Slider Driver

There are a series of clips on YouTube posted by a trucker called 'Slider Driver' titled Tired of Trucking.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSliderDrvier

This fellow has been OTR for 38 years and talks like he's a prisoner to it. Is this typical? Are good paying regional dedicated routes so competitive and hard to get that many drivers have to either stay with OTR or quit trucking altogether?

Slider also mentions various methods of pay, i.e., book miles or practical miles...methods that only consider straight line or "as the crow flies" distances from one point to another. These methods don't take into account detours the driver may have to take, or metro bypasses or truck routes and they, in effect, gyp the driver out of anywhere from 5 - 10% of his/her actual miles. Is this common practice?

 

Thank you. And how difficult is it to transition from OTR long-haul to dedicated or local once a driver has that first year under the belt?

 

Well, I'm no social butterfly and I prefer to work alone, but I also have a wife who would prefer to see me more than 2 or 3 times a month (bless her heart).

I read a post in this forum a while back from someone claiming to be bringing home $1,100 per week and home every night (non-union, too). Of course, a person can post anything, but if this is true, that sounds GREAT! Does it get much better with OTR?

 

You don't need to watch them all to get his drift. I'd particularly like to get your input, bigjoel.

 

Yes, but after 38 years you'd think he could land a better gig within the profession!