Originally Posted by upndsky

Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Some of the guys who are in the queue ahead of you may not be legal for a trip that pops up.

Example: You're on for 3 days and there's another 3-day person ahead of you (because of seniority, RAW score, whatever). It's possible that person flew the day before. If a trip pops up and it falls within his domicile rest, the trip goes to you. Also, a person may be showing available that day, but he may be finishing a trip that morning. For all practical purposes, he can't be used that day even though he shows available.

This happened to me once. I got done with a 4-day trip which got back around 9 in the morning. I had one more day left and when I looked at the reserve availability list for the next day, I was at the bottom of the list with around 8 1-day guys ahead of me. The weather was good, no IROPs anywhere so I thought there was no way I was going to get used.

I commuted home and my butt wasn't parked on the couch for more than a minute when scheduling called with a trip early the next morning. When I asked the scheduler about all the guys ahead of me, I found none was legal for it. They were either already flying and were not getting in until late at night, which wouldn't give them enough rest, or they were looking at a 30/7 conflict. So I had to turn right around and commute back to Atlanta that evening.

Unfortunately, the reserve availability list doesn't show any of that. I don't put any stock in my position on the list. There are too many variables that will make a person ahead of you not legal for a trip. This is one big gripe I have about the system. It needs to be much clearer or transparent so you know where you really stand so you can plan better. I don't mind working, but I also don't want to have to hang around if I really don't have to.