why the ** do LTL drivers get paid a lot more than everybody else.. Please explain!

Try telling that to the guys who run Louisville to Indy everyday for the next 3 years xD

Poor dudes.

 

Many of those boxes/packages on LTL trailers are similar to UPS loads. Some company has paid the LTL company shipping fees for each box on the trailer, unlike truckload where one fee has been paid for the whole load. LTL companies can afford to pay the drivers more, because they are making more. UPS wanted to charge me $175.00 to ship one small box from Tennessee to San Francisco,which I declined. The woman at the UPS office said they really don't care about individuals, they only care about business accounts.

 

Part of the reason is unions. Regardless of your stance on unions, they drive the wage up for all companies. Why would you work for Bob's LTL Freight for $500 a week when you could work for Yellow Freight and make $1500? So Bob pays a similar wage to attract drivers, but more importantly, to try to keep his drivers from unionizing.

 

Maybe this is a stupid question but if a LTL driver is able to be home frequently, and gets paid more, why would you choose to be an OTR driver instead of an LTL one ?I'm assuming because there are more OTR jobs than LTL.

 

You're partly correct.

Another factor is driver experience. Many/most LTL companies require more experience than OTR's.

Some guys just don't like being home everyday, I know, sounds crazy, but some truly feel that way. More power to them, I'm not one of those now, I used to be though.

Some folks just do not like to run only at night all the time (line haul) or don't like making multiple pick ups and deliveries per day (P&D) and constantly being under the gun to get to the next stop all day long.

Some LTL gigs are far more stressful than OTR gigs too. Some LTL jobs run a guy for their full 14 hours a day. So with commute time to and from home, a guy may only be home for his 10 hours off or less then get right back at it, I used to hate those nights.

One really has to weigh the goods and bads of any job. What may be a dream job for me may be your nightmare job and vice versa. I used to have one of those "dream" LTL line haul jobs and I hated it. Yes the money was great $80,000+/year, but I really didn't have much time at home to do anything but eat, shower, and sleep and the way the company treats their employees truly sucked and still does from the guys I know that are still there. I've done a few different things since then, bulk pneumatic tankers, containers and CO2 tankers, but now I'm back on a LTL line haul gig pulling doubles and if I can get the boss man to pony up a bit more dough, I'll probably stay here long term as the stress level here is non-existent and I've found out that I prefer driving at night all the time. If not, I'll move along, probably some where into the fed ex proper system as now I can go anywhere they have openings.

 

Just choose the LTL company wisely, not all pay "astronomically" higher than OTR nor have a pension and good benefits

If you hire on with a company that runs an extra board, you will not feel like a zombie running the same run all the time, well, never mind, you may feel like a zombie waiting at home for the phone call to come to work or not