My home time starts tomorrow 😌 but I'm 12 hours away, and they want me to bring a load in. There is no preplan or load as of today. What can I do?
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If your home time starts tomorrow, but you are 12 hours away, and your managers want you to bring the cargo, then you need to figure out how to proceed. To begin with, you should understand that without a preliminary plan, you have the full legislative right not to make a trip, so if the company has not provided you with a plan, you should not move. If they provide you with a preliminary plan, then you should think about the rules for using home time.
Home time is the movement of a truck for personal use during non-working hours. The driver can count the time spent driving a CMV for personal transportation as non-working only if the driver is relieved of work and any responsibility for the performance of work by his supervisors.
The new legislation divides home time and working time when driving a commercial vehicle. Using home time for transportation is illegal, whether a preliminary plan is presented to you or not. Here the driver has every right to refuse transportation, referring to the legislation.
There may also be an interpersonal issue between the management and the driver. If the management insists and is not afraid of the legislation and cannot realize the danger of abandoning home time - it is worth stopping being afraid to work in such a company. If you understand that the current situation occurred due to the fact that you unsuccessfully chose the home time for yourself, then proceed as follows. For example, if you need to come home on the 12th, then ask for home time for 10. Always choose this time with a margin so that you will not be sent to carry the cargo for some short time before home time.
Despite a lot of changes in legislation and improved conditions for commercial vehicle drivers, many managers still use similar tricks with home time to keep you carrying 1 more cargo, thereby reducing your additional time for rest. Therefore, you must learn to anticipate such situations and take home time in advance and 1-2 days before the desired date. This is especially true of situations with family holidays and weekends. For example, your wife has a birthday, and you want to be at home on this holiday and decide to take a day off specifically on this day. And 12 hours before your home time, your boss will send you to carry a new cargo. This way, you will lose some of your home time, which is illegal, but ignored by many carriers.