Holidays And Truckers

I know that all alot or most truckers able to be home on the holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas and honestly being single im ok with that when i start. With the holidays coming up i was wondering two things.

1. Does your family comprimise with you on a way yall can celebrate together and how.

2. Is there any thing you drivers to special on Thanksgiving and Christmas that you usually dont do for yourself like go to a CB (Cracker Barrel) or spoil your diet with a dinner at a iron skillet or a steak house?

I'll hang up and listen to yalls responce.

Hi Michael. Holidays are always a big deal in our home but I do plan on being gone for xmas and t day this year. Our kids are old enough to get that the old man has to work to keep the wolves from knocking and to pay for the goodies. We plan on doing something special after I get home after the new year. I do hope to be home for our anniversary in mid November.

I really enjoy cooking from my truck so no Iron Skillet for me. And I've found that after the initial blitz of people getting where they want to go on holidays, traffic seems to thin out and I an make decent miles.

When I got into trucking they said " you better have an understanding wife" . I replied that my wife understands that I better get a job ASAP!

Good luck to you in the industry.

By the time I (hopefully) complete schooling and the mentoring period, it will almost be a foregone conclusion that there will be no Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years. Christmas doesn't really apply to me as I'm Jewish, yep a member of the tribe ;-) I'm a bit sad about missing Thanksgiving because it is a fun family tradition. Football, movies, turkey, beer, wine, and all kinds of delicious deserts. Even when I lived out of state, I always made it a point to fly home for Thanksgiving. I'll make it a point to find a restaurant with a turkey dinner sans alcohol of course.

Michael, part of the problem with that Holiday season is that it is the craziest busy time of the year for trucking companies. My experience with flat-bedding is that they always tried really hard to get us home if we wanted to get home. That is flat-bed though, and the dry-van guys are really getting after it during that time of year. On thing about it though is that right after that season the freight really slows down, so you just have to try and compromise it a little and get to look forward to spending some time at home after the rush is over with.

I make it a point to get my anniversary off. Otherwise, I miss those other holidays. My first thanksgiving, I ate at Black bear diner in Bend Oregon.

Generally we do something when I get home or before I leave.

My company guarantees Christmas hometime if you request it. Last year (my first with them) I got home on Christmas Eve about 7 in the evening, under a load due for a Monday delivery. Being retired Navy, I have missed so many holidays ( 3 Christmas' and uncountable birthdays and anniversaries), it really doesn't factor in for me. Just another day.

My company gets whoever wants to go home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have spent the majority of holidays in trucks stop but Christmas and my 2 daughters birthdays are non negotiable.

Now I don't have a wife or children but holidays were always big with our family growing up and they still are. A time or two I stayed out for Thanksgiving and once for Christmas but I decided it didn't make any sense to do that because often times you're doing a lot of sitting around anyhow. Obviously customers aren't open on the actual holidays and often times for a day or two before or after. Sometimes your company can keep you busy, sometimes not, but in the end it didn't make any sense to be out there. You have 363 days out of 365 that are not Thanksgiving or Christmas. If you can't figure out how to make enough money without missing the two biggest holidays of the year with your family then something is wrong somewhere.

So I say do whatever you can to get home for the Holidays. Even if it isn't a big deal to you, it is to someone that cares about you so do it for them. You have your entire life to make all the money you want and we all need time off sometimes anyhow. So get home for the Holidays and take that time off. Then get back out there and kick *ss the rest of the time.