| This issue was brought up a few times by some drivers, and although
I have to admit I'm a little confused on how to accomplish a rule
requiring a driver the option of more driver home time, I did feel it
was my obligation to mention it here since it has been a complaint of
some drivers. I use the term "a rule requiring the driver the
option of more home time" because to be honest, I've never had a
problem or an issue with it.
I knew when I started driving a truck cross country I was going to be
away from my home a significant amount of time. It comes with the
territory as they say.
While I'll admit, I've never been on the road for six or seven weeks
straight like I've heard some drivers say they have, I guess it's
because that's something I've always refused to do. I've always made it
clear to anyone I drove for that I didn't ask if I could go home, I
notified my dispatcher when I was going home, and how long I was going
to stay before leaving out again.
I do know some companies have an earned time off system. In fact, the
company I'm driving for now has a one day off for every seven days out
policy, but to be honest, I don't pay any attention to it. I drive for a
couple of weeks, then go home for three days. I use to drive for three
weeks straight, then go home for a week. Neither of these options were
offered to me, they were just part of the conditions I required a
company to agree to before I would agree to drive their truck.
I realize with my experience I can make more demands than the drivers
that have only been on the road a few years, but to be honest, I don't
think I would care if I had 20 years of experience, or 20 days. I'm a
human being, and I have a life outside of a truck. If I was driving a
company's truck, and that company told me "No, you can't go home, you
haven't been out long enough yet," I'm the type of person who would be
on the phone interviewing another company and making plans and
arrangements to get the truck I was driving cleaned out and returned to
the company that owned it.
I guess the only thing I can suggest on this issue is for each driver
to realize that the job does require being away from home for an
extended period of time. How long that period of time actually is would
have to be up to each individual driver. Like I said, right now I prefer
to run for two weeks before going home, and I might stay out longer
depending on the freight that's available when I do get near the home
time I've set for myself. I might also decide to stay home an extra day
or two if I feel like it. The point it, that's my choice, and although
I don't want any driver stuck on the road longer than they want to
be, I also know
I don't want any regulations saying I have to be home sooner than
I choose to be, or be out longer than I choose to be either.
One problem I do see if we try to mandate a maximum time limit for
drivers to be out is the fact I like taking long runs. I did say we
would all have to compromise, but for me to run from the east coast to
the west coast and back, and still be home in southern Indiana every
weekend is going to require a compromise that mandates a very high speed
limit in every state, and if we did that, I don't think you'd want to
pull out in front of me to pass a slower vehicle unless you still have
three gears left and enough under the hood to use them when your truck
reaches 70 miles and hour, because I'm going to have it against the dash
to turn that 6,300 miles in five days flat.
Maybe something like a rule with a maximum of 10 days out and two
days home unless a driver chooses to be out longer or leave out sooner
might work.
I hate to sound like I'm indifferent to this issue, but it's honestly
not a situation I can't relate to personally because it's something I've
never let become an issue for me, so I guess the best thing I can do in
this situation is say that if you can come up with a solution where I'm
still free to choose how long I want to be out, and still free to choose
how long want to stay home, and still create a rule or regulation
that can protect my options while making it mandatory for a company to
offer drivers the option to be home within a specific time frame and
stay home for a specific length of time if they so choose, then I'm all
ears and I'm willing to listen. |
