What's the attraction to OTR in 2023?

I rather not commute, put in a full hours of service trucking day, commute home and try to live a life of a few hours. I’m happier staying on the road for about 10 days and come home for a few days off. Everyone has different desires.

 

I take home average $1400 a week after all deductions and live in the truck OTR is my happiest life - trucking “lifestyle” not trucking “job”. I love it so much I don’t think I could ever go back to work again.

 

At the right company, OTR trucking can be a great career. Unfortunately said companies are few and far in between. Yes, some local drivers like food service make more money than I do. But I'll bet they get worked like a dog for 14 hours a day, get home just in time for dinner and to sleep, then proceed to be worked like a dog the next day. Rinse and repeat.

Yes I'm technically away from home for 3-4 weeks at a time. But I live in a great spot in relation to my company's lanes, so I'm usually able to swing by the house at least once or twice a night while on the road. Plus having 4-6 days off when you come back off the road means you can relax at home without being pressured about not having enough time to get errands and other stuff done. That's the main thing keeping me from going regional.

 

I did a bunch of those.
Once, I unloaded in Los Angeles, then got a 6 stop newspaper ad load going to 6 newspaper companies along I-5 in California. Easy run.
Then went to El Paso with canned beans, then to Jacksonville, Florida with ceramic tiles. That's pulling a reefer.
~
Another time, took a load to Florida, then a load of tomatoes from Florida Everglades to California.
Surprise, another load of a different type of tomatoes from California back to Florida.

 

There's a mail forwarding service in Florida:
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They don't. Or do they? In this industry it's all about what is the exact, specific, precise, job time, and place you work. Iv seen jobs that are local that pay very well but you have to live right near the terminal and you will work all the time , then again there are local jobs who work you to death and pay you by the " well that's the cost of living wage here" that you'd be better off working at swift. There are some otr gigs that make a killing and you hardly feel like you are working. There's too many variables to know for sure until you got that w2 in your hand .

 

Some like to run the road. And a lot of drivers at megas are starting out and trying to get experience.

 

Long runs are nice. I thought the key to LA was to get in and get out in one shift if you can, preferably at night as mentioned.

For day appointments I did the best coming in from Arizona or Barstow, drop, pick up, and make it back to Barstow all in one shift. When that didn't work I was lucky to be early enough to go to the TA/Petro. I was pretty paranoid about getting caught without parking in that area.

 

Right.....I learned early on that a dispatchers nightmare was a driver that constantly needed hometime. I probably go home once a month on average. Shoot I used your same method to get those big runs when I worked at Western Express.

 

That's contingent on you at the end of the day. You can't just tell them that you want to run, you gotta show them...even with the short miles. You may have to do a favor and repower a load from time to time. A good dispatcher will take care of you when you do those favors. I never got in arguments with any dispatcher I had. Whatever I got dispatched on, I ran it regardless of miles. If you have the "2 abilites," you'll get those runs in quick order.