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

the truth of all of this to me is every job needs its own skill set
a true professional will be able to adjust as needed
I never drove over the mountains until 2 years ago but didn't mean i couldn't

 

Well again I disagree with you... Local driving isn't a short cut.. Nor does it dictate how well a driver is trained... I think you have a one track mind my friend.. OTR is not the cream of the crop and doing OTR doesn't make you a better driver... Nor does it make you more qualified or trained better.. I will bet you any money that a local driver gets paid better hourly then an OTR guy does spending most of the time on the road... You might get paid more on a paycheck because of the miles you run but when you compare money for you time the local driver is mostly to come out.. Where he might get lets say $1000/week for 40hrs but you might get say $1500 but you put in 60-70hours.. Why do you think if you don't know bridge laws you not trained properly?? Are you trained on a dump trailer?? No why not??? Well I am going to guess you answer will be the same for bridge law.. You don't get trained on things you don't need to know...

Just wondering how you have come to your finding that local drivers don't get trained on proper pre-trips.. Could you please explain this finding?? The last time I checked you need to pass a proper pre-trip to even get your licence from the start otherwise the DOT will not pass you... You don't need a company to show you how to do a proper pre-trip you should already know how to do a proper pre-trip before you even get issued your commercial licence.. To top this off I don't agree with your statement.. What makes a OTR drivers pre-trip any better then a local drivers.. I can't wrap my head around this.. Do you think because we local guys don't go OTR that we don't know how to do pre-trips lol.. I find it kind of amusing that you think this way.. Where you go and what you do don't dictate what type of person you are..

I don't care if your OTR or LOCAL... Neither of these will make a difference on who you are as a person... It's the person that makes the difference in the job, not the job itself... Just like if you look in the heavy haul... Most of the guys here are great and know their stuff.. But you have a-holes that don't give a crap and do it cheaper and don't know everything they need to know.. This doesn't fall on the industry, this falls on the crappy drivers....

Most accidents I see are OTR guys... Less are Local Driver.... What do you think about that?? Like I said before local guys are in and out of traffic and tight city streets a lot more often then a OTR guy.. I am stuck in traffic and tight city streets all day long never had an accident in the 9 years I have been local (this includes driving a garbage collection truck in city streets).. When I was OTR I was never in local city streets as often as I am not... As you know OTR is spend mostly on highways not small city streets.. You make your delivery (or pickup) and then you hit the highway...

 

I've seen too many OTR drivers that weren't properly trained. Heck, a lot of them can't even speak english.

 

Local guys not trained properly.... LOL You have a very high opinion of yourself. Broad brush statements like this really make you look foolish. We probably get pulled in/over for inspections more too. Heck I have been pulled over 4 times by the same DOT cop in less than 9 months.

Most local guys do not have to worry about bridge laws because their trailers are so light. Do you carry a 100' tape measure so that you can measure your truck and trailer? Now if you do what I do, and I am home most every night, you better know the bridge laws. I would love to see someone like you pull what we do. So far the longest I have been without steerable trailer axles was 80 feet from the kingpin to the center of the axles.

EVERY trailer that I pull has the axles all the way to the rear of the trailer, not scrunched up to 40 feet like a van.

As for the guy that made the statement about the bible in the truck with weights, we have one too. Here it is called and assessment. That is where DOT comes out and measures a truck with a specific trailer and then gives you a piece of paper on how much you can permit. There are 3 levels on this assessment, Regular (No pilots needed), DW21 (need Pilots front and rear) and 5 MPH (pilots needed here also.).

Most OTR drivers are stuck on 80K pounds. I have been out of state maybe 7 times in the last year and only 2 of those loads were 80k or less. That was only because it was pieces that we had to remove from the dozer because of the weight of the machine and the width of the blades.

I think that you will find an equal percentage of crappy drivers both in OTR and local positions.

As for the question that the original poster asked, How else would you abbreviate Over The Road? Also I think that they seem to feel dealing with regulations from other states somehow makes someone a better driver.

Besides all that, I feel that it is your responsibility to educate yourself about rules and regulations. I don't think that it is the company that is responsible to hold your hand. You are supposed to be adults and professionals. Hell it does not even cost you any money to read. If you want to be the best at what you do then it is up to you to make sure that happens.

Unfortunately there are too many people that just want to skate by with the least amount of effort.

 

I just read the first couple of pages and this seems the most valid reply. Another aspect could be how you deal with any issues while youre miles from civilisation. If you have enough experience to make basic repairs to keep the truck running until the next town or probably more likely, an experienced OTR driver knows most roads, tolls, depots, etc, throughout the country and would seldom get lost.

Even with GPS navigation, its still easy to get lost on the road. I was told by one driver that the older, experienced guys from other companies will unhook your trailer while youre sleeping.

 

When I graduated driving school in '97, I already knew I wasn't going OTR, wife didn't want me too (we were only married 6 months anyhow). Started with a local beverage sideload company. Then moved on to delivering to McD stores. I was 2 months out of school, still wet behind the ears when it came to driving (heck I could barely shift gears correctly), and I backing a daycab with a 48' reefer in beside McD stores, dodging idjit 4 wheelers that couldn't see that big ### red, yellow and chrome truck staring them in the face if they tried. I did a mix of local and regional for them. In 6 months with that company, I did just over 15,000 miles. When I went to work for the company I've now been with for 17.6 yrs, I had a total of 6 mos. exp., they hired me on a whim, the insurance company wanted 3 yrs exp., but the company was desperate for drivers. Since Nov. '97, I've got almost 2 million miles, running 9 states, in all weather conditions, I've chained more times than I can remember, I've put 20', 40', 45', 48' and 53' trailers in places they were sometimes not meant to go, I've backed in between long nose Pete's, I've made U-turns with 53' trailers behind buildings where I had maybe 60' of turn around space. Yet, I too have been told I don't have enough exp.(CONWAY), and I've also been told that I'm overqualified (SWIFT and Werner).

There is no right or wrong answer, except to the insurance company. Our insurance company is now adamant that new drivers have at least 3 yrs exp., with at least 6 mos. mtn. exp. All new hires have to be run by the insurance company first.

 

It also depends on the employer. Some employers (like mine) want the experience because they don't want to train anyone. They would rather have seasoned drivers that don't need a babysitter.

 

Great post , after over 30 years in food service ( Golden State Foods ) you painted a perfect picture of what it takes to work in food service.