Industry stuck on the letters OTR... but why?

I couldn't disagree more with you. The dump truck drivers around NYC are some of the least qualified drivers out here. You proved yourself with a one on one ( with a company you didn't state and could be a no name 3 truck outfit) where most other drivers would fail.

Don't even get me started with those Jersey Car haulers. I see them every day speeding around in those 350 hp POS. They get to a truck stop and can't figure how to pull into a fuel island straight. English usually isn't their first language.

 

Yes, NYC area has a lot of bad drivers of all types of vehicles and I am not saying all dump truck drivers or car haulers are great at their jobs, just like not all Swift drivers are not complete screw ups, but I will disagree with you regarding dump truck or car haul drivers being the least qualified out here. It takes a lot of skill to drive a 73,280 to 80,000 pound straight truck into soft dirt, sand, mud, etc and tip your load without getting stuck or rolling over, even more so for the dump trailer drivers. As for car haul, you try taking a 75' long rig (82' with overhang) that bends 3 foot behind your drive axles and only bends up to a 45 degree angle in and around NYC or north Jersey, with only 2 inches of ground clearance so you can't jump curbs like the van drivers do. Lets see how long it is before you are high centered on a 4 lane road pulling out of a parking lot.

As for the company I took on to get a van job, none of your business but it was not a three truck company but one of the larger fleets in the northeast.

 

Cuz like a gooberment job, OTR is way too much harder to say then something simple like, XYZ, which would be insane for anyone to do anything easier in the gooberment..??

 

I would have too disagree with your here... I think your wording is wrong.. Just because your OTR doesn't mean your trained correctly... Define correctly.... If a local guy doesn't need to know bridge laws but he needs to know a lot more about his local job and was trained, are you going to say but he doesn't know bridge laws he isn't trained correctly... We are trained to do the job that we do, we are not trained to do the job that we don't do... That's like saying if you have no training on flatbed strapping loads down because your a dry van yanker you are not trained correctly.. Why would you be trained for things you don't need to be trained for???

Also that doesn't mean local guys don't do pre-trips either... The same could be said for OTR guys you think every single OTR driver does a pre-trip I highly doubt it... Your job OTR or LOCAL doesn't dictate what type of driver you are when it comes to inspecting.. If your lazy your lazy not much more too it.. I do proper pre-trips, I know my equipment, I fix what I can and leave the rest for the mechanic... I know what motor is in my truck, I know what my registered gross is etc.. etc.. etc...

DRTDEVL - Just wondering.. .. May I ask why you are regularly adjust brakes?? If the stuff is old then 1994 then I could see why you would adjust them... If the equipment is new then 1994 then I don't see why your adjusting them... First of all you need to be a licensed mechanic to adjust automatic slack adjustors (yes we know how adjust still, but technically).. Also automatic slack adjustors are not meant to be adjusted really, maybe once to get you to the shop or for the day.. If an automatic slack adjustor is out of whack then it needs to be replaced, not adjusted... If they are our of adjustment there is something wrong with them...

 

I drive a dump truck for a part time job. Dry vans ain't nothing compared to dump truckin.

 

I think some of the drivers on here think if you don't know everything about the BIG ROAD that your not a real trucker... That if you don't know bridge laws, if you don't sleep in your truck etc then your must not be trained properly or your not a trucker..

The places I go and the areas I have to deal with sometimes is worst then being a OTR trucker... I am also on the dump truck and dump trailers at my work... They are a different animal compared to a dry van.. I bet some of them would be chitting their pants with a dump trailer up about 50ft on a slightly windy day...

Like I said before.. Every aspect of trucking is different.... Local, OTR, Flatbed, Dumps, Vans, Waste Hauling, RGN etc.... Everyone faces different challenges everyday... The only thing truckers have in common is they DRIVE after that the similarities end.

Local guys face a lot more traffic and tight situation on a daily basis.. Where a OTR driver might not be in as many tight situations or as much traffic as often.. But the OTR driver will have to worry about different state/provincial laws regarding lets say axle weights where a local driver doesn't have to deal with different axles laws because they don't need provincial/state lines.... Everyone has different challenges in trucking..

 

OTR is easy in comparison. Anyone can drive a 80,000 lb van down the freeway.

 

I mean exactly what I said. Local guys never get trained correctly. They are almost never taught the Smith system. They don't get trained on proper pretrips. They don't get trained on bridge law. They usually don't know what they can legally haul weight wise. These are usually guys that take a short cut out of driving school ( if they even went to one) to get a local job. They usually don't get paid enough and start looking for other opportunities. They can't get them and start crying about how unfair this is.

I would say maybe 10% can overcome this short fall and advance to the best paying jobs. The rest just keep job hopping till they find the job they can put the least effort into for the most pay. Sometimes they manage to over reach, and get the good job. Quickly though they get cut loose because they don't have work ethic, ability, intelligence, good attitude or some combination of all these.

Obviously this doesn't encapsulate everyone. It does however cover most people that never run OTR at first.

 

Sounds like a crappy company and people who don't know what they are doing.... Hopefully you do leave cause I wouldn't want to put up with the crap.. I don't want anyone screwing with my licence because they don't know how to do their job..

Your new hires are sent for brake adjustment and DOT certified..... Is this really on automatic slack adjustors?? I know I have my DOT certified card on brake adjustment but that only pertains to manual adjustors because automatics are not suppose to be adjusted.. If they are out then more then likely the problem lines within the adjustor... It's suppose to automatically adjust.. I know how to adjust them and it's nice to know how to for quick fix but it's not a long term solution..