Home Time Questions

[Cavemansgirl]

Hi-

My fiancee has been a local driver for 2 years. The money isn't great. We have a 5-month old baby and he'd like to make more money, but of course now isn't really the time to go OTR. But that seems to be where the real paychecks are. What are good comapnies in terms of home time? So many advertise great home time and especially "Home on Weekends" but we wonder what that really means. I know that at least one or two companies he talked to think getting him back on Saturday afternoon and having him leave out again Sunday evening counts as home on a weekend. Any advice?

Thanks - Caveman's Girl

[RottsATruckin]

That’s exactly what a flatbedder in my town calls home time as well, 34 hours and gone again, I’d roll in on a Thursday/Friday, he’d get in on Saturday and be gone on Sunday night, and I’d leave Monday/Tuesday.
Of course I’d be gone 3 weeks and home for 4-5 days.
Personally I’d rather have a longer time at home and a truck I could stand up in.
It always seems like that first day is spent doing chores anyway.
My research has shown that most local gigs pay better (depending on the company, I just had an offer for 10 grand less than I made OTR, thanks but no thanks) most good LTL companies pay around $18-$22 per hour, and cement drivers usually start about $16 in these parts.

[HOTROD29335]

i think mcelroy does have 48hrs hometime but i dont think there rating is good i was just about to go with them until i got the job i have now home every day $19.75 plus ot a hour if i was him idtry to find a local job with a baby and all

[Double R]

Look around at which OTR compaines have a dedicated account in your town(or close by). If he could get on the account it is possibe that he could be home a few nights during the week and have a full weekend at home. Also, what do you two concider a weekend? My weekend is sunday and monday. Everyones version is different :wink: .

[Uturn2001]

sadly most companies that advertise Home every weekend it means you are home for 34-36 hours at some point during the "weekend" which can mean anywhere from Thurs-Mon.

Now depending on where you live there are a few companies that have what they call lifestyle fleets, hometime plus fleets, etc. Typically on these fleets you work 7 days and get 3 to 7 days off. Some companies do a 4 days on and 4 days off thing as well. Hiring policies on these fleets vary, but typically you have to live within 50-100 miles of a company's terminal and you end up getting assigned a different truck after each home time.

[zipy46]

Many companies pull the 'home on weekends' stunt to lure people in.

What it amounts to is they will get you stopped long enough for a 34

hr restart.

Which in fact does not amount to much of a weekend at all.

:wink:

[dle]

If you have noticed those ads don't really say how long on weekends. They could get you home for a few hours - and it meets what the ad says. They got you home on the weekend. But of course this also depends on getting their magical quotas that you have to meet, having a load going in the right direction, etc etc etc etc.

[okie]

Home Daily is the same trap. Sure, I am home every day,, for 10-12 hrs. Don't make me figure in commute, sleeping, etc, then I would have to cry. Then hey, Thurs. rolls around and I see that pay check compared to my old paycheck and think, Works 4 me.

[Copperhead]

I would concur with the statements that most companies consider a weekend to be just enough time to do a 34 hr restart. There are a few though, that really live up to the weekend deal and at the house during the week. I had that at my last carrier (8.5 years) and at my present carrier. And I still get respectable miles (avg 3000 per week... Over 35K last quarter). I have found the best location to get this type of situation is the upper Midwest. I have been doing this area for 9 years now, and have done a lot better than most drivers running the entire U.S and being away from home week on end. I did 146,815 paid miles last year (and the previous years) and spent every weekend and holiday at home. And I got paid the same payrate as the 48 state drivers. And, as hard as it is for J.B. drivers to believe, I did it all legal. No fudging, no second book, tolls and fuels matched up, etc.

For this to work though, you have to be willing to really put in the work while away from home and have a good operations staff that knows how to plan freight. You may have to be somewhat creative (no.. I don't mean HOS) in that you work with your travel agent to drop certain loads at drop lots early and get another load and keep moving. Why wait to deliver if you don't have to? I just this morning dropped a load out of WI that wasn't delivering in Omaha and Lincoln till this evening. As soon as I was loaded, I let my travel agent that I would be in Omaha this morning and wanted to drop. Plans were made, and I dropped and am now running a Sioux City to Effingham load. Will unload in morning and grab another load to take home and deliver Monday.

You have to be a planner yourself and be able to negotiate and work with the operations people. But, the rewards are good. If I am away from the house, there better be freight on my wagon and moving. I hardly ever see the inside of a truckstop and only then to maybe get a quick shower or fill the thermos. Otherwise, I am moving or sleeping. But I get my weekends to do things around the house, be on a bowling league, and relax. I never sit more than an hour or two to get the next load. Most times, my next load is already preplanned and I just leave one place and go grab the next load. I do live unload/load about 60% of the time, but the customer base is good and they don't screw around at the docks.

Only if you held a gun to my head and threatened to kill my wife and dogs would I ever go back to 48 running or be gone weekends. After 2 decades and a clean safety record, I have paid my dues and have no desire to "see" the country.... at least from a truck!