Sharing How I Got What I Needed Today And Resolved My Concerns.

I wanted to pop in briefly today and just share something that I thought was important - namely an issue with home time and how I resolved it professionally with my FM. We all know being OTR drivers how important our home time is. It is when we get much deserved rest, relaxation, resupply provisions , clean clothes , spend time with loved ones and catch up on important appointments (medical or otherwise). Needless to say when something happens (weather, a late load, break down etc) right around home time, it can throw our plans out of whack and cause conflict in our personal lives as well. I am due to go back out tommorrow for a 25 day run. I usually stay out that long or longer. I almost always put in for six days off and my FM rubber stamps it without thinking or asking about it due to the fact that I do stay out longer and that I am (in her words) one of her harder working drivers. She has told me time and time again that what she appreciates about me is that she never has to actually MANAGE me like she has had to do with some of her other drivers. I am not trying to extol myself or anything with that last comment, those are her words almost exact and that she has felt refreshed by the fact that she can give me a load and will know that I will run with it or communicate why I can't (weather, delays, breakdown whatever) and we work together to figure out a solution. That is the relationship that I have with my FM and it is awesome!

Today, I received a message from her stating that since I would be out for 25 days I could only take 5 days not 6. I pondered that for a moment, reflecting upon the last few runs I have had out with the company and after a moment or two to pause and think of my response, I stated - "Look, ma'am (not going to use her name on public forum) , I don't mean to sound flippant or argumentative about this, but I did want to know where this is coming from? Because 6 days is my usual time off and I am out about the same amount or longer each month. I do realize that February is a shorter month as well, so perhaps that is it?" She then replied that official policy is to be out for five days and get one day off in return, that if the additional day had been approved in the past that I should consider that a bonus , moving forward we would need to go with five days because the company was really starting to look closely at the home time off vs earned. (not her exact words but close enough).

Keep in mind that I had already planned dental, medical and a med card renewal appointment, plus a visit to a veterans home to spend time with one of our ailing church members etc not to mention a couple of other important items to attend to, not only that I had also made plans to visit my brother , his wife and the kids whom in FL whom I have not seen for a year and we already made the date for that. I had made the date around planning for my home time times. I at that point was feeling a bit stressed, I admit (though in the long run not a huge deal, I get it). But I thought through my response and I finally settled on saying to her - "Look, ma'am I understand the policy now as you explained and if that additional day was approved previously than I thank you. Being away from home 300 plus days a year can be a challenge to balance work/life. Here is where I am at , for the next couple of home times, I made plans that would be harder/stressful to adjust by staying out an additional five days to make up for it. Is there anyway that some consideration or grace could be given these next two times? I explained to her about my upcoming FL time off and the medical card renewal, dentist et al." I also ended with "If you are unable to accommodate for whatever reason please let me know ASAP so that I can work for change on my end". Almost immediately she replied back - "No worries bud, I can accommodate and do understand will submit an exception to OPS manager ASAP" she even put a :) on the end of it!

Often times I have heard in trucking how our FMs, Drive Managers, dispatchers , ops whatever you want to call them, seem not to care about drivers. My experience (not just with this but other issues) has been in COMMUNICATION. If you take the time to think through your response and concerns, and show interest in working towards solutions, you can often get what you need/want. It may not always work, it is a give and take. But I hope this inspires some one who reads this to consider how you can better work through issues with dispatch or company policy. Our dispatchers and ops support are humans too and if we will work to be humble and communicate honestly, we can get our needs met.

That was what I wanted to share today, hope yall are good! Be safe out there, rubber side down, shiny side up!

Moe

Moe, I'm glad you found a way to make it work. In the event you should part ways with Marten I can recommend a number of dedicated opportunities in the Portland/Wilsonville metropolitan area that will give you 8+ days off per month without asking and better pay.

So glad I have a set 2 days off a week and do not have to jump through hoops to get it.

Working towards local myself , right now I am just using the OTR life as a traveling lifestyle with my family having moved away and mom being sick . Soon as I land somewhere close to them I plan to get out of OTR lol

So glad I have a set 2 days off a week and do not have to jump through hoops to get it.

Working towards local myself , right now I am just using the OTR life as a traveling lifestyle with my family having moved away and mom being sick . Soon as I land somewhere close to them I plan to get out of OTR lol

Once you do get settled I would look into LTL companies, most of them pay 75k+ for P&D and 100k+ for Linehaul after a couple years.

“No worries bud” how about Moe. I can’t stand people that use the term bud or buddy lol. Anyways like Bobcat said definitely look into ltl. Can’t go wrong. Companies like odfl really good pay along with good low cost benefits. Can’t beat that.

True - my main reason for posting was just to encourage others tonight

“No worries bud” how about Moe. I can’t stand people that use the term bud or buddy lol. Anyways like Bobcat said definitely look into ltl. Can’t go wrong. Companies like odfl really good pay along with good low cost benefits. Can’t beat that.

Great read Moe, thank you for sharing that. You have come a very long way. Glad your doing well! Stay safe!!

This is a great example that often our DMs, FMs, etc are simply middle men and have stuff coming down from higher within our respective companies. I think it's easy to think that this point of contact is capable of doing anything and that it's a matter of choice. They have rules, regulations, and company policies to follow, just the same as we do as drivers. It goes a long way to use that effective communication and to have empathy as needed.