Questions About Vacation Time

Obviously, each carrier will be different, but I am hoping that some of you have some input to how vacation time or paid time off (PTO) works with carriers and company drivers. I searched for threads here on TT but only found one which was about 8 years old.

Background/situation:

I am currently a pharmacy technician and will be taking my CDL class in Oct/Nov 2024 and hope to start my new career in trucking starting in Jan 2025 (truckers make way more than a pharmacy tech). I am hoping for a Regional , maybe dedicated, route, if that matters. My wife is a travel agent, and we take about 3 weeks of vacation each year (split- usually a 2 week and 1 week) which helps stir up business for her. In my research it appears that a lot of carriers offer PTO and I have found some scales and tables, but I still have more questions than what they advertise. I’m also not ready to reach out to recruiters just yet.

Questions

1) Does anyone know if any “starter” carriers will allow me to take time off without pay?

2) How does PTO pay work? Is it a flat rate or do they take your weekly/monthly average to calculate what to pay you? The latter would make since as most appear to not give you PTO until you have completed 1 year of service.

3) I read that turnover is high, especially with starter companies. I don’t like to jump around but I realize that may be beneficial once I get 6-12 months experience. Do any ”# years experience required” carriers take your years of service into account when they add you to their system for PTO accrual? Probably not, just curious if they use that as incentive. To clarify, take this example. If I have 2 years of experience with company A and the next company hires me, company B. Would company B start me in their PTO scale as 2 years or would I start over at 0 years?

Any input you may have would be much appreciated. My wife has been 100% on board with me switching careers until she realized that I would be losing my 4 weeks of PTO/year. I am also not interested in becoming an O/O at this time. I will be a new driver and would not attempt this until I have several years of experience.

Thank you so much for your time.

Hello Croz,

Most of the questions you ask would have to be answered by a recruiter at whatever company you are interested in. I find that PTO policies vary widely from terrible to good.

A so called starter company will not want you to take off much or any time beyond their standard days off, especially in your first year. For example, it is common for OTR drivers to be out 3 weeks and then to get 3 days of home time. You can request non-paid time off for a good reason, but it is granted at the companies discretion. Depends on the company. At my company, PTO or non PTO time off must be requested at least 3 weeks in advance. Again where I work, no paid vacation the first year and then 2 weeks after 3 years.

If you quit your company, you start from zero at your next. My vacation pay is based on an average of what I made 12 months prior. Add up the 12 months, divide by 12 and that is what I get for my 1 week of vacation. (Based on net, not on gross). If you work for a big company with multiple divisions, you can usually switch to another division and still keep your years of service benefits. Again, may vary by company.

If your number one concern about truck driving is time off, you will have a hard time being happy. It is a very consuming lifestyle, especially for a family man. Carefully consider this. You can invest a lot of time in training and learning how to drive a commercial vehicle and then throw it all away because you can’t adapt to the lifestyle.

Good luck if you pursue this. Truck driving can be a wonderful career, but it is not for everyone.

All companies are so different in how they deal with PTO. I work for a company that did not do PTO time, however, you could take up to a week off on your own dime. My last company that closed their doors in May, never said anything about PTO time when I hired on with them in January. Maybe they had a forewarning that they were going to have to close. The container company I drove for gave you $1,000 for one week vacation time that you got after 6 months. After every 6 months you got another week vacation time until you acquired two full weeks and then you lost your time if you didn't take it.

While this is a good paying job, it's unlike any other job out there. You can't compare it to anything you have ever done before.

Here are some links for you to go through before you get too bogged down worrying about vacation time:

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

Laura

One of the first things that jumped out to me is that Im guessing youre going the route of private schooling. We generally recommend going through carrier provided training for many reasons. Paid CDL Training Programs

As was said, as many different companies as there are, there are different PTO options. In general though, with taking time off, as with so many other things about trucking, your performance will largely dictate how much time off you get. What I mean by this is that the safe, reliable, productive drivers that are easy to work with will get the lions share of the work and will get perks. Because the company knows that you are an asset and have established a relationship with that, they will make a point to have a favorable relationship with you.

When I was with Knight, my terminal manager saw to it that I often could take extended time off, without cleaning out my truck. She did this for as long as she could fight corporate. I would generally take at least a two week vacation to Europe and a smattering of one week vacations in a year. She did this because I would gladly stay out for 4 to 6 weeks at a time, wouldnt say no, would run anything, anywhere, anytime without failing. I had no safety incidents, accidents and or issues. Again though, its very terminal specific and really up to your dispatch and managers. Not everyone had the same experience there, but it is possible.

Really though, the beginning of your career is a really about learning and the more seat time you accumulate the better. Once you have adapted to the lifestyle, there are some positions that offer more time off, Knight had and may still have a "casusal driver" position in several areas that didnt require as much time on the road, it was far more flexible. They may have since changed it due to market conditions. In general a lot of their drivers were still out for weeks on end, but with less miles so more sitting in between loads. Much has changed with the freight industry having undergone a profound change the last couple years.

Thank you everyone.

I know it is a wide range of answers. I'm not freaking out... I could care less about vacations. My wife, the travel agent, is worried that I won't be able to take any time off. I reminded her she can always take the kiddos without me.

I am going to a private school. I did my homework and found a government grant that I was eligible for so it will be 100% free and is 7 mins from my house.

If I wasn't eligible for the grant I would probably have ended up at Roehl with their CDL school. They are one of my top picks so far for possible employers.

Any “starter” carriers will allow me to take time off without pay?

Prime will, but you need to turn your truck in. Swapping trucks is a massive feat. However, teaming would be a great option for more flexible vacation without pay

2) How does PTO pay work? Is it a flat rate or do they take your weekly/monthly average to calculate what to pay you? The latter would make since as most appear to not give you PTO until you have completed 1 year of service.

Prime gives you a week based off 125,000 miles, not year. So if it takes you 15 months to drive that, so be it. You can earn up to 3 weeks with 5 years and miles required

3) I read that turnover is high, especially with starter companies. I don’t like to jump around but I realize that may be beneficial once I get 6-12 months experience. Do any ”# years experience required” carriers take your years of service into account when they add you to their system for PTO accrual? Probably not, just curious if they use that as incentive. To clarify, take this example. If I have 2 years of experience with company A and the next company hires me, company B. Would company B start me in their PTO scale as 2 years or would I start over at 0 years?

Not at Prime. Your starting pay would be higher with experience, but you earn time based on your time at prime. They pay it as a flat rate of $900 per week. Sucks i know.