What is local trucking like?

Lav-25 · Jun 25, 2024

Jamie01 said: ↑

You'll still be driving a truck, but the main difference is what you do when you're not driving. I think it comes down to whether you have (or want) a life outside of being a truck driver. Doing linehaul my shift started at 8:30 pm, ended +/-12 hours later, Monday to Friday. My sleep schedule during the week was the opposite of my significant other's, but we could still sit down to dinner together every night. And it left me able to do my share (she might challenge the idea that I was actually doing my share) of all the things you need to do to keep a household running. I could walk the dogs, go to the grocery store, cut the grass, whatever else needs doing. Go to the gym or ride my bike or pick up the guitar for a while. My current job has different start times different days of the week - ranging from 4:30 pm to 10:30 pm., but otherwise very similar. I'm paid for all my time from when I log on to when I log off - driving, fueling, getting loaded, lying down in the sleeper berth for an hour or two until my return trip is ready, etc.

To me, OTR seems fine if you're not responsible to anyone but yourself. Driving a truck doesn't pay nearly well enough to justify being absent for a week, or weeks, at a time.

How much time do you think it takes to sleep and eat?
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Yep , totally agree .

Lav-25 · Jun 25, 2024

rollin coal said: ↑

Of course that assumes the work is there for 5 in a row 14 hour days. How many carriers out there are that consistent and how many of them that are hiring in current market conditions? It's doable on 12 hours work, 12 hours off imo, a little better. Importantly though what’s the pay and is the work there year round (not cyclical)? There's a lot of competition for home daily jobs driving trucks and for the most part pay reflects that... It's like owner operators pulling containers that get home every day. Yeah you can do that, but you ain't gonna make any money.
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Lav-25 · Jun 25, 2024

From what i have experienced having done both is local for some kind of a life , and otr as a back up . Now i haven't done real otr in a long long time ( out for weeks at a time ) , but i have done a few overnighters.
Big difference i see is that my stress is less , and when i'm done for my week (5 days) then i'm done. On the flip side though is that it took a long time to get to this point .
8 years of otr kicked my butt and cost 2 marriages , along with all the trimmings , so having a steady job that pays fair , and knowing at the end of any given work day i sleep / shower / eat at home is a fair trade off.

Rugerfan · Jun 25, 2024

One thing that can get rough about working local, is if you have one long day, it can ruin your entire week. You can go from starting at 0300 everyday, to starting at 0600 real quick. It can cascade downhill fairly fast.

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