What Do Companies Mean By 'Home Time'?
Topic 12192 | Page 2
You've been on this forum for a decent time by now. Honestly, I'm surprised you're just finding this out now in regard to hometime and trucking. It's a good thing you became aware of it. You might want to look into local trucking, e.g. see if there are any LTL companies where you live. But, going local will also mean long days. Either way you cut it, becoming a truck driver takes a tremendous amount of time to dedicate to your career / job. At least with a local gig you will be able to get some "face time" in with your family on a daily basis, and usually have two days off a week like a normal job.
LTL:
Less Than Truckload
Refers to carriers that make a lot of smaller pickups and deliveries for multiple customers as opposed to hauling one big load of freight for one customer. This type of hauling is normally done by companies with terminals scattered throughout the country where freight is sorted before being moved on to its destination.
LTL carriers include:
- FedEx Freight
- Con-way
- YRC Freight
- UPS
- Old Dominion
- Estes
- Yellow-Roadway
- ABF Freight
- R+L Carrier
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.
Kurt..your absolute correct. My company tries to get me home as schedule. It doesn't always work this way. I have come to realize this. Some days I get home in the day I requested. Some days I don't. But, my company always tries.....and I appreciate that.
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
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
In the "driving jobs" section of its website, Maverick provides a link to the hiring areas for each division (Flatbeds, Temperature Controlled, Glass, and "Specialized"). If I looked at each map correctly, Maverick's hiring areas do not extend to any area near Southwick, MA. But, who knows what could happen through a phone call or two?
Have you looked at R&L carriers they hire in your state or yellow freight. A ltl sounds what you need
LTL:
Less Than Truckload
Refers to carriers that make a lot of smaller pickups and deliveries for multiple customers as opposed to hauling one big load of freight for one customer. This type of hauling is normally done by companies with terminals scattered throughout the country where freight is sorted before being moved on to its destination.
LTL carriers include:
- FedEx Freight
- Con-way
- YRC Freight
- UPS
- Old Dominion
- Estes
- Yellow-Roadway
- ABF Freight
- R+L Carrier
Surprised you haven't just chosen Roehl already.
The cdl class that started this week had 3 guys from the northeast. Roehl will get you home.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
It sounds like you won't be happy with otr or regional. You're left with dedicated home every night type stuff, local, ltl linehaul. Even with those you're most likely going to end up with something that runs 10+hours every day so your family time will probably still take a hit.
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
LTL:
Less Than Truckload
Refers to carriers that make a lot of smaller pickups and deliveries for multiple customers as opposed to hauling one big load of freight for one customer. This type of hauling is normally done by companies with terminals scattered throughout the country where freight is sorted before being moved on to its destination.
LTL carriers include:
- FedEx Freight
- Con-way
- YRC Freight
- UPS
- Old Dominion
- Estes
- Yellow-Roadway
- ABF Freight
- R+L Carrier
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Linehaul:
Linehaul drivers will normally run loads from terminal to terminal for LTL (Less than Truckload) companies.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning them to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
RV I would like to suggest something that hopefully will help you. I preface my suggestion with he understanding that I completely understand all the "what if" scenarios that are working on you right now. I am the same way so I get it.
My suggestion is to totally focus and apply yourself to the tasks immediately at hand; getting your CDL. Try not to worry about step 5, when you need to complete 3 and 4 in order to get to 5.
You will be able to find the right job once you have the benefit of the CDL in your hand.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
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
What is the "Winchester" fleet? Is this part of Roehl, or is it another company similar to Roehl?
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.
I'm sure you're a great mother, RebelliousVamp as well as having a great daughter also. Trucking sadly isn't 100% dependent-friendly, but if you wouldn't mind being out for a while at a time, try a dedicated route or like a couple said earlier, try for your Passenger endorsement and go for a bus job, Greyhound sucks BUT a driver told me every station is HIRING for drivers, and that's all you need!
Why does Greyhound sucks? I have the Peter Pan company 20 minutes away from me also.
Dedicated Route:
A driver or carrier who transports cargo between regular, prescribed routes. Normally it means a driver will be dedicated to working for one particular customer like Walmart or Home Depot and they will only haul freight for that customer. You'll often hear drivers say something like, "I'm on the Walmart dedicated account."
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Prime Inc Roehl Transport Schneider National Choosing A Trucking Company Home Time Trucker's Family Matters
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I'm sure you're a great mother, RebelliousVamp as well as having a great daughter also. Trucking sadly isn't 100% dependent-friendly, but if you wouldn't mind being out for a while at a time, try a dedicated route or like a couple said earlier, try for your Passenger endorsement and go for a bus job, Greyhound sucks BUT a driver told me every station is HIRING for drivers, and that's all you need!
Dedicated Route:
A driver or carrier who transports cargo between regular, prescribed routes. Normally it means a driver will be dedicated to working for one particular customer like Walmart or Home Depot and they will only haul freight for that customer. You'll often hear drivers say something like, "I'm on the Walmart dedicated account."