Taking the long-term view, not addressing reserve call out...

Seniority and types of available trips matter. As was mentioned, some folks (me) don't like to get up at 0130 to drive 2-3 hours for an early show. Others prefer not to drive home in the wee hours after a late finish. Driving home after a red-eye is frankly just dangerous for many people, especially if it's a long monotonous drive.

Another factor with trip timing is avoiding rush-hour (if applicable). I like trips that start mid-day and finish later for that reason. I'm a night-owl, the early-bird version of that is very early shows with mid-day release.

And how long are the trips? If you're flying locals you obviously don't want to drive 2-3 hours each way, every day. Longer trips are better if the drive is longer (or can you bid trip back-to-back to minimize commute?)



Also the nature of the commute matters, a grueling slog in the dystopian war zone of major metro-area rush hour traffic is quite a bit more fatiguing than cruise control on a rural highway with some light jazz playing.

I've done everything up to 5 hours (briefly). 1 - 1.5 hours feels like a local commute, easy-peasy. I'm going to say 2.5 is the max before it gets to be a real burden. Maybe 3 hours on nice roads if you can bid report and release times that keep you out of WOCL.

If you live within 30 minutes of the airport, it's whole different job, but even a 1-2 drive is better than a commute by air.