Some quick advice

I would go OTR.

Dedicated will ruin your back if it's those driver unload accounts.

Regional, not enough miles, just short runs. By short, I mean 200-400 miles per load. For example, you may pick up a load Monday morning, then deliver the next day 300 miles away. Takes half a day to unload, then probably can't get your next load until the next morning, then deliver it a day or so later. If you're lucky, you might get another load to pick up Friday for Monday delivery. This scenario isn't written in stone, but that's pretty much how it works.

 

O T R u get paid by the mi

 

NE is a different world thats for sure but its not as bad as some think or try to say it is. My biggest complaint about the east was parking especially as soon as the sun went down. I am 11 western right now with my company.
I have known a few drivers who started with werner but left as soon as they had some experience, not to get nosy but is werner your only pre hire? most megas are all the same but wondering if you had options available.

Im sure werner has some dedicateds that arent driver unload? I know my company has both driver and non driver dedicated accounts, depending on the accounts also depends how your paid, some are set amounts, some are by the mile and stop pay etc. Just research before you jump into whatever you decide to do.

Oh and just a warning the DG accounts are a LOT of hard work, you will be spending hours unloading trailers and some fun docks to back into, my advice get some OTR experience and backing experience before you decide to jump into this.

 

Go OTR You will not regret it, Get it in your head now, the further you go the less stops you have on a given you will make more money, They do have a sliding pay scale for OTR which I heard is the further you go the less you make for all miles. I would see if they have anything going to the wast coast, then get shorter runs coming back east, that is just me! Good Luck, Stay safe!

 

Don't drive anything for Werner.

 

Correct and wrong to a point, you can still make money on short runs
I like doing local runs as long as they stack enough on me, sometimes I do 100 mile runs and the pay is $.20 more per mile plus a short haul premium pay on top of that so it averages out. If you only get one little run a day then yeah you wont make money.

 

Last time I had spoke with Werener regional you were out 10-14 days in the midwest granted you're in the east obviously given the state's you're describing so it may be different. I can't remember how long they're keeping road drivers out right now. I kept thinking it was 14-21 might be 21-30 not 100% sure. I take it you've read the reviews on Werner and know what to expect? OTR you're going to be paid by the mile like usual. Think the starting rate is about .21/mile after training. Might be higher than that but I'm not sure. I know a lot of guys go to training drivers as soon as they're able to in order to boost their pay. It's a scary thought but it won't ever change. OTR takes a special breed. Keep in mind you're not going to be home that often, and the money isn't really all that great when you look at the hours your working, but you have to start somewhere and you can always work your way up and move on to bigger and better things after getting your experience. Dedicated you're going to pickup at one place deliever to another and that's what you do. you go to the same place and back. Keep in mind some companies will NOT consider this OTR experience some will take regional as OTR but most won't hire you if you run FL to SC and back. Keep that in mind when looking into something like that.

I would suggest while you're training to run as many miles as you can, figure out how many you can run each week before you get burnt out. Once you've figured out how many you can run before getting burnt out try your best to add a few miles each week if you're running under 2800-3000/week. Since you're paid by the mile you want to run as many miles as you can. Don't miss your appointments if possible but don't try to run illegal...well they're on elogs so you can't really run illegal there, what I mean is don't go running 65 in a 50 to get to your appointment. I see that a lot actually. Remember you're governed. You won't be running 70 when you can to get your miles so learn how to manage your time well. If you can shave off 15 minutes here or there do so. Keep in mind we have that 30 minute mandatory break now that you'll have to take. Since you have to take that use it as your lunch, and make sure you plan it accordingly. If you leave at 8am. and have an appointment 11 hours later and have at least 10 hours of drive time but have to go through a major city during rush hour take your break while rush hour is going on in that city. You will learn how to manage your time the more experience you get. You will learn when to go through cities, when you can go through them and when you want to avoid them like the plague. I know companies give you a route that you're supposed to take and they're worried about numbers and out of route miles so you'll have to compete with that, if they say you HAVE to take that route DON'T do what I'm about to tell you.

I'm sure you have a Rand Mcnally map, Go through on the big cities, and mark exit numbers for highways. What I recommend you do is make yourself a cheat sheet. I have one that has a list of exit numbers and highway numbers for certain city's to get around during bad parts of the day. Believe it or not it's better to put a few more miles on your truck and maybe take another 15 minutes out of route than to sit in traffic for an hour or 2 waiting to get through a big city.

When it comes to managing time be quick but not to quick. I can fuel, get myself some food, and a gatorade in 15 minutes. While I'm fueling (I don't haul hazmat) I don't sit there and watch the nozzel and how much fuel I'm putting in, I walk around my truck thump my tires look for anything that could be a problem or is a problem, wash my windows if they need it, etc. When I hear the pumps shut off I top off the tanks hang it up, pull my truck forward, get my food and something to drink and get out of there. It's a good habit to get in. I realize if you're pulling hazmat you can't do that because you have to control the fuel flow, but if you're not it's a way to save time, and possibly catch an issue before it becomes a catastrophy. Remember when you're at the truckstop you can get road service out there to get it fixed and it's fairly safe. It's not going to be safe if something breaks on the road and you're sitting on the shoulder waiting for road service. You can't catch everything just by walking around the truck but you can find some things that can put you out of commission.

I know a lot of this crap is probably irrelevant now but may be relevant at some point in time. OTR isn't for everybody. Do your training and try it out. If you don't like it see what other options you have available but stick it out with Werner as long as you can. You'll have bad weeks and slow times, that happens with every company though. There are slow times of the year and times of the year when you're going to get asked to run your butt off. Get used to falling asleep in truckstops and eating truckstop food. It's really not that bad, I have actually come to love the taste of them pilot hot dogs. lol. Now if I could just get in there while they still got the cheddarworsts on the rollers lol. I will say DO NOT let your DISPATCHER bully you!!! At some point in time weather they want to admit it or not your dispatcher will ask you to do something unsafe, or illegal. Remember its you in that truck not them. It's your butt on the line not theirs. Don't let them bully you. Ask all the questions you can, if you don't like your trainer request a different one, make sure you get the training you need. Make sure you're comfortable with everything before leaving your trainer. Ask other drivers questions when you get out there on your own if you don't understand something or don't know something. It's all the basics of learning a new skill and new trade. Ask as much as you can absorb as much as you can learn and progress, and you shall succeed. Hope some of this rambling I've done helps you good luck driver.