Home Time Planner for Owner Operators

Plan your route home, see the revenue impact, and figure your home time percentage.

Trip Home

Miles to Home

Avg Speed (mph)

Driving Hours Left Today

hrs

Hours Left in Your 70-Hour Limit

hrs

Target Home Date

Home Time Needed (days)

Days Out Between Home

Revenue Impact

Weekly Miles

Revenue Per Mile

Enter your details and click Plan Home Time

Numbers tight? Let a dispatcher find better loads.

This tool is free. If it shows you are leaving money on the road, Grow Trucking finds loads, negotiates rates and does the paperwork for owner-operators and small fleets.

Talk to a dispatcher Call (845) 400-9179

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How much home time can I expect as a truck driver?

Home time varies a lot by job type. Over-the-road (OTR) drivers often stay out for weeks at a time, regional drivers are often home weekly, and local drivers are typically home daily. Some carriers run a fixed schedule, such as 7 days out and 7 days home. No federal rule guarantees home time. It is set by your carrier's dispatch model and your own route choices. The planner works out how long the trip home takes under the hours of service rules, what your home days cost in revenue, and what share of your time you spend home.

Enter the miles to home, your average speed, the driving hours you have left today and the hours left in your 70-hour limit.
Read the days to get home. It counts the 30-minute break, each 10-hour rest and any 34-hour restart the rules add.
Enter a target home date to see the day you need to leave.
Enter the home days you want and your usual days out to see your home time percentage.
Enter your weekly miles and revenue per mile to see the revenue you do not earn while home. That is revenue, not profit.

Typical home-time patterns by job type
Job type	Typical pattern
Local	Usually home every day
Regional	Often home every week or every few days
OTR (over-the-road)	Often out for weeks at a time
Fixed rotation (for example 7-on/7-off)	Equal time out and home, set by the carrier

These are common patterns, not industry statistics or guarantees. Home time is set by each carrier's dispatch model and your lane assignments, so confirm the actual policy with any carrier before you count on a schedule. The trip home uses the 11-hour driving limit, the 14-hour window, the 30-minute break, 10 hours off and the 70-hour limit. It leaves out the sleeper berth split and the short-haul and adverse driving exceptions.

Last reviewed October 2026. Sources: eCFR: 49 CFR 395.3, maximum driving time for property-carrying vehicles.

Frequently Asked Questions - Home Time Planner

How often should a truck driver go home?

It depends heavily on job type and personal preference: local and regional drivers are often home daily or weekly, while OTR drivers commonly run multiple weeks out for a shorter stretch home. There's a real tradeoff between home time and miles driven, so the right cadence is the one that balances your income needs against burnout and family time.

How do I plan home time as an owner-operator?

Plan your target home dates in advance, start booking loads that trend toward home a few days ahead of that date, and avoid committing to freight that would strand you in a lane with poor outbound options back toward home. Communicating your schedule to brokers or dispatch ahead of time makes this easier to execute.

Does taking more home time hurt my income as an owner-operator?

Yes, directly, since you're not generating revenue while parked. The real question is whether the lost revenue is worth it against burnout, safety and family considerations, which is a personal tradeoff rather than a purely financial one. Planning home time in advance, rather than taking it reactively, limits the income hit by letting you route toward it with paying freight.

Is it easier to find loads near my home if I live near a freight hub?

Generally yes. Major freight and population hubs have denser load availability than rural areas, so drivers who want both strong home time and steady freight often weigh proximity to a hub when deciding where to be based, if they have that flexibility.

How long does it take to drive home under the hours of service rules?

Longer than miles divided by speed. A driver can drive 11 hours, must take a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving, and must be off duty 10 hours before the next shift. The planner adds those breaks and rests, and it adds a 34-hour restart if you run out of your 70-hour limit. It leaves out the sleeper berth split and the short-haul and adverse driving exceptions.

Related Trucking Tools

Hours of Service Trip Planner

Enter a trip and see when you can really arrive once the 11-hour, 14-hour and 30-minute break rules are counted.

Sleeper Berth Split Calculator

Check if two rest periods count as a sleeper berth split under the federal rule, and see how many hours you can still drive after the second one.

Hours of Service (HOS) Tracker

Full 49 CFR Part 395 tracking. It covers the daily log, 14-hour window, 30-minute break, and the real 60/70-hour weekly rule with 34-hour restart detection.

Truck Parking Finder

Find truck stops and rest areas near you or near a city, nearest first, so you know where you can stop before your clock runs out.

Go Further With Home Time Planner

Guides, services and reference pages that go with this tool.