1 year in, ready for a change. What are your suggestions?

Check trans-system website; 3 companies on there and have local, regional, OTR.

Interstate Distributors would be a good one to check.

 

you will probably hear this again from someone else, but here goes :
i put in my first year OTR, decided it was time for a change, settled on a local gig with decent pay and good benefits, and i am home every afternoon. Now, i want to go back to regional/OTR because by the time i put in my days work (in and out of the truck 200 times/day) i am so shot that when i get home, all i want to do is couch it and watch tv for an hour, take a shower, and go to bed.
at least when i was OTR, i was home on the weekends and had the energy to go fishing, hunting, drive my camaro, take my family out for entertainment, etc.
local gigs are good IF you are fortunate enough to find one that pays and does not involve more physical labor than a 12 round boxing match. Just be careful about the run you choose, or you may be wanting to return to your current job. BEST OF LUCK TO YOU !!

 

The grass is NOT always greener on the other side.

 

I tried the local & stayed exhausted. I don't even like regional. It's not for everyone, but I preferred OTR.

 

Sometime ago at a truck stop in Wichita KS, an OTR truck driver had mentioned that regional driving is a shorter or more compressed version of over the road driving, (OTR). The OTR driver mentioned that regional encompasses a certain number of states whereas OTR includes all 48 states.

What is your take on this particular definition?

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

Ooohhh yea, local is tough, brutal work. Lots of knee injuries, and lower back hurting at the end of the day. Guess what, if your not employed by coca cola or ups and in the union, you will work 100 x harder and make the SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY AS OTR. Between $500 $600 weekly.Dont believe me? Then try it out for yourself. You want my advice? Move on and try different companies. When you find that good one. Keep it. Just FYI. ALL TRUCKING COMPANIES PAY THE SAME!!!! They just break it down differently.

With that being said, what i look for in a company, is driver treatment, quality loads/customers, TRUCKS and condition, honesty on my paycheck (pay what you say) Hometime, and a cool dispatcher.

(The average pay from local gigs, alll the way up to otr. Is... $600 weekly. (((Avg))) best of luck to you.

 

Then how do you explain that some tanker and hazmat drivers make 65k a year since it is only $600 weekly that is out there ....

 

What part of Average don't you understand? Not all logal gigs involve being a suicide jockey. 65k to pull a rolling bomb around. No thank you.

 

I worked as a local driver for ACT in Liberty, Missouri. At the time it paid $16 per hour. I averaged 60 hours a week. $960 per. Slept in my own bed every night as home is only 4 miles from the shop. Hated it. Jump in the truck, back in to a trailer, tug test, jump out of a truck, hook up the hoses, crank the landing gear, do a walk around, deliver the trailer to the caves, jump out, crank the landing gear, pull the pin, undo the hoses, get back in the truck. Do this all day and 960 seems like you are giving it away.

But I must admit, sleeping with wife is a good deal. If she would lose some weight and do something about her snoring that is. And #### that dog it always seems to get in my spot.