Home Time?

Just wanted to get a sense of how often people take home time and how long do you usually stay out before requesting time off.

Sometimes three weeks out, four days off. Sometimes, three months out, five days off. My situation is different than a company driver, though, so this may not be much assistance.

The general rule of thumb is one day off per week at Prime. They normally like you to stay out at least three weeks before taking time off. So roughly 4-5 days off a month on average.

Depending on your relationship with your dispatcher , and on how productive and dependable you are, you can occasionally request and receive additional time if needed.

I tend to stay out longer, with longer hometimes.

Stephanie, I think it all depends on your individual situation. I'm just starting my solo driving so I'm still evaluating things. Right now, the company has me out for two weeks and then 3 days home time. This seems pretty reasonable for me at this time, but the company is flexible and I know if I wanted to be out longer, they would be happy to keep me running until I croaked. I think Turtle takes his wife with him, especially when he crosses paths with Rainy (hehe). That sort of thing greatly affects the schedule. Children at home is a big factor. What factors require you to be home at certain times? BTW, great question. I'm like you, still trying to get this driving career figured out.

Omg....i get dragged in even when im quiet lol

Just remember, no FM is gonna say "Hey do you want to go home?" lol they will keep you running until you scream uncle.

Well, Rainy, I hope you gave written permission for Turtle to post that picture. I thought it was great! Every time I pass a Prime truck, I look for blond hair through the window. Stephanie, remember what Rainy said, if you are a good, safe, on-time driver, your company will be happy to keep you running. Determine your own needs for home time are and then tell the company when to route you home.

Thanks for the replies. I have never worked this long and hard without days off. I think because I am still learning I get so exhausted. I have had two days I had to park because of weather and one reset since Dec 22nd. I love making the money, which is alot more than I was making managing salons, but I am an overacheiver and have a tendency to run till I want to quit. So I was just trying to get a sense of what was an appropriate amount of time to ask for and when to ask for it.

I usually stay out about 6 to 8 weeks before going home. I go home for as long as I can afford to. I am currently home for a whole week, using 5 days of PTO. However, with CFI we can take off as long as we want. We earn the typical 1 day for every 7 days out. Our days don't disappear and as long as we give at least 8 days notice they get us home on the day we request.

I typically stay out 12 days and take 2 days off. Then again I will stay out 4 weeks and take 4 days off. I choose to do this. Wolding doesn’t have a set policy for “earning” days off. You run however you want to. As an example: There is a guy here at Wolding from Florida that leaves out at the beginning of a quarter and stays out until he hits 30k miles. Then heads home until the next quarter starts.