Local Vs. OTR

Short haul companies do get 1 16 hour day per 70. You are "on duty" while working in the yard. If you hate working 12-14 hours than you aren't going to like OTR. Sure, you can work as little hours as you want but you aren't going to make any money.

How do you not know this after 26 years as a trucker?

 

Except for the no pay for less then an hour on the yard sounds pretty standard. Who care's how many trailers you have to move your getting paid by the hour to do it. Welcome to truck driving, OTR will have NO SET Schedule and you will do some free work.

 

That,s right, only the Drivers get abused no matter what position your in!

 

guess you got your answer, but anytime working, whether in the yard or not, you are on duty

 

Is this Gardner? They have some cardboard hauling accounts in my area

 

The no pay for less than an hour work sounds like them. Last I heard they don't pay deadhead miles for company drivers either.

 

Dang, I wish I only had to work 14 hours a day, LOL...

In all seriousness though... If working for 14 hours does bother you, you want to stay away from OTR. Although there are days where you do a lot of sitting, most days you will run your clock out if the company you work for is worth anything. (And not doing so will result in the local McDonalds cook making more than you do).

Most major companies use e-logs nowadays, and they can see exactly how much time you have on your clock. If you have something you should be doing, they're going to expect you to run out every minute you have available. I have, on many occasions, "worked" beyond 14 hours, if you count everything that is actually related to my job, like paperwork, trip planning, getting the truck and trailer cleaned, and all those other little things that no one logs "on duty" for (in an effort to save their 70 hour clock).

In fact, that tells you everything you need to know right there: we are legally allowed to work 70 hours on duty per week. You can bet they're going to make you use every minute of that if they have the work available.

 

Realist rick and negative Nelly pretty much nailed it all - but if I'm reading between the lines you may be happier with OTR.

I like OTR as it allows me to be a brat, and adequate distance from any form of bosses or nitwit coworkers.