I found the issue of hometime to be difficult in some ways, but the company I drove for was very good about getting me home when I needed to be home.

As for 14 days out and two at home, for me that was enough time to come home, get some rest, wash my clothes, re-load my truck with groceries, etc., then head back out. It offered me very little time with my family.

Four weeks out usually got me about five or six days of home time, but if you are having to rely upon a paycheck, it can be very hard on monthly cash flow. In all fairness to the trucking companies, having a truck sit for that long is expensive for them as well!!

Some companies get you home at 10:00 Friday night, then are calling you by 4:00 Sunday afternoon. That wouldn't work for me!!

 

i know that UseLess Express infamous words where we do not have freight going thru or to Missouri and we live right along I-70 i see there trucks go thru here all the time.They sure did know how to keep us on the right side thou.felt like a pinball machine in Ohio and Pa.back and forth about 10 times.

 

I was getting home ever 7-10 days with USXpress but I was regional. Alot of companies do say 1 day off for every 7 out on the road. I say, that is bullshit. How can you possibly have ANY kind of life with a few days off a month?? I mean, thats not even enough time to wash cloths or say hi to people! It needs to change! It should be 2 days off for every 7 at the very least. Its a problem and I don't know where they get 1 off for every 7 from but it needs to go. If the turn around for this industry is ever going to drop to a reasonable level, this is one way to do it. Drivers need a cpm increase and at least 2 days home a week. Some companies want us to believe we are not going to make as much money but they need to pay us more period. An OTR driver should gross $1000 a week as a rookie and up to $2000 as an experienced driver and still get 2 days home a week or at least every 7 days. Its not happening right now because we are underpaid. If this don't get straight, I am not to worry cause I will stay local. I get payed hourly, work 8 banker hours a day, 40hrs a week, off weekends and holidays. What did I trade for this? Well, lets say I gave up alot of pay for a better schedule and holidays. I would like to go back on the road someday, I just wish they would get us home reasonably more and pay us what we deserve.

Also as minimum wage goes up, so should skilled trades and everything else. Thats another whole problem in itself, minimum wage is raised, but nothing else. Things need to get straight for working americans, they really do. I think most drivers here also feel they are underpaid no matter if they are local or OTR. Not just drivers but many other fields are feeling this, amercians in general need more pay, especially skilled trades. Stop raising minimum wage and get others paid what they should, hello?? Now it seems 40k a year is barely enough to live off of especially if you have a family. Well, maybe there will someday be a trucking company that will realize why the turnover rate is so high and figure it out. Listen to the drivers, understand them and change things. Maybe I am getting through, maybe i'm not. :roll:

 

what is good or normal home time

 

Normal is 1 24hour period away from the truck for every FULL 7-24 hour periods away from the truck. There are some slightly better, but this is one of those things that seems to remain a mystery to those entering the industry.

 

I am a little confused. You are told how much you will be paid, how long you will be out and how much you will be home before you take the job. Now, you get mad because that is the way things are. I understand that most of us would like to have more money. If you want to be home every weekend for 2 days then you will sacrifice income. Those who earn the higher income get a load on Friday for a Monday morning delivery. That usually means leaving out on Sunday. This business is what it is, not what some would like for it to be. A company must show a profit or it will cease to exist. For it to show a profit every employee must be productive. Until a driver learns how to properly do their job they are not worth top wages for the company. It seems that a lot of people want more and more benefits and higher pay for less work. Things simply don't work that way. That is one reason so much our our manufacturing has gone abroad. I grew up understanding that the harder and smarter I work the more success I will have and the bigger my paycheck. I have never understood why some seem to want to do less for more money. That mentality has nearly killed the steel industry in this country. It is threatening to do the same to the automobile industry. Is trucking next?

 

Amen Gman!

I had trucks and drivers, but no more. I was a terrible baby sitter, because that is what it basically entailed, baby sitting 30 and 40+ year old children.

And none of my drivers had less then 3 years otr experience. Some could not do logs, scale a truck, read a map, plan a trip, use a company cell phone, etc...

And by Tuesday, they were calling to go home! And then they bitched about not having the miles when they could barely drive 400 miles in a day! And a few of them wondered why they lost their houses or had to file for bankruptcy. I could go on for days.

I sold everything, no one wanted to work. They wanted to call the shots and tell me how to run my business while not even being able to follow the most simplest of instructions, and costing me thousands of dollars at any given moment. Good riddance to all of them!

 

How does 10-14 days out coincide with 7-day 60 or 8-day 70 HOS and 36 hours off? Looks like more companies could get you home for your 36 rather than sitting in some hole truck stop.

 

:shock: :shock: OMG-thats pitiful!

 

Pitiful is not even close. My best driver, who actually did everything right most of the time, ain't no one perfect, not even me, was lost to diabetes. Long story, but he wound up on insulin injections, and yes he is still alive. It made me and my wife sick to lose this guy. He was a straight shooter, and never lied to me that I knew of. He even fessed up if he screwed up, which was priceless in my book. Finding a driver like him was like finding a golden nugget in the back yard. He was driving for Schneider when I found him.