'Regional' or 'Dedicated'. Does one get you home more often than the other?

Dedicated tends too but then again it's trucking, one never knows.

 

regional is several states and you can be out just as long as an OTR driver, I used to be western regional and I was out for a month at a time before going home for 2-3 days. I have been dedicated for over 7months now and I can get home daily if I choose but since I live further from the DC I sleep in my truck 5 days a week and go home for 2 but most of the drivers on my fleet are home every single night, only a couple commute like I do. All in all it depends on the company and dedicated runs I guess.

 

It all depends, dedicated can mean a local run or across the country, it's just the same thing every time or at least the same type.
I worked a dedicated for SNI on the Dollar tree account (ugg! but that's another story) and they got me home every Saturday most of the time.
I worked from the DT distribution center in Ridgefield. WA and ran mostly OR,WA,ID with a once in a while trip to MT.
I was back through the DT about 3 times a week and could sometimes make it home for the night during the week as it was just 27 minutes to the house.
That said they ran me to death 14 hrs a day (or more) 6 days a week so it was hardly worth it.
Some dedicated gigs are good so I'm told but so are some regional, good luck finding out which are and which aren't and landing one.
Like any job, you'll start at the bottom and have to wait for an opening, drivers don't quit often when they get a great position so you have to wait for someone to retire (or die lol) and move up the chain.
If you want hometime, do you OTR time and or regional/dedicated until you have some miles under your belt and then try to find a decent paying local job.
That's what I did, it took me three years to finally get into a Monday-Friday dayshift deal and home every night from the time I got my CDL.
It was one year before I got local but I was nights and weekends for a long time.
The bottom line is you have to do the legwork to find what you want and a lot depends on where you live.

 

Hi knuckledragger, I'd like to think a dedicated run would be more predictable, as by definition, you go to the same place. Regional could mean anything, like any region they want to send you. In the past, regional meant YOUR hometown region, but now I've seen ads that say regional OTR, which, to me, is a contradiction of terms.

 

[QUOTE="semi" retired;4099562]Hi knuckledragger, I'd like to think a dedicated run would be more predictable, as by definition, you go to the same place. Regional could mean anything, like any region they want to send you. In the past, regional meant YOUR hometown region, but now I've seen ads that say regional OTR, which, to me, is a contradiction of terms.[/QUOTE]
You'd like to think so but dedicated can me hauling for just one company like I did at Dollar Tree for SNI.
You have any idea how many Dollar Tree stores there are in just the PAC NW? lol.

 

Some companies will use regional as an excuse to pay you less per mile and maybe get you home every 10 days. Where as you can make more OTR and go home every 2 weeks. Given the choice I would always pick OTR but if they offered me a dedicated gig I would look hard at it. Being a rookie there is a reason why someone would offer you a dedicated route, because nobody else wants it.

 

my dedicated I do is delivering to Target stores, its not always the same stores but the same region as far south as Los Angeles and as far north as Stockton in CA. We just picked up 4 stores going to Vegas so that was added to my route being a sleeper on the fleet but its still within range to return back almost every shift.

 

I started with Keystone Automotive Operations. A lot of folks over look applying for private companies. It is not only trucking companies that employ drivers. We ran as a team. 2 runs on week, 3 the next. On the 3 week we left anytime we wanted on Sunday drove to Houston and were back by Monday at 5PM. Spent Monday night in my own bed. Left Tuesday at 5PM returned Wednesday at 5 PM. Slept in my bed again on Wednesday. Left Thursday at 5 PM got back Friday. The next week was a two trip week. Left Monday at 5 and Wednesday at 5. Off until Sunday.

This is an example of a dedicated job. It was no touch freight. But we had to team in order to get the parts there before the little trucks could load up and go. They needed to be gone by 5 AM to miss most of the Houston traffic. Downside...........it only paid $45,000 per year. But what are you going to get fresh out of CDL school.

You do not have to settle for working for the first person who offers you a job. Shop around.

There are those who marry the first person who agrees to go out with them on a date. Some of them are lucky and find true love. Most end up divorced. It is the same way with trucking.