Is LTL the best area of trucking? What's the catch?

lets start with location OP.....

 

I disagree. I’m pretty in shape guy, but pallet jacking anything above 2,500lbs and lifting gating that and having to push that up hill at times shouldn’t be acceptable. I do it everyday, and have done it for 5 years but to defend these large corporation being cheap is just funny in my opinion. No one cares more about you, your family or your health more than you do. Don’t drink the corporate cool-aid and think otherwise. I tell you this; my lift gate warped delivering a pallet of pavers; if a hydraulic lift gets damaged imagine your body.

I’m simply not going to tell someone LTL is all fine and dandy. It has its bullcrap, and it’s dangerous. Having to back down a residential street backwards is not only dangerous, but most likely illegal. I do it everyday. I blind side back off of main intersections in large cities everyday, and all you can do is hope to god the cars coming aren’t drunk/high.

P+D in my opinion is not rookie friendly I recommend everyone who joins a P+D team at least have 2-3 years don’t go in being a greenhorn you’re in for a rude awakening when you have to back onto on coming traffic because the business you’re delivering too has a road built in the 1960s and isn’t wide enough.

If you’re a P+D driver in Miami you know exactly what I’m talking about

 

I’m a P&D Driver in Houston, but our bids are coming up soon and I may switch to a night line haul run. Still weighing pros and cons.

We don’t have electric pallet jacks as I’m told in the past they had them and there were many issues with it running out of charge during the shift.

I’ve seen beer/soda trucks with the electric ones though.

 

Exactly!!!

 

Reminds me of a guy I used to know. He would come in every night, build a set and take it to a town 90 minutes away, break it a then work the dock for EIGHT HOURS! Then, build a set, and bring it back to his barn. 5 days a week. We used to joke that he wasn’t a truck driver, he was a dock worker with a really long commute in a company truck.

 

i do LTL linehaul. i don't think most companies would take anyone on linehaul without experience. hell i needed 6 year min experience & 3 years of clean driving to be given consideration. as far as i know, its no different now, at least here.

be selective about where you go. the big companies have huge seniority boards.

i started at a small company and never experienced the feast of famine life, even last year during the lock downs. income and work load has been extremely predictable and solid.

first full year of linehaul i made 83k (2016). i was not eligible for any biden bucks when the stimulus was pushed out last year. i rarely work over 45 hours a week and i take as many days off as i can.

LTL offers generous vacation & paid holiday plans, sick days, retirement options, profit sharing etc. its the best place for someone who doesn't want to be an owner op, hands down.

your health depends on you. exercise and proper eating/sleeping go a long way.

 

Can't say much that hasn't been said already. LTL/or out and back runs like i do are where it's at if you wanna be home daily.

What i do I would almost consider linehaul except i bump a dock or 2 a day doing the same few runs a week. Yeah it gets boring as hell some days but it sure beats living in the truck for weeks on end.

And LTL beats food service any day of the week. That's where i started. Get your 1-2 years clean and you can write your own ticket

 

Definetely depends on the area. In a lot of areas in even mid sized cities the LTL companies are all short on drivers. It's definetely a drivers market overall across the country.

As far as health, it is SO much easier to stay healthy when you only work 45 hours per week. You can actually go to the gym or the park after work, get a good nights rest, not have to worry about "hurrying up and going to sleep" like you do with those 12+ hour shifts.

It definetely sounds like you have a good gig there.

 

you are aware many city park systems have exercise stations along their paths with different types of exercises for each to have a well rounded cardio type work out, arent you?


guess not since you think only "fagmos" go to parks.