Local P&D

I do Local P&D every night, but it is all warehouse to terminal stuff, not involving lift gate service. I start out at 5 PM, and do local running till around 11 or Midnight. The I do a Linehaul run, which takes about 5 hours. I make about $265 to $300 a night, never even entering the back of the trailer. Some places do lift gate service, which is a lot more involved, but each company is different.

 

LTL has different jobs but yes you'll spend time in the box. P&Ds usually use a pallet jack and the road drivers/dock workers usually use forklifts. It's not like you are man handling the freight all the time but it's a physical job at times.

I worked for Central Transport one time and P&Ds collected the freight and brought it back to the hub and went home. Then the road drivers/dock workers come in and move the freight to the main hub. We then cross docked the freight unloading our own trailers. When you got done you hooked to another trailer and brought the freight back to your hub. Then again you cross docked the freight for the P&D drivers coming back in the morning. Then they take off delivering.

Rinse and repeat. Then you have your line haul and OTR drivers. They are more drop and hook.

 

Unless you want to pay a lumper, also depends on freight. Water heaters for example, driver can pay out a lumper or break his own trailler

 

Definitely not a dumb question. Why don't you take a look at this section of the forum:http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/ltl-and-local-delivery-trucking-forum/

You will see a whole lot of information on LTL in general.