The idea of sending a Macro for "available-out of truck" is truly complicating the simple, at least at Load 1. Like OVM said, just tell Jeremy to stop doing that, and the problem is solved.
It boils down to which method you want to use as the primary way of communicating loads and load offers to drivers: via the phone, or via the QC. It must be 100% consistent one or the other, no mix and match allowed.
At Panther, for example, the primary method of offering a load is via the QC. The load offer is sent, and the driver has 10 minutes to respond, to accept or reject. If the driver accepts the load via the QC, it's off to the races. If they decline the offer, Dispatch moves on to the next truck with the same load offer. Often there is no phone made, or necessary, in either case.
If there is no response at all from the driver, dispatch may call to follow up, or they may simply place you OOS for failure to respond, especially if they do call and you don't answer the call, either. They don't know if you are dead or alive, but in either case you're not available for a load, so OOS you go.
This assumed your service status is simply, "Available".
Panther has several options for In-Service (and Out-of-Service). For In-Service:
Available
Available-Out of Truck on Pager (obviously a holdover from a different epoch)
Available-Sleeping
Available-34 Hour Restart
Available means you are in the truck, available and ready for a load. The Load Offer will be sent via the QC and you respond. You may or may not get a call. If you get a call, in addition to the QC beep, consider yourself lucky.
Available-Out of Truck on Pager means you're available, but not necessarily in the truck. With that type of In-Service status, dispatch will send the load offer to the QC and at the same time call you up to give you the load offer over the phone.
Now, at Load 1, the primary method of communicating loads is via the telephone. So it doesn't matter if you are in or out of the truck. You can be in the truck or out of the truck, and you'll get a call regardless. So something like "Available-Out of Truck on Pager" is redundant, thoroughly unnecessary, and only adds to the possibility of confusion. Keep it simple.
If Load 1 went to the QC as being the primary method of communicating loads offers, then the entire way Operations performs its duties would have to be changed. There can be no more, "I'm going to bid on this load if you want it. Do you want it?" Loads would have to be bid, won, and then booked first, and then offered via the QC. Load offers would have to be complete, with all necessary information, including the pay. Operations would also have to allow and be prepared for the driver to accept or reject the load for any reason, or no reason.
While that model works for Panther (and, of course, a few other carriers), it seems like an awful lot of "make work" for Load 1. Not very efficient, IMHO. It's not very doable at Load 1 in particular because of the sheer number of loads where we barely, if that, have enough time to make the pickup time. <snort>
The only exception to this is the "Available-Sleeping" status, which is very helpful to both dispatch and drivers alike. It's one of the few things for which I can give Panther high praise. It lets the drivers remain In-Service so as to not lose board position or dwell time, while at the same time getting much needed rest. It allows dispatch to know with a high degree of certainty when the driver will be available for the next load, and to not bother the driver (or waste their own time) with a load that the driver is unlikely to be able to accept. It also allows dispatch to book loads, now, for a sleeping driver for when the driver will be awake and ready. Driver goes Available-Sleeping at 9AM with a return time of 5PM. At 11AM dispatch gets a load that doesn't pick up until 6PM, and they can call the driver (albeit waking them up) to see if they would like the load at 6PM, rather than having to refuse the load from the customer, or wait until 5PM to see if the driver wants the load.
So, at Load 1, you've got your basic In-Service status to be
Available
Available-Sleeping
Available-34 Hour Restart
If you're at home and need to run some errands, or go to sleep, and you don't want to go OOS, you can use the Available-Sleeping for that.
I do think that when you go Available-Sleeping and enter your return time, the entered return time of not-more-than 12 hours in length should be implemented, to prevent abuse of both dwell time (board position) and of Layover Pay (as xiggi notes). Otherwise, there will be people who will go home on a Friday night with no intention of running a load over the weekend, and will go Available-Sleeping Friday night with a return time of Monday morning, thereby keeping their dwell time and board position, and collecting Layover Pay when they are, in effect, OOS. People are people. They'll abuse it.
