Deciding how much time you are willing to layover is a business decision each driver has to make. Without question – this decision will impact your bottom dollar. In expedite trucking, it’s not unusual to layover for at least 24 – 48 hours. How do you decide to stay or deadhead to another location? Here’s how these owner operators decide.

It depends on the city I’m in. If it’s a busy express center and there are trucks ahead of me, I might stay couple days. If its a so-so center with lots trucks, I’ll sit until super time, and make my move to a busier city that is lacking in trucks, whether I get paid to go or not.
Steve Gilbert
FedEx Custom Critical
Tractor Trailer
 
It all depends how freight is moving in that area, where the next closest zone is, how many trucks are in the area, and my position among them. If I’m first out in Laredo, I’ll give it a week. If I’m 5th out in NC, I might move toward KY after I drop, if no one is there.
Larry Day
C&M
Straight Truck
 
If I’m in a hot zone I will wait it out till I get a load. If the area isn’t so hot I would probably move after about 3-4 days. This also depends on my board position. If I’m not on the top of the list I may move sooner.
Randall Wieckowski
Panther Expedite
Straight Truck
 
It depends on where you are, what your board position is, how far you have to deadhead to move, even what day of the week it is. You can sit for days in Laredo since any load you get out of there will likely be a week’s worth of loaded miles. In other towns your next load might be 200 miles, so you don’t want to sit there more than a day or so. I don’t think I’d sit in Toledo for 24 hours and then move to Cleveland for 24 hours then move to Akron for 24 hours then move to Columbus for 24 hours. I’d wait it out in Toledo.
Ken Slaughter
Panther Expedite
Cargo van
 
24 hours. That’s it. Unless I’m in Chicago or Toronto. Chicago for the freight, Toronto for the food. Toronto has some of the BEST FOOD in North  America. But I always stay available to all the carriers I currently haul for.
Jimmy Larson
Leased to Multiple Carriers
Straight Truck