should I go back over the road?

Everything in this biz is trade offs. Hometime for money. Bottom line. OTR is rough on a family and watching your kids grow up in pictures (credit whichever country singer wrote that) and weekends (not as many as you'd like) really sucks. Lot of divorced Dads go through that though and they manage. Might lose your wife. Might make things stronger. Never know. My wife and I rarely EVER argue now that I'm back OTR and we cut those off as soon as they start. GOD forbid I'm in a bad one and the last words we spoke were harsh. Being away for a while you tend to let the little stuff slide that seemed so important when you dealt with it everyday. The wife, kids and dog running out to greet you with giant hugs all around feels great. Kinda get some special treatment too without having to assert what I want. Money's much better. Dealing with knowing you are gone and the car tore up and the wife needs you and you are a thousand miles away sucks. Missing recitals etc sucked. Money and road adventures and homecoming totally great. Skype, a laptop and WiFi has helped ALOT now that we have that. We started with pay phones, long distance cards and lines at the (now absent) bank of pay phones at every truck stop.

Local was cool. I got to be home every night but the pay sucked and THAT led to a lot of strain on the family - and arguments. Plus as cliché as it sounds; the road still called me strong. I was unhappy and made (not intentionally) everyone else unhappy too. The sucky pay added fuel to the fire burning. It was like I was just surviving day to day. I wasn't living. It was bringing us all down and eventually opened the door for the ex to start a custody battle with enough money I had to settle and let the kids live with her. Yee who wins Family Court Battles is Yee with the most money to spend dragging things out and getting all manner of expensive things like hearings and parental evals from high priced PhD's all around ORDERED so it HAS to be done ($$$$$$ - even though you have flying colors in the end - THERE WENT A TON OF MONEY, lawyers, experts and M-O-N-E-Y till there's no money for the lawyer).

It got to a point with me my now wife says - they are downsizing: go back OTR. We can handle it. You were born for that. Go. I'd rather have my part time happy husband back than a full time miserable shadow of the man I love. The kids are older, I'm smarter and more capable by myself. You're in your OTR prime. GO.

So I did and I feel like ME again. But do understand; that's ME and MY situation. OTR is very hard on a family and you too if seeing the wife and kids frequently is important to you. It can be done with a strong family and new age tools make it much easier than it used to be (but not the same as being there). We chose quality over frequency. But like my wife said: I'm just one of those people that was born for the road. I'll be OTR until my body fails to be able to do the job safely. Then I don't know what I'll do. Probably buy an RV and be that guy in the right lane we always look way ahead for because we know we'll have to pass and are setting up that pass early. Maybe I'll buy a big boat and cruise and still get my diesel travel fix but be out of y'all's way. LOL.

 

I did just to try something different I wanted to see how running local would be and that wasn't quite what I wanted in my career

 

I'm in this boat too! I drove OTR for a little bit, but came home to a home every night short haul job to be with my kids. But, my ex is planning to move to Cali from Ohio. My current job has me running auto parts within a 200 mile radius, the pay is OK, but doesn't compare to what I could be making OTR. Everyone likes dry van because of mostly drop and hook, but I preferred pulling reefers. So, I'll probably get back on the road when my son gets done with school this year, since that's when they would move.

 

I have been fighting this lately as well, I am running a local intermodal thing and am home everyday, but I am not spending the time with the family because I work at night and sleep all day. The wife and I have talked about it and agree it would not really be any different than what I am doing now with the exception that I sleep in my own bed and I am off 2 days a week. The other side of that is the pay fluctuates so much with this paid by the load thing I am doing (not that by the mile is any better) but, a check in the middle 400's bring home really sucks. I know I could go back OTR and would not see a check that small deposited in my account. I think the decision has been made, we are going to buy a truck and dispatch ourselves. We can control when I need to get home and will be in control of the money as well....fair trade off in my mind.

 

That idea doesn't sound bad at all to be honest, I'm still with a company as an owner op but I get home whenever I need to so that's always a plus

 

NO you should not go back over the road.You left it once before.Nothing has changed.stay where you are vocation wise.

I think that you posted the question to up your post count.

 

I read that as my wife walked by, stopped and kissed me...Brought a tear to my eyes. We are buying a truck for me to go OTR.

 

Hand . . . it's all good. Tough as US Steel, but good. Yeah, it IS those small moments that stick. Never was the big one's for me. Calloused as it sounds, I miss my wife picking at me and pecking a kiss on my bald head more than I did missing a recital (slams may begin). Always the little things. They tend to migrate together to form a big old flock. The big things always seem to have some equally big justification and aren't nearly as often. Neat thing? There's UNIQUE good ones to balance them. It's all on the wheel.

Round and round til we're in the ground: You and those you gathered in your life wind up with more happy miles than sad ones no matter WHAT you do for a living? I figure you won the game in the end.

In the end: All we can do is the best we can with what we have at hand at that particular time. Sometimes it's smiles. Sometimes it isn't'. That's kinda how life works.

Best of luck with the OO OTR thing. I have all confidence you will do well if you apply yourself and can handle the fact that: "You don't own the truck. It owns you". LOL.
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Hey; We are ALL owned in some sort of way. Might as well go for it with a heavier hand at your OWN reins of what to do and when to do it.

 

I have a couple of questions for you veteran drivers who are considering leaving local for high paying OTR positions, if you don't mind me asking:

- What is considered to be a high-end OTR job pay wise? What kind of CPM are these companies offering highly qualified veterans to make them consider leaving local to go OTR?

- Do you have your resumes out on employment brokering websites (such as Monster) where these companies are seeking out you and making first contact with you?