Regional/Local/OTR

the OTR slackers are possible,they are usually the whining all the time.

 

I get to drive some of both ends and, with all respect, I find easier to drive on big highways/Interestate. When I drive on I95, 83 and 81 it's usually for like 3-4 hrs so I just set my cruise control and enjoy the ride. In the other hand driving in cities like Baltimore and Philadelphia can be a real pain.

 

A friend of mine drove 6 months with Roehl then found a local job, didn't like the company so he got another one a month later. Now he runs Bananas out of the Port of Wilmington and is home 5 - 6 nights a week.

Me I like otr.

You just have to keep looking and networking and asking. This friend did not leave one job til he fojnd the next so he didn't have to settle and he got what he wanted.

 

Driving OTR is for Lazy Slackers.I ran ''Day Cab'' and it is hell.I would love to see OTR Guys run around NYC and Jersey all day in that hell for 14 hours.You would wanna committ suicide/homicide.

I am on a load from NY to Denver as we spaek.I unload and reload back to NY.This is a cake walk.All i do is hold my wheel and drive.Nothing to it..I have 3 days to do 1740 miles and 3.5 to do 1740 back.Any train wreck can do this job.Sorry,but i have been on both sides and this is CAKE..This is a walk in the park.

 

RubberDuckie, I will second what cc tanker says. Saying running OTR is harder and requires more sacrifice could be right/wrong depending on who you are working for and what kind of job you are doing. If you think you can just step into a local job and it's going to be a cake walk because you are only driving a couple hundred miles or less a day, then you better start rethinking things. Driving in any metropolitan area is different than driving in a straight line all day (Not bashing OTR drivers). It's not just the miles that count. While it may be true that you were born and raised where you are applying to and know the area well, do your prospective employers know this? They probably have their blanket requirements regardless of where someone was born and raised. Good luck with things.

 

I started out local. Made good money and home every night. Ran every day, Monday through Friday, on the go from 4 am to 11 PM. Ever notice how local drivers are as thin as a whip? The schedule is extremely tight. It's full go all day long. Lunch? That's when you wheel into a gas station grab a couple dogs and a soft drink, swallow both of them and the drink in a half run BEFORE you reach your truck. Weekend comes around, you sit there trying to unwind on Saturday. Sunday, you are relaxed and feel better, but it's back to the grind in a few hours.

 

As usual, the money tells the story. Those local jobs (foodservice) don't pay $60,000+ without good reason, and apparently it's not enough as a lot of these jobs are always hiring.

 

OTR does not compare to local. A below average driver can get by doing OTR, hell a bad driver that sticks to non peak hours can get by doing OTR. A below average or a bad driver driving doing local work with constant city driving? It's just a matter of time.

The other thing about local work is the quality of life issues a lot of guys face. I have met several guys on the road that gave up local jobs because they were getting run like dogs day in and day out. OTR is easy by comparison.

OTR is the opposite of hard work then again I'm one of those guys that shuts it down after 8 hours unless I decide it benefits me to push i.e. I'm heading home. I typically drive 3 or 4 hours take an hour break to work out, eat, and nap. Then I drive another 4 or 5 hours and I'm done. Period. I feel like there is a diminishing returns issue driving when I drive for over 8 hours.

Think about it I average 60 mph over 8 hours of driving that is well over 400 miles. Let's be conservative and say 450 even at .34 cpm that is 150 bucks. I could drive another 2 hours, but relaxing means more to me than an extra 40 bucks that the government is going to gobble up anyway. Most days this job is easy money.

Disclaimer: My monthly fixed expenses are 150.00 add about 100 bucks a month for food and what do you get? Profit in my #### pocket.

 

No disrespect.That is not much ''profit''.

 

They hire because most OTR drivers are Lazy and hate being a 9-5 guy/gal..SIMPLE..It is tough to find hard working crack the whip OTR guys and put them Local.It is to much work and pressure.This is why i do the OTR GRAVY TRAIN.This is a lazy mans job.I am here in Oak Grove playing a game and chatting in a forum.I got it rough man..