Flying Cargo and Keeping the Day Job-PT

[guyincognito]

I have a good desk job and am slowly working my way through the ratings. My hopes are that in the next few years I'll have the hours and 'family status' to make the switch to freightdog. My job gives me the flexibility to switch to part-time and work from home, so I'm wondering if it's doable to work PT during the day (~4 hours/day) with my current job and then go fly my cargo run at night.

Is this crazy talk? Do people do it? Will I kill myself with this kind of schedule? (The day job would be sitting in front of a computer screen, so nothing strenuous.) Abstractly it seems to me like it could be done. (And probably triple my income.) Just curious to know if I'm kidding myself.

Thanks for the input,
guy

 

[wingnutt]

you may get alot of flak for wanting your cake and eat it too, BUT...

...it could ostensibly be done. depends upon the company and what routes you could acquire. some of the better freight dog routes takeoff from home airport 7-8pm and go outbound for ~1 hour. sleep in a hotel for the night then at about 7am fly back to your base and have the rest of the day for yourself.

but get stuck on a bad route with a less than stellar company and you wont have enough time to brush your teeth int he morning, much less have two jobs.

 

[SabreFlyR]

Could be done, just depends on the type of run you get.

Several years ago in my freight days I had it made. I did a short 45 min leg and then got eight hours of sleep in a company provided condo and was back home by 0730.

During the day I worked 4 hours in the maintenance shop for the local fbo and did some contract flying on the weekends.

 

[upndsky]

Echoeing the previous posts, it all depends on the company and the routes. Where I fly, 95% of our routes leave between 1-3 pm and are back by 7-9 pm. Weekends and holidays off. The pay sucks but if your part-time schedule is flexible, there's certainly enough time to make some extra cash. The only thing to consider is that when there is a conflict, the flying job is going to win. If you're part-time employer can accept this, you're golden. Good luck.

 

[cessna_driver2]

If your working from home in front of a computer. does it really matter at what time you work (or better yet where) in front of the computer.

Could you also take a laptop with you and do the work out side via some nationwide ISP while waiting for some return trip?

 

[guyincognito]

Thanks for the input. Sounds like under the right circumstances it can be done. Now I just need to find those right circumstances.

I know I'm looking to 'have my cake and eat it too', but I'm allowed to dream, ain't I? I probably would be able to work via a laptop on the road and be flexible as to when I did the other work, as long as I met deadlines.

Thanks again.