Companies With Longer Home Time Options?

I have been waiting for several weeks to start my training with Knight transportation. There are several things that had put them at the top of my list, but when I call tomorrow if they still can't give me some idea of when things will be ready to go I am going to start contacting some of the other companies I am interested in.

Roehl is also high on my list, but I will have to find out how their home time options work since I am 4 hrs from their closest yard. They have a 14 out 7 off plan that I would be interested in checking out.

I don't mind going out for a few weeks at a time, just when I get home I'd like to have more than a couple days.

What other companies out there have more flexible home time options?

I am looking for dry van work.

Woody

Woody, honestly no company can beat the hometime options Roehl provides. Your only other options wouldn't be an OTR company. You can look into going regional where your home every weekend but that's just about it.

When it comes to frequent hometime, no company can even come close to what Roehl offers. They are the hometime carrier.

They are flexible with their plans. You say you wouldn't mind going out for weeks at a time and sounds like you want just more than a few days off. You could look into doing 21/7. Working 21 days and then 7 days off. Think about what your preferred plan would be then speak with a recruiter. They can be flexible But like I said, unless you find regional work that can get you hometime for the weekends, there's no company out there that offers such an awesome hometime package.

I totally agree with Daniel - I've never seen anything that compares to Roehl Transport's home time options. But keep this in mind - that 7/7 fleet for instance...you're going to make about $22k per year doing that and maybe less your first year. You could literally make that as a shift supervisor at McDonald's without spending thousands to go to school, maintaining a CDL , taking all the risk of driving for a living, and you'd be home every night. So that's just something to consider.

But getting home on weekends is a great compromise in trucking. You're still out on the road during the week enjoying the travelling lifestyle and making good money while being able to maintain some sort of a home life on the weekends and almost any major dry van carrier that hires from your area will have some sort of options for that.

Woody, call Kim at 1-800-535-8180. Tell her I referred you to her. She is awesome.

Thanks for the replies.

I have thought about that Brett, but I'd much rather work half the year in a truck for the 20,000 (approximately) than be working at McDonald's. Not that there is anything wrong with working at McDonald's, just not my cup of tea. I mainly just want to know I have different options at the company I choose. I know I need to be at my first company for a year, hopefully longer if I make the right choice out of the gate.

I live about 70 miles from Indianapolis, so I would have a lot of opportunities to do regional with frequent home time with the right company. Knight has several different home time options for this reason, and they also have the 7/7 but i plan on running more than that. I am torn between doing regional to be home more often, but wanting to travel more states than what regional is typically going to offer.

Thanks for the phone number PJ.

Woody

I to spoke with Roehl. A couple of reasons I am not considering them is this:

1. you do the 7/7 and you SHARE a truck with 2 other drivers. That's 3 drivers for ONE TRUCK.

2. They have a camera on the windshield that is pointed at you at all times. They have a person constantly monitoring it. So you have someone (creepily) staring at you. I guess you could pick your nose and wipe a booger on the lens. Give them a green boogery scope to look through. I know this because we had a recent student who drives for Roehl come to our class this week and allow us to check his truck out. The camera thing is a BIG turn off for me.

3. The 7/7 is literally a part time job with a max income of $26,000 a year. As Brett said, you'd be better as a shift manager at some fast food restaurant chain.

This isn't meant to scare you, but to give something to consider along with everything else you are thinking about. Bwahahahahahaha!

I to spoke with Roehl. A couple of reasons I am not considering them is this:

1. you do the 7/7 and you SHARE a truck with 2 other drivers. That's 3 drivers for ONE TRUCK.

2. They have a camera on the windshield that is pointed at you at all times. They have a person constantly monitoring it. So you have someone (creepily) staring at you. I guess you could pick your nose and wipe a booger on the lens. Give them a green boogery scope to look through. I know this because we had a recent student who drives for Roehl come to our class this week and allow us to check his truck out. The camera thing is a BIG turn off for me.

3. The 7/7 is literally a part time job with a max income of $26,000 a year. As Brett said, you'd be better as a shift manager at some fast food restaurant chain.

This isn't meant to scare you, but to give something to consider along with everything else you are thinking about. Bwahahahahahaha!

I agree. I think that 7/7 is meant for someone who just wants to get out of the house once in a while but also isn't the provider of the family. You can't provide with that low of an income, so it's right for some people but not for everyone.

I think your 1. is wrong. I'm pretty sure it's two people to one truck. One drives for a week while the other driver takes the week off. Then that driver goes home and the other driver goes out for a week. They switch back and forth.

I like Roehl for there 14/7 and 21/7 plan though. You work just enough to make a paycheck but you aren't compromising too much on the hometime. But everyone's needs are different. Roehl isn't the company for me in my current situation.

The 14-7 is the plan I would lean hardest towards if I chose Roehl. I want to make more than the 7-7 would offer, but I don't HAVE to make a ton. My wife is an ER nurse that fortunately makes pretty decent money. So she really doesn't want me to be gone for three weeks just to get to spend 3 days at home.

I will be calling Knight again this week to try to nail down what options for sure would be available to me there. They have a terminal 1 hr from my house vs Roehl's closest terminal is 4 hrs away.

There are a couple others I am still looking at that may have some regional positions available to get me home weekly or closer to it. I'm really torn between staying closer to home to get home more often and staying out long enough to see more than just a few states.

I'll post more once I have info. I checked into my room today for school.. WOW is all I can say lol. They don't have wifi and I did not bring my laptop and cable, so I may have to bite the bullet and sign my iPad up for service for a month. There is no way I am going 3 weeks without Internet service.

Woody

Woody glad your in school. One step closer. Dewey I am at Roehl headquarters in Marshfield and there are trucks all over the place. I have been in and out of several from old to brand new and none of them had a camera. Not sure what the driver had that you saw. I have spoke with several drivers here and no one has said anything either. The hometime choice plans are very wide. I'm not sure on the 14/7 plan but I do know the 7/7 plan 2 drivers are assigned to 1 truck. it's there responsibility. The 14/4 and 14/3 plan is 3 drivers assigned to 3 trucks that they are responsible for. You would want to live somewhat close to a terminal for those plans. National you get a truck issued and you keep it with you. Everyone starts out in the National fleet till all the training is completed. Then you can move into another plan/division. They are currently pushing flatbed pretty hard, but I'm staying dry van for right now. I have talked with several refer guys and I am considering maybe moving to it after training. They are in high demand right now.

They have a camera on the windshield that is pointed at you at all times. They have a person constantly monitoring it. So you have someone (creepily) staring at you

I'm not sure that's true either. Generally the idea behind those cameras is to have software monitoring your eyes to see if you're falling asleep at the wheel. If your eyes stay closed for too long an alarm is supposed to go off to wake you up. I've heard companies pondering this idea for years and years but I've yet to actually see one implemented. But there isn't going to be someone on the other end with with hundreds of camera monitors watching everyone. I mean, they could do that I guess, but that's not what they're designed for and the company would be spending a lot of money watching drivers sit there staring out the windshield.