o/o in chicago area

Have you contacted Menards? There's a Menards in Plano. They have an operator program. They run mostly local and reginal.

 

There is alot of freight in and out of Chicago. Have you considered regional? It may open a few more options for you.

 

I would not want to buy a day cab, even for local work. You may not find enough local work to keep you busy. There could also be times when you would be tired or need to spend a night away from home. If things don't work out you may want to go otr or regional to stay afloat. It would be difficult to make the transition with a day cab.

 

well put and good advice. on another note you can buy a nice sleeper truck for the price of a comparable daycab and is the WB is a concern you can get one with a "coffin" sleeper, not the best for otr if you go that route but it is a bed.

 

what kinda trailer are you planning to pull. chicago is a good place for freight, i will say sleeper would be a good idea for the occasional good paying run that requires a overnight ect, the name of the game is to be flexible. i believe there is a few members here doing exactly what your thinking of

 

Unless you are doing daytime work like hauling gravel, I'd go with a small sleeper. You never know when you are going to get delayed and a daytime run turns into an overnite run. Stuck at a shipper, receiver or a bad weather etc. Nice to have the option to crawl in back. A lot of freight in Chicago, NW Indiana, Wisconsin with pretty good rates. I think it's one place a short haul regional guy could do very well.

 

You will do better with a flatbed in that market. and while not technically local, running short 150 to 300 mile runs. also, I'd get a sleeper truck tho if you find a really good day cab, don't be scared of it. it's rather easy to put a sleeper on a truck. I've done one in a weekend.