Life As A Line Haul Driver

as a former line haul driver, i was home every day. my work night started at or about 9 PM and ended about 11/14 hours later. i never needed a motel, all i would carry with me was a small lunch, as my routes would take me by plenty of coffee shops or 24 hour restaurants or a truck stop or two.

i also would have a cb radio and a rain coat. that was about it for me, when i did line haul.

 

Leave anywhere from 730-11pm monday through friday and an occasional sunday. Sleep in my own bed. Drive anywhere from 200-670 miles a night. Either swap trailers with another driver or drop/hook at a terminal. Come back to the home terminal, back into door, do 2 pieces of paperwork, leave truck hooked up so the fueler can come get it, walk into office, drop paperwork off, head home. Pretty much sums it up for me.

 

i think the two of us pretty much summed it up.

what more are you looking for...??

occasionally some line haul drivers do an over-nighter, what do you carry then..??

clean clothing, and toiletries, some cash or an ATM card. all can be packed into a small gym bag.

i mean, what else is there???

 

What is your home life like? I mean, maybe you sleep in your own bed everynight but, aside from weekends, how many hours do you have at home daily(including sleep)?

And how much "quality" time are you actually getting with family, if you have any?

Thanks.

 

when i was at conway line haul sucked to no end being the bottom guy. Start at 7:45pm typically or get called in earlier like 5pm if it was busy, start driving at 8:30pm; work the dock from midnight til 6am; drive back and lucky to punch out by 8-9 am. thats during the busy season. during the winter/slow season you were lucky if you got a run 3-4 nights a week. At conway or any LTL company you work monday night til sat morning, which really sucks if you have anything going on over the weekend because you waste most of sat sleeping.

 

the money was great but your social life and body take a beating

 

It just seems to me that if most ltl jobs are like that, you're basically living the same as if you were a regional driver that gets home on the weekends or even otr but home every other weekend or so.

How is it really that much better?