Have you made a career of doing otr

Not at all...This needing experience OTR or regional is sort of BS. When I was local tanker ( in Duluth MN where you are) we hired people straight out of school if they showed a willingness to work and had a good personality. We would tell the people we didn't want to hire to go get a year or two and come back...they never came back.

 

I consider myself a loner and a bit of an introvert. But at the same time I like to be able to sleep in my own bed and take my motorcycle out for a short road trip between work shifts. I was shuttling trailers between the yard and plant, as well as loading milk for the past eight years. But due to numerous reasons, local freight just kind of dried up and I've been forced to do some regional, 2-4 night out, hauls between Hartley TX and an organic barn up in Platteville CO. I've been living more like a van-lifer as opposed to a trucker. Camping supplies and other implements of that lifestyle kept on the truck to avoid going into crowded truckstops as much as possible. But once I get word from dispatch that the loads have gotten light/are covered after my 2-3 days out, I'm taking a dirty tanker back to the yard.

After eight years of doing daycab, 2-4 days out is all I could do before I begin to crack. The money's alright, but I've been striving to use my HAZMat endorsement to get back into a daycab position somewhere not too far from where I currently live. That and get away from the scared folks that act all proud of having dropped that endorsement for whatever reason.

 

That and get away from the scared folks that act all proud of having dropped that endorsement for whatever reason.

They may SAY they dropped the endorsement......many may have had situations that could pop up on their Background check renewal. Could jeopardize their job. So they lie and come up with a lame excuse as to why they "dropped" it.

 

4 on 7 off. $300 paychecks get old though.

 

Dockbumper is a new driver who could use alot of good advice avalable on this forum. Hopefully he will learn something,

 

Define new driver.

 

I've had mine since I first got my license in 2004 and keep it up. I guess those with issues out there are more numerous than I thought.

 

Just renewed mine for another 5 years. The test is simple, and I have no concerns about my background. My Company pays $.01 per mile just to have the endorsement. Been here 5 months and haven't hauled a HM load yet.

 

I had HM and all endorsements when I got my CDL.. did pull dry van and lots of HM for over 5 yrs in a company... but when I moved to another company I didn't renew HM because I didn't like all the extra work... meaning, having to stop at all weigh stations in some states, show paperwork, log, etc, etc, have an inspection... making sure all the paperwork and placards where correct.. and most time they were and it wasn't a really big deal, BUT time consuming...
And sometimes there were disagreements between my company and the shipper about the placards...
Truck with placards catch more attention from DOT and highway patrol and scale houses ...
I found that pulling HM in my case was more time consuming and sometimes a hassle ... didn't care about the extra money they paid me... I never did this job for the money anyway... but for the pleasure...
Quick story... one time a highway patrol pulled me over (I was placarded).. wanted to see my papers, my documents, log, this and that... couldn't find anything wrong.. then he gave me a warning saying my mud-flaps were swinging too much... Really?? Had to go to a place and have my mud-flaps replaced... that was the only time I got a warning or anything while pulling HM...

 

Must not have used a Certified Mud Flap Installer!