11 years and still got questions.......

I agree completely ... I've read in several of these threads that these companies only want experienced OTR drivers instead of local drivers ... why??? Local inter-city drivers complete more difficult manuvers in a day than most OTR drivers do in a month and he spends probably 90% of his time in heavy city traffic being swarmed by idiots ... dy in and day out. If he is lucky enough to hit the big road for a few minutes ... it makes his whole day. I don't get it ... and I guess I never will!

 

Every once in awhile I'd have a run that was a couple of hunder miles and it was very relaxing. I'd set the cruise control and turn up the tunes and just rock down the road.

 

I spent 3 years doing local work in the Seattle area delivering to construction sites. I drove everything from 12' Isuzu cab foreward flatbeds, to 48' flatbeds and curtainsides.

When I decided to go OTR it was hell finding a company that would hire me without wanting to send me back through their school and sign a contract saying I would owe them money if I didn't stay with them.

I don't get it either. Between the dangers of being on the ever changing construction sites to soccer moms trying their best to get run over, there is no doubt how much harder local work is. My guess is some pencil pusher makes the rules and doesn't have a clue how many good drivers they are turning away.

 

Hahahaha ... yes Gas Hauler ... there are some "gravy loads" ... but by the time you get one, you've hit 50 where you had to get out of the truck and scratch your head wondering, "now how da heck am I supposed to get this in there without hitting that". Used to have to deliver to a bulk plant where you would have to back in off the street ... back around the main office ... back through a used car lot (which was located on the oil companies grounds ... and then back between a dike surrounding verticle tanks and the load rack they used for short trucks. The short truck load rack had a tin roof on it which was just high enough to clear my tank barrel but not the handles on my ladder at the rear of the tank. There was a chain link fence to the left of the load rack which was not far enough away to allow you to straighten up before trying to get between the load rack and the dike. Brother ... it was h--- trying to get that thing perfectly lined up to make that final plunge ... sometimes I'd have to get out of the truck 7 or 8 times to check the clearance ... and to top it off ... when you finally got where you needed to be ... all they had to work with was a well pump that wouldn't do 150 gallons a minute. Ya know ... there are just some locations that a common carrier should simply refuse to work.
They sent a rookie down there one time and he took a look at the place and brought the load back to the yard saying the tanks were inaccesable ... then they send a fool like me and the next thing I know I'm doing the place every week. Thank God for power steering!

Yeah ... give me the open road too!