Are you Insane?

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by PT17guy, Aug 10, 2015.

  1. Elendil

    Elendil Heavy Load Member

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    Like to drive but still want to be home daily? LTL is the perfect solution for you. 450-650 miles driving per day ( 5 days) and sleep in my bed every day and home weekends. Plus the money is better than most OTR gigs.

    LTL isn't for everyone, just like OTR, but it offers the best of both worlds......
     
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  3. PT17guy

    PT17guy Light Load Member

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    Dec 16, 2014
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    I'd like to drive, but 60+ hours per week for a paltry $1,000 is dumb. That's 60 hours of intense, all-consuming attention to the road, in a life and death struggle with the elements, machinery and humanity. Where a failure to react and respond almost instantaneously to any event which might pop up any time during those 60 hours, could ruin or end your life or someone else's. For less than $17/hour. That IS crazy talk.
     
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  4. G.Anthony

    G.Anthony Road Train Member

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    i fully agree, which is why at my job, i drive between 35 to 45 hours per week, for more money.....

    3 stops per night, 5 nights per week.
     
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  5. windsmith

    windsmith Road Train Member

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    There are better jobs out there. I logged 45 hours driving last week. The dispatch manager told me today to expect to see just under $1900 pre-tax in my check this Friday for last week's 6 days of work (Saturday was my choice). I sleep in my own bed every night. My 2016 company provided truck just turned 21000 miles on the odometer today. For some, there would be a downside: Yes, I fingerprinted some loads. Yes, I crossed the George Washington bridge, VN, Outerbridge and Tappan Zee bridge a few times. There are tradeoffs.
     
  6. fastlanedanny

    fastlanedanny Light Load Member

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    That's truckin' lol. I'm assuming you had to know this already and just venting about the megas. Let me tell you. Jb hunt claims to get 90% of its drivers home daily or weekly. I would choose weekly because working 14 hours a day running 5 to 600 miles daily just to "sleep in my own bed" is nuts!
     
  7. georgeandson

    georgeandson Heavy Load Member

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    When some one wants me to run for them or run my own truck for them and words like "earn time off" come in to my ears, I have a semi reaction and calmly laugh and tell them to get a dog turd LOL and find someone else .
     
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  8. Cody1984

    Cody1984 Medium Load Member

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    The majority of it is intermodal (most of which is local) and accounts now (again most of it is local). They have some regional and otr but not a lot compared to others like Swift, Werner, Schneider, etc.

    Considering most of there jobs are local and regional getting 90% of it's drivers home weekly or daily is probably very accurate.
     
  9. Cody1984

    Cody1984 Medium Load Member

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    With LTL especially at FedEx you could be stuck working the dock for a few years before you even get a bid. Most long distance Linehaul runs get taken by the drivers with seniority. Other LTL companies besides FedEx you wouldn't have to work the docks as long if much at all before you can get a linehaul run though.
     
  10. Cody1984

    Cody1984 Medium Load Member

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    1. Local jobs tend to pay more then OTR whether it's Food Service, Intermodal, LTL, etc.

    2. Can't argue with this one. It's one of the only perks of OTR.

    3. Your never home which is the huge trade off for the "pleasantness". Also being a local driver I get in and out of places much much faster then OTR drivers do. When you go to the same places constantly you know where to drop a load, where the loaded trailers are, you get to know people who work at the place, and you just in general know had to get in and out of the facility quicker. Plus that if your local you could very well be doing drop and hooks where the OTR drivers are waiting for hours for live loads/unloads. So why we local drivers deal with shippers and receivers much more then the OTR crowd does or experience with them tends to be a lot more positive.
     
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  11. Big Don

    Big Don "Old Fart"

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    Very true, but when you do find a jerk, you seem to have to deal with him darn near every day. Sometimes, you can get past the "jerk" part of someone after dealing with him on a professional level, (at least on your part.) But sometimes the jerk will always be a jerk. Some folks are just born that way. Others have made it a lifetime project...
     
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