Why does everyone think you have to go otr?

On the other hand, I'd like to see a local driver run 700 miles/day for 3 days straight and on that 3rd day have to deliver to the Chicago meat market after driving 10 1/2 hours. Having to make those hairpin turns on those very narrow streets...cars lining both sides...with a 53' reefer, and then blind side into the dock off of a very busy street with traffic flying by you on both sides. Now after you get done unloading, try to figure out where you can park to finish your break because you're out of hours and the nearest truck stop is 40 miles away.

Each job has it's good things and it's bad things. I have done both. Being home every day certainly has its benefits, but I'll never knock the otr gig. It's a rough life...and the way that I look at it; if it wasn't for the OTR guys bringing the goods into the warehouses, the local guys wouldn't have a job because they wouldn't have any product to haul.

 

If I worked that much I'd make like $3000 a week LoL

Why not?

 

I was getting at the fact that there are no two jobs alike and we could sit down and swop stories on what we have done. There are easy local and hard. There are easy OTR and hard. Most of us with any years at all have done many types and know you can not cover what a job will be like until you see how the company is run.

If you want to rate a level of professional driving then at least pick a driver that has or is in any truck rodeo. Or even a driver that has the skills required to compete.

 

I figured you'd come up with a better response than the one you just gave. Open your eyes, maybe you'd see that local run of 9000 gallons of diesel coming into your yard so you can make that run. However, you just gave a perfect example of trucking people that do not know the industry. There are many truck driving jobs outside of your standard point A to B point.

 

Agreed!! Hell when we was booming I was bringing home 1400 to 1800 a week as a rook then I got experienced pay went up as the hours went down lol

 

No. What I saw was the guy that hauled the heavy equipment to the location where the drilling pad was going to be. Then I saw several guys bring out the rig to drill the well. Then I saw the entire frac crew haul all of their pump trucks, silos and frac tanks so that they could frac said well. The I saw the guys haul out the pieces for the pump jack and the tank battery. Then, I saw the guy picking the crude oil up at the tank battery to drive it a few hundred miles to the refinery. Then I saw you finally coming to pick up your load of diesel.

You talk as if hauling petrol products was the one and only job in the industry, yet I'm the perfect example of trucking people that do not know the industry. Stop being so narrow minded. You know #### well I wasn't talking about gas.

 

Pays pretty good just ask someone else. No, that would not be me. I wouldn't take a cut in pay.

 

Because most companies require two years experience before even considering you for hire, and the majority that don't, run OTR exclusively, or leave the regional stuff for their senior drivers.

And a lot of the time, those that offer entry level programs, want cheap drivers doing their terrible OTR work (i.e. bad runs) because nobody else will volunteer to do it.

 

There are exemptions to that. In California I run on an 80/16/12 clock. And I can work as long as I want. I just can't drive after 16 hours ON DUTY until I take a 10 hour break.

 

There are no such exceptions in IL. But even with the acceptions that you noted, no one is working 16 to 18 hours every day like #1don claims. Especially not for $1000 a week. Around here the lowest paid drivers make $17 an hour, and experianced drivers at the best companies make over $30 an hour