Paternity Leave
Topic 30275 | Page 1
I was curious what would be a reasonable time off request to ask from a company? How does it work for the otr drivers? Has anybody here had a child while driving?
When Tom was driving for Transport America back in 2004, we were expecting our son in January. They gave him a 'moment's notice' dealio, and kept him as close to home as possible. He took off from 1/25 until 2/25 and miraculously kept his same rig. We had our son on 1/28.
He had been with TA for 3 years at that point, so I'm sure that had some credence. Two weeks of his vacay was paid, and they gave him 'partial' pay for the other 2 weeks. I was ready for him to go back OUT after the 1st two, tbh... but... LoL!
We didn't know you were expecting, but DANG, congrats!
Again, that's 'our' experience (and it was GREAT!!) YMMV.
BEST WISHES!!!
~ Anne ~ (and Tom and Franklin!!)
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.
Congrats! Is this your first?
I was driving locally when my daughter was born. Due to no family within 250 miles at the time we scheduled for my wife to be induced at 39 weeks with her OB's permission. It allowed us to try and make plans for our other 2 kids, but also ensure I wasn't too far from home. Because it was planned for a Wednesday I took about a week and a half off because that's all the vacation time I had. I'm not entirely sure but I believe birth of a child is a FMLA eligible event so you'd be eligible for like 12 weeks off if you wanted to.
Fm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
Has anybody here had a child while driving?
Yes, little bugger hit the brake pedal when he came out but we managed to toe him over to the passenger well and out of the way.
Thanks for the response guys. It was helpful. That’s awesome TA accommodated you guys like that Anne. 2nd kid Rob. Both daughters. I’m surrounded!
I would not want to be OTR with a newborn. My best advice would be to go local asap. Every ltl company is hiring to the point where most don't even care if you have experience or not. Why miss out on that wonderful 1st year?
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.
SAP:
Substance Abuse Professional
The Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) is a person who evaluates employees who have violated a DOT drug and alcohol program regulation and makes recommendations concerning education, treatment, follow-up testing, and aftercare.
Yeah man I’ve been local. I was just curious how it worked for the otr drivers.
I would not want to be OTR with a newborn. My best advice would be to go local asap. Every ltl company is hiring to the point where most don't even care if you have experience or not. Why miss out on that wonderful 1st year?
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.
SAP:
Substance Abuse Professional
The Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) is a person who evaluates employees who have violated a DOT drug and alcohol program regulation and makes recommendations concerning education, treatment, follow-up testing, and aftercare.
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I was curious what would be a reasonable time off request to ask from a company? How does it work for the otr drivers? Has anybody here had a child while driving?
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.