Off Duty Time And Sight-seeing...

Melton allows you to accumulate/bank days.

Is one allowed to accumulate off days and take one long vacation in addition to the regular vacation days? i.e., I work for 6 weeks straight earning 6 off days, but instead of taking the 6 days I only take 4 leaving a balance of 2 days etc.

You will not be allowed to accumulate off days. Generally you will only be allowed 4 days at home. Any more would require the use of vacation time. So if you work 6 weeks straight, you will only earn 4 days off. If you work 8 weeks, you still only earn 4 days off. You either use them, or lose them. You will not be able to save any unused days if you take less than 4.

The majority of these questions are strictly company policy sensitive...company by company. The company only makes money when the truck is rolling. So you would have to talk with your company to see if you can "leave the truck", take your hometime in other areas, build up days off. But I will tell you. If oyu leave your truck in a truck stop, be sure and TELL MANAGEMENT..you never know the Tow policies of truckstops..and its really expensive when you get your truck towed, then theres the impound yard charges, etc. I know...we've had to pay them...

Is one allowed to accumulate off days and take one long vacation in addition to the regular vacation days? i.e., I work for 6 weeks straight earning 6 off days, but instead of taking the 6 days I only take 4 leaving a balance of 2 days etc.

This confuses alot of people. Most companies are setup with work a week and get one day off. It's pretty much the norm. What makes it different is that one day off your earning is non paid. You don't get paid for that day off. With most companies drivers don't earn vacation until after the first year. Now vacation days are paid while you are off. Now you can combined those days anyway you like but your only going to be allowed to take off a certain amount of days. Doubtful any company is going to allow you to take a solid two weeks off and let the truck just sit there. Sure the days off you earned and you can take them as you please....to a point but if your going to take an extended amount of time off you will have to clean out the truck and turn it in and you will get a different truck assigned to you once you return to work. Your truck will be given to someone else cause sitting truck cost money and they want that truck moving as much as possible.

If you have to take your 34 far from home, do the company pays for the safe haven? do they pay for hotel or you sleep in the truck?

Can anyone elaborate on this issue? I'm excited about trucking but not spending days in a sleeper, stuck at a truck stop. Does company policy vary that much on this issue? I had thoughts of taking a 10-speed along and seeing the sites in my off-duty time. Does a truck stop count as a "safe haven" to leave the company vehicle or how does one get to the same. I plan to drive for Roehl but if they are unreasonable on this point maybe I should refocus... Thanks

Again it's totally company policy. Some companies consider only company yards a safe haven and others might consider a truck stop a save haven as long as it's not a high crime area.

If you have a sleeper you will sleep in the truck unless you spring for the hotel.

As far as leaving your truck and sight seeing, that is all dependent on the company that you work for and their policies. Their policies might also be influenced by you being under a load or not. Some will not want you to leave the truck if you are under a load, even if it was only scrap metal or rubber ducks. (They may have money bet on the rubber duck races)

Trucks get stolen just for the truck or trailer and not the load while others get stolen for the load itself. The closer you are to the southern border the more likely a truck is to be stolen. Once across the border it is gone.