornicating the K9 for an extra day. Then things can get very F up. Not saying you do that, but I'll wager 1 out of 50 really likes to run, and run a lot.

 

To the OP...

Oxnard is just west of the LA area.
You should be able to get a load near there with a drop, so you could bobtail home.
My company allows a 90 mile bobtail to home. What does yours allow?

 

I run hard. The problems begin when I do not pace myself and get tired 10 to 15 days into a month, dispatch has all these loads Im running late on trying to catch up on sleep... that was a problem several times.

I almost got OOS once by PA for a 70 hour bust, I think he used the same miles chart I used to check the towns and so on last 8 days in my logbook. (Thank god... I was using HHG miles minus 15% miles underreporting actual miles which was about 900 beyond what the logs counted up to that week when he stood on my tank and told me I am tired and should not come back this way today.)

Company got me though and yelled. How do you run up 1000 miles on my paper logs with these fuel reciepts here, here and HERE... explain that to me drivah!!!

Who me? Let's see here about those logs you speak of...

What? Those are in the trailer out back I have to get them. It will be a while.

Well I guess we will just have to go get them and go over these fuel receipts and compare them against my logs you speak of.

*Changes colors indicating loss of temper...

Wow Boss, maybe you need time off...

SHUT UP! Im fixing to send you home a week. Don't come back here until you are caught up on those *&^% logs....

And so it was. 10 days it took.

 

North of LA. West of LA is Hawaii.

 

That's one place I should give a try sooner or later. I might not come back haw...

 

It is just slightly north of LA, but as far west as you can get without swimming.

LA doesn't have beach front property.

 

It's crazy expensive.