What Do Companies Mean By 'Home Time'?

Alright....I guess I'm wondering about what a company means when they talk about "home time"....

For example: I was just lookin at Prime website. It states that you earn one day off for each week your out on the road. Does that mean that you have to be away from your home, your family for 5-6-7 days in order to be able to get ONE day at home?? If you have to be away for 10-14 days in order to get not even 48 hours (2 days) at home....that I just can't see myself doing that. I NEED to see my family and my pets more than that. My daughter just turned 16 and she still need me around, you know?

Being away for 5 days and home for 2 full days is fine. Being away from home for 10 days and then have 4 days at home is passable.

I read some people saying that Roehls have flexible home time such as 7 days out, and then 3 or 4 days home time. But that is NOT mentioned on their website. The length of time they mention for you to be away from home is longer, in order to have just a couple days home.

I do NOT want to be away for so long. I do not want to break the bond with my kids by being an absent mother.

Please dont take this the wrong way... but i have read your posts and Prime really does not seem like the company for you. I LOVE PRime... but I'm going to be frank with you.... I left Sept 19th for Prime. I flew home from Florida on Nov 16 because my parent was hospitalized and needed surgery. (otherwise i would not have gotten home until Nov 26th). Prime had NO problem with me leaving at a moment's notice and did not even ask me for proof-- which is amazing cause my other job would have asked for a ton of documentation. I got back on the road on Nov 22 and hopped on a plane for home on Dec 23rd. My trainer did not run for the holidays, so i'm going back out tomorrow (jan 5th).

Basically when they say "one day for each week you are out" they mean "you work four weeks straight then can go home for four days". If you do not take that home time, you cannot lump 8 days together for 2 months out on the road. HOWEVER< if you are a lease op (which i dont recommend to anyone new-- including myself), then you can choose when to go home and for how long--- but... if the truck isnt running you arent making money and now have a $1300 per week truck payment. Plus insurance, tires, maintenance, fuel, etc

I read your posts about shower time, and I chuckled because there is no "shower in the morning" because the start of the day is different every day. You might pull into a shipper at 2am and sleep, then get woken up four hours later to pull into the dock, then after dealing with the paperwork, sleep for another two hours while they load you up. THEN you get on the road and start your drive time, trying to get to the receiver ASAP. If you're lucky, you have time to grab a shower on the road, sit down and eat and park it. Driving teams --- which I'm still doing after my initial permit learning period-- there is no "schedule" and no "shower time"... it's a matter of "we are between loads so let's shower and eat". We sat at one shipper for over TWENTY HOURS with only a port a pot because they had a window of 24 hours and my trainer always gets to appointments 3 hours early. in the TNT phase, we drive for 8 hours, sometimes not stopping at all, then take the 30 min break for food/restroom, and get moving again. Sometimes we stop long enough for fuel and a bathroom and that is it. With a team, the truck is ALWAYS moving... and you have to learn to sleep with the driver blowing the horn, yelling, playing the radio, hitting the bumps, and the onguard beeping constantly if you are in traffic.

Life on the road is a huge adjustment... it is unlike any job you have ever had. During the learner's permit period, it is much easier, cause you are basically driving as a solo. So when I was not driving, the truck was parked. I knew my 10 hour break started and could wash clothes take shower, go to the bathroom, eat, do whatever and know when we had to leave again. With the second part of the training, you are at the mercy of the trainer--- its their truck... so you eat, sleep, shower, restroom when they want to... not necessarily when you want to.

Now.. if i made this sound gloomy.. sorry... BUT... I LOVE the company.. its awesome. the people are great.. the dispatchers are great. the terminals are clean and available. Having freedom to be out in the open rather than in a stuffy office or a prison like building without windows is fantastic. Not "really" having a boss is incredible. I used to have a micro-managing boss who breathed down my neck. With Prime, you get messages telling you "be here at on this date/time". You confirm the load and go. When you get their, you message and that is it. When in the terminal , i go and say hi to the dispatcher who is a great guy. Prime has all sorts of holiday parties, halloween parties, gives free breakfast every friday, gave free thanksgiving to those on the road... they give incentive pays.... i have no complaints.

But.. it is a completely different way of life. Don't expect to be home for at least six weeks from the time to first get there. After that, your home time is dictated by your trainer until you get your own truck. after that, it is four weeks driving, then four days home.

*you're* out on the road.....not "your"!

2 days off per 14 days of driving is pretty standard I think. However there are other options for a driver besides OTR. Local positions exist in P&D , construction, fuel, milk, and etc. that will have you home every night. However it can be tough to get these positions without a year experience. It can be hard to get hometime on a schedule when going OTR. Also if you get a passenger endorsement you could drive say a city bus or airport shuttle. But yea, if you need to be home a lot or on a regular basis then over the road is not going to work for you.

Phil

From my research most will give you, or at least try to give you, one day home for each week out. Now, what I do know is that may mean that you get in late Friday night and have to leave on Sunday in order to load or drop on schedule. So basically if you are out 21 days you can have 3 days at home. That is a sight better than years past as many companies would put you out for months on end.

I do NOT want to be away for so long. I do not want to break the bond with my kids by being an absent mother.

If you go on Roehl website, put your mouse on the Roehl experience drop bar then click on (be home more/home time options) they talk about it more. Or click on their FAQ section, they also talk about the hometimeplus option their as well.

Maverick states that they try to have you home every week.Not sure of their hiring areas as they are headquartered in Little Rock, AR

This is the section that you are most concerned about, in this thread.

Q: What can I expect for Hometime? A: We offer a National Fleet where you’ll be out 11-14 days with 3 days at home. Our HOMEtime PLUS™ Fleets offer 14 days out with 7 days at home, 7 days out with 7 days at home or a rotation of 7 days out, 4 at home and 7 days out 3 at home. Our regional fleets have you home weekly. We also offer dedicated fleets in select areas.

here is the full web page Roehl FAQ.

Stay safe

Alright....I guess I'm wondering about what a company means when they talk about "home time"....

For example: I was just lookin at Prime website. It states that you earn one day off for each week your out on the road. Does that mean that you have to be away from your home, your family for 5-6-7 days in order to be able to get ONE day at home?? If you have to be away for 10-14 days in order to get not even 48 hours (2 days) at home....that I just can't see myself doing that. I NEED to see my family and my pets more than that. My daughter just turned 16 and she still need me around, you know?

Being away for 5 days and home for 2 full days is fine. Being away from home for 10 days and then have 4 days at home is passable.

I read some people saying that Roehls have flexible home time such as 7 days out, and then 3 or 4 days home time. But that is NOT mentioned on their website. The length of time they mention for you to be away from home is longer, in order to have just a couple days home.

Rebellious...this is why I recommended the Winchester fleet. You reset your 70 at home...you will have to check will Roehl to see what's available. It gives you two things...well three...1. Home time....2. Good pay. ...3. You'll be at roughly the same amount as Prime offers to drive a lightweight within 7 or 8 months. Good equipment, good people.... Good miles. Good luck

Fwiw, I applied for a NE regional position at Schneider and I was told that it's 5 1/2 days out and 1 1/2 home every week (so I guess it's basically doing your reset at home). I'm guessing a lot of companies have something similar. I didn't ask for details, but from what I've read about driving jobs in general I figure it wouldn't be wise to count on getting home at a specific time each week.