How does a OTR driver manage a relationship?

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by LightBulb, Oct 13, 2008.

  1. LightBulb

    LightBulb Light Load Member

    Girlfriend? Boyfriend? Wife? Wife and kids? Ex wife and kids? Kids in general?

    Just because we drive for a living, does that mean we have to be alone and miserable?

    How do you handle it?

    Tony
     
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  3. Truckerjo

    Truckerjo Road Train Member

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    Most can't handle it.....
    Cell phone.... Internet with a web cam... That helped me a lot with my kids... My son (4 at the time) would never talk to me on the phone.. He always said i can't see you dad and didn't want to talk.. So I hooked up the web cam and he loved it...

    Far as relationships go.. Well its not easy.. I know down in the women section of the board the girls have all kinds of info on how they feel about it... Takes a good women to stay with a OTR driver..
     
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  4. caribu

    caribu Light Load Member

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    If you have a wife and kids DO NOT go OTR. Been there done that. You will miss out on a lot of stuff
     
  5. LightBulb

    LightBulb Light Load Member

    I dont have any of the above.
     
  6. Lilbit

    Lilbit Road Train Member

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    Even if you do have a wife, hubby, girlfriend, boyfriend, kids it can work. The significant other that stays at home makes a big difference. I was a driver and my hubby stayed at home. Now I'm at home and he's driving. We talk daily, often many times a day. We have a very strong relationship, which is what makes it work for us. I don't trouble him with little issues at home, and when he needs to vent about something, I let him. Over the summer, he took our 13 year old out on the road with him for a couple of weeks (he was too young when I was driving). They had a blast the whole time, and it gave our son a chance to complete the Truck Transportation merit badge for Boy Scouts. I keep busy with a variety of things.

    Do I miss him? darn right I do. Do I wish he worked local? Darn right I do. But - he's doing this for the family, and he does actually enjoy what he does. We know it isn't forever, and he may decide to try to find something local in the future once he has enough time under his belt for the good paying local jobs. Until then, we cope, and are glad he works for a company that actually gets him home when he needs to get home.
     
  7. im6under

    im6under Heavy Load Member

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    Feb 13, 2007
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    How does a OTR driver manage a relationship?

    by hand ??? :biggrin_2552:
     
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  8. Minus...

    Minus... Light Load Member

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    Jul 18, 2008
    Philly, PA...
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    I don't got kids...wife...and the girlfriend i have now isn't serious...meaning...she just someone i go to dinner wit and sleep with...i could care less...but i wouldn't go OTR if you got a serious girl or wife...cause it's always gone be that thought about what she doing...and kids might grow apart from you...
     
  9. kawategra98

    kawategra98 Light Load Member

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    Sep 3, 2008
    henderson,northcarolina
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    I am getting ready to go otr, my gf of 2 1/2 years dosnt want me too but knows i wanted to do it for ever and respects my wishes of a career change, do i want to lose her, absolutly not, but i am doing what i think will benafit us in the long run, i am just tired of the factory scene and want a life change, hopefully our relationship is strong enough to weather it, and if not, i dont know what my decision will be in the end, all i know is that i love her and she loves me and i know it takes more than that and hopefully we will prevail on the other side together.
     
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  10. 88Pete

    88Pete Bobtail Member

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    Oct 9, 2008
    MD/DE
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    Ah, Rosie Palmer and her 4 sisters, eh? :biggrin_25525:
     
  11. doubledragon5

    doubledragon5 Road Train Member

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    Lewisville TX
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    The wife and I haven't been away from each other for nearly 15 yrs before I went into trucking driving. I lost a good paying job back home (Ct) so I went to school and got my CDL. It was hard at first, but since we have a strong relationship it helped. We talked everyday on the phone, and I would also talk with my two girls. They missed me badly, but understood that I needed to make money for us to survive on. Once I took the wife with me for a couple of weeks and she had a good time, and wanted to stay out longer, but new she couldn't because the kids were coming home from seeing family back north.

    Now I'm local for almost 2yrs, and am happy to some degree.. We decided that when the kids move out, we might venture back OTR just to get away from it all..
     
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