OTR A Prerequisite?

Very informative Guy. Im trackin'...So basically if you work OTR freight, you want to work a solid OTR schedule that keeps you moving.

Yes. The industry standard seems to be close to the 30 day mark. While not set in stone the main detreming factor over all would be what the driver considers a good take home wage. While most that drive love the road we would love to be home more often but also want to maximize our take home revenue at the same time.

If someone does not need a whole lot more money then going home sooner will definitely work for them. It just seems that the average falls around the 4 to 6 week mark.

Plus you have to remember a pay period is 7 days. If you stay out for a whole 14 days and are home for 2 days then you just lost two days of revenue for the month and do that twice a month that four days total mean while the driver that stays out longer does not need to go home and now their DM has a driver that can take the long good miles load cause he does not have to worry about getting the 2nd driver home.

Hope that makes sense.

Makes perfect sense. Now say I do some time OTR and then go regional..that would work a little smoother as far as getting good miles and getting home?

Home time is great. But when thinking about taking home time make sure you know exactly why your paychecks are small and you are not getting the miles you could be getting.

Brett and everyone that is already on the road can tell you the same thing but here is how trucking companies work versus home time.

Let's start off with you being home. You get home for four to five days. Great now your rested. Before warned. While you are home the company has freight it needs to cover and they do. Even in your area near your home. They will not even think about getting you a load out till inbare back in the truck. Well it just so happens the good freight in your area is covered and and has been for two days and the only stuff is left is the short runs. Now since you are OTR your DM has to work you into areas that has frwith with miles. That can take three to five days. Now you get a few good runs and suddenly its time to go home again. They start working you back home with short runs so you will be near home when home time comes back around.

Basically it can take as long as a week to get you back into the freight with the good miles and a week to get ya back near the house. For this reason most companies recommend that drivers stay out 4 to 6 weeks so they can maximize the miles they get while out.

Trucking has been this way from the start and will not change now either. I am sure you have heard the drivers that run the hardest get the best loads and make the most money and that also included those drivers willing to stay out a bit longer. Two weeks is not enough time for the load planners to plan good loads for you.

Just try the different options for home time and I am willing to give you a 98% guarantee You will find out what I say is true.

Heck you may luck out and it might be right for you.

Wow guy you just said what i needed to hear. That just made all the negativity i have ever read float away. If that is the way it works i am good to go. I see why people whine about hometime and then their mile. I did not realize it isnt just dispatcher it is them trying to plan around you. In one comment you took away all my fears. Thank you guy for the amazing comment and all of your knowledge i felt lost before i joined this site you guys are great. More people should see this 3yrs reading and this explained all i needed to know. Thank you a thousand times for this 5 star advice.

Makes perfect sense. Now say I do some time OTR and then go regional..that would work a little smoother as far as getting good miles and getting home?

Regional works the same as OTR except you usually stay in a certain part of the country. When I was with JB Hunt I was in what they call a Super Regional route or fleet before I got my dedicated account. I never went west of I35 but still pulled in 2500 to 3000miles per week. The trips were short(less miles) but I ran more trips so it basically worked out to be the same mileage each week.

Depending on how your compaany has it setup different fleets have different home time plans. Just remember the recruiters are only telling you about the average hometime their drivers get. Once you get with a company you can then find out more about the different home time options.