First year income for drivers?

You say that as if it's a bad thing... after all, if the girl's dumb enough, she might even sleep with ME !

 

Oh! That's a typical LA pick-up line!
Sometimes even works when the chick feels all sorry for ya.

 

califtrucker

I think you will find it much more difficult to find a local job than one OTR.

Most local jobs want you to have experience.......... companies wanting OTR drivers can't be as picky....

I've noticed a lot of the drivers who post here (and elsewhere) drove OTR just so they could get a good local job......

However, I am the last one to tell you what you can and cannot do..... you fellas never listen to us anyway!

(I admit that it doesn't stop us from trying though.......)

 

Nah........ why resort to violence when there are sooooo many other creative ways to deal with a situation??

(I race on a clay oval (American Stock) and the back of my car says "Women never forgive.... or forget..... IS IT WORTH IT?"

Always gets a chuckle out of the new guys....... those who know me take it seriously..... )

I do have friends locally so I will probably end up driving during the year as a "relief" driver......... my ideal would be a tanker..... go figure, something about those big long thick tubes of chrome ...............

I'm a teacher so I only work 5 hours a day (shhh... don't tell anyone) ...... and a whole 180 days a year...... tends to give me just a little too much time on my hands for my own good!

I love it when you can tell someone has experience......

 

I have been described as many things.......... but I don't think "boring" is an adjective that comes to mind when you spend time around me........

Actually, I think you have to go to one of those other imitation states to find boring females ...... us California girls are downright entertaining!

(Just ask us!)


Oh........... and I am going to behave and not go into what gets you on your toes........

 

gaaaahh! you sound like my wife!

LOL - I should get that for my wife, too. Too bad they won't let her put it on the back of her ambulance.

I used to race dirt oval, waaaaay back in the day. Was a heck of a lot of fun. No money though.

uhhhhh. yeah.
Still, I'm talking to a local tank company. In fact, gonna call them again here in a moment (we're playing phone tag). I'm groovin' on the idea of driving in the mountains west of Denver. I did that in school, and it was FUN.

No secret from me. It would be different if you were teaching college, though. Dad used to spend about 5 hours a night on his lessons for the next day or so. Summers were cool, though - we saw a LOT of the country with him on vacation.

As for local/OTR - I think, as far as ease of getting a job, it's pretty much a wash. Construction type companies are always looking for drivers - just as the OTR guys.

 

The funny thing is. With your licence you will be able to find a construction type job, but with local construction type experiance, you cannot find an OTR job.
The vast majority of companys will not accept local driving as experiance.
I drove local on and off since around 1992 (cannot remember if 91 or 92)
I had a solid 7+ years experiance driving class A and B trucks. Dumps, mixers, bulk trailers, lowboys, flatbeds ect.
I did not change jobs all that often, I just moved to new areas and did different things. My CDL never lapsed, and I had it in LA, MD, FL and NY.
I started driving again about 2 years ago. About a year ago I started looking for an OTR job, I needed better pay. I could not find any companys that would take me, because I had no OTR experiance in the last 3 years. I had to pay for a refresher course, that I could have been a trainer at easy, and be bored for a week.

So. You can get a local job, just call any cement plant. Or many gravel plants. But that experiance will never go far toward an OTR job. OTR experiance will help you get a local job though. And 2 or more years OTR will get you one of the local/ regional jobs that many OTR drivers want. They pay like OTR and you are home most nights.

 

Two reasons companies govern their rigs...one is safety and the other is economy. I couldn't believe that these trucks average 5-6 mpg on fuel that is well over $4 a gallon! Man, I though my Ford F-250 was a gas guzzler! I'm a newbie as well and I have found my best tools for finding a good company to start with has been this forum, the inetrnet and the telephone. There are a lot of experienced drivers on this forum and their advice is very good. IMO look into Crete Carriers they take driving school graduates as long as your school is PTDI certified from what I hear.

 

YuP!
About 1/2% safety and 99 1/2% economy.
Speed isn't directly related to "safety" when there's a GOOD Big truck truck driver behind the steering wheel.
Just because there's more under a GOOD Big truck truck driver's right foot, doesn't mean they ALWAYS have or need to use it.

I've driven triple-digit Big trucks, and let other company Big truck truck drivers pass me in the flats ALL the time.
See y'all !!
In the mountains -----
I pass THEM.

HeY driver!
Didn't we pass YOU --- back there in the flats?
YuP!

Then, how is it you're passin' US in the mountains?

Well, it's like this --- when y'all passed me in the flats, it's because I LET you.
When I pass YOU in the mountains, it's because I WANT to.

TooTaLew!
See ya!

Now,...........................

Think, 'split speed limits' --- like in California. 4-wheelers buzzin' around at 75+ mph, while the Big trucks lumber along 20 mph slower.

Remember physics class?
Do you recall the lesson that told y'all,
Two matters cannot occupy the same space at the same time ?
Then, there's the fact that two objects traveling at the same speed in the same direction --- DON'T collide.
Food for thought.

I don't know about YOUR F-250, but mine --- with a BIG block 460 and 4-barrel Holley, gets a whoppin' 10 --> 12 mpg on the highway --- a little less when city drivin'.
When y'all crunch the numbers and come to the realization that a Big truck can be loaded to 80,000 pounds and still get 5 to 7 mpg, compared to maybe 1,500 pounds in the F-250, y'all might wanna see if MuleSkinner has any animals for sale to pull a wagon.
I mean, compared to diesel, hay is pretty inexpensive.
Ya reckon.
But it sure looks sharp parked in my driveway.

Not to mention networking and word of mouth.
Keep those eyes and ears open --- along with your mind.

Excellent point JT.

Keep us posted about whatcha learn about CCC.