Assigned A Job While On Home Time

On home time from 9/23 until 9/26 0700. I randomly checked our company app yesterday around 1800 to see if I had a job for today yet. Pickup on 9/25 1200-1600, deliver 5h away by 9/26 1130; no courtesy call from dispatch about the load.

Obviously I'm late for the pickup, checked in as soon as they opened, drop n hook turned into a live load, now going to be late for the delivery.

Am I at fault here?

No sure how Schneider does it but if I'd gotten the preplan on the Swift app, I would have declined the load and cited Home Time.

But, since you accepted the load they could possibly ding you for service failure.

No sure how Schneider does it but if I'd gotten the preplan on the Swift app, I would have declined the load and cited Home Time.

But, since you accepted the load they could possibly ding you for service failure.

I don't have the option unless I call in, which I would have had to deal with after hours who would have said follow up with 1st shift.

If it was in the computer that you were on home time then you would have no obligation to pick up that load. And the fact that it came from night or weekend dispatch means you probably should have ignored it altogether. The night and weekend dispatchers have no loyalty to any drivers. They don't have their own fleets. So they'll gladly coerce anyone into anything without worrying about repercussions.

I would not have picked up that load. You need to speak with your daytime dispatcher to find out the process for that situation next time. I would also put in for home time again since they took away your current home time with that load.

Home time is sacred to drivers. You simply don't do that. It should show immediately on the dispatch screen that you're on home time and not available for a load. I have no idea why they assigned you a load but I find it highly unlikely that they didn't know you were on hometime.

I have gotten loads while at home before. We use Transflo Mobile + App. I get alerts. My DM will call though if I don't respond to the load assignment within a few hours. I have had home time cut short by a day, but... I was asked very nicely, lol

If I'm at home, I don't even pick up the phone if dispatch calls unless it's the day before I'm to come back out. My DM usually calls the day before to see if I'm still good to go at my scheduled time or not. I've come back out a few hours early. It's usually because that's the only load they have in my area which is ok. I know I live in a low freight area.

See, you want to maintain a give-and-take relationship with dispatch but for them to cut your home time short really is the ultimate thing they can legally ask of you. They can not legally ask you to break laws or drive an unsafe vehicle. But they can legally ask you to give up the one thing you have the very least of in your life as an OTR or regional driver and that's your home time with family and friends.

Truckers risk their lives every day out there. They're away from their home, family, and friends for extended periods of time. They live in a space no bigger than a walk-in closet. They can legally work 70 hours every 8 days when the rest of the world is working half that. With all of the risks and sacrifices drivers make I think it's incredibly disrespectful and in very poor taste to even disturb someone during their home time, and they certainly should not be asking you to cut your home time short.

I emphasize constantly that people need to learn how to work together with their dispatcher and really become that Top Tier Professional that very few are capable of being. But that doesn't mean you give in to their every whim. That means you develop a relationship where both sides understand there are certain lines that are not to be crossed.

For me, personally, I always gave 100% out there every single day. I never had an accident, and if I was late to one appointment a year that was a lot. I always ran 3,000+ miles per week on average. I was always a Top Tier Driver and one thing I always made clear was that in return for producing fantastic results on the road I would not be contacted during my home time for any reason.

I'm not saying everyone should take that same approach. Some people don't mind being contacted at home so for them it's no problem. But in my opinion, if your home time is sacred to you and you're doing a fantastic job on the road you should communicate your feelings to dispatch. It is not too much to ask to be left alone while you spend some precious and rare time with your family and friends. Any good dispatcher will give you that respect, the same way you give dispatch the respect they deserve for the job they do.

Heck when I was in NY for my dad's funeral, I got a call that they wanted to know where my truck was because they had it in the system as abandoned. Someone, somewhere, hit the wrong button on the keyboard. I called my DM and it was straightened out in a snap. We have an app that links to the computer in the truck. If I was on hometime and got a load assignment, I would call dispatch and remind them.

Couple points I want to make just to clear things up.

First off, I wanna point out that the pickup was within the limits of my hometown so picking up the load during the middle of my home time really wouldn't have bothered me as I could have just grabbed it and taken it to my park location.

Secondly, I arrived at my 1130 delivery at 1150, technically not considered late to Schneider (I hauled legal @$$).

Thirdly, my DBL called me for an unrelated topic so when I brought up the load and how it was scheduled, he explained that the load planners were 100% aware of my home time, but we were apparently short on drivers in the area and they figured I'd pick the load up the next day so they weren't concerned in the slightest (I'm paraphrasing a little).

Long story short, it all worked out in the end. No bad blood anywhere.

picking up the load during the middle of my home time really wouldn't have bothered me as I could have just grabbed it and taken it to my park location.

On home time you should not have to protect a 34 hour break, but just make sure you get your reset done. If you significantly move your truck your e-log may put you in Driving mode.

Also, dispatches do have a pickup time on the order, but there might still be a "window" of time your DM doesn't tell you about.