Did 2 years of LTL just hurt my ability to go back OTR?

I totally agree with Mr. Pintlehook here... I think about local and LTL as a job... going home every night or so...
But OTR is a way of life... at least IMHO... I LOVE the road! And I love going to different places every day... Living in the truck doesn't bother me a bit... it's not as comfortable as a home... no restroom, no shower, no kitchen, no sink and running water... but I am a little gypsy... and it wasn't difficult for me to adapt to it...
It felt better before elogs and when I had a little more "freedom"... I am a company driver and the new technology being installed in the trucks made me more of a "prisoner"... Thought about buying a truck but the new changes I see in this industry doesn't make me very optimistic about it...

About the loading and unloading time... I think that depends in part on the company one works for... In my case, most of the loads we pick up and deliver don't take more than 2 hrs to be loaded or unloaded... some take as long as 15 mins.... and if we spend more than 2 hrs, we get 20.00 per hr... It's not much but it doesn't happen often...
The parking is one of the things that REALLY pissss me off in this OTR business... Specially when we do broker loads... we have to plan our routes in a hurry and sometimes don't have much time to figure out when and where we will park for our 10 hr break... and we will be somewhere, in the middle of nowhere.... or in the northeast in the evening when all truck stops will be full...

 

Yeah... there are SOOO MANY choices... it makes it harder than ever to make a decision...
I don't want to keep jumping from one place to another... So... must do a lot of research before I make up my mind... Was in my first company for over 5 yrs... At the second (and actual) one for almost 3 yrs...
I am thinking about TN because there's a lot of freight in that region... But also heard that FL is going to do pretty well in the near future because of the Panama Canal that is being built... There will be a lot of freight going and coming from there...
You guys working for the food industry work way too hard... I don't have the physical strength to be loading and unloading... Have done a lot of physical work in the past but not any more...

 

This, in my opinion, is a good thing. It's always nice to have options, particularly if you have accident free experience on your resume'. You'll basically be able to "write your own ticket" and choose the path that works best for YOU. Interesting that I haven't seen you mention money or pay (I could have missed it because I usually just "skim" the pages).... some folks needs to make a certain amount or drive a specific number of miles, etc. Any demands or parameters you put on a potential employer will also limit your ability to find the "perfect" job. Best of luck to you, I'm confident that you'll find something suitable.

 

He knew how to drive one, but he was like I have to get used to driving a day cab, I've never driven one. He was concerned about the learning curve of driving a day cab lol. I said if you can drive a sleeper you can drive a day cab the learning curve will be not very much at all if any.

 

Reading this thread reminds me of the trouble I had in 2009 and 2010. I had been self employed in the heavy towing and auto transport business at the time, actually still am, and we were feeling the pinch of the economic downturn and some bad decisions I had made trying to grow the towing company too fast so I decided to take a company job while Victor and my wife ran the towing/transport business to increase my income. Anyway, I had 17 years class A experience at that point, had been a CDL examiner for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and could not get a simple driving job with any of the major carriers. I found it ironic that they would call me to come rescue their driver with my tow truck, get his rig out of what ever mess he had gotten into, but I was not qualified to be one of their drivers. I pointed this out to several recruiters, some got the irony, others couldn't vary from their script or knew so little about the "job" they were selling they didn't understand how operating a 40 foot long, 55,000 pound tow truck with one of their rigs in tow behind it meant I could definitely handle the job!

I know insurance rules the roost in this industry, but there needs to be some common sense. Not to put down OTR drivers, much respect here, but local guys, especially pickup/delivery guys and tow operators, can run circles around most drivers every day. I get it that they want to be sure you will not bail from the discomfort of living in a truck, but if you had done it before you know exactly what you are getting into, plus they would rather take someone who has never even seen the inside of a truck and put them OTR than a driver who knows what they are doing.

Same thing with refresher courses, had many companies tell me I needed weeks with a trainer, sorry not going to happen. They told my brother the same thing, he came off the road for 6 years to work as a corrections officer, excellent job until his temper got the best of him. He could not get hired on anywhere without going to school, yet he maintained a valid class A, had 15 years without a chargeable accident or citation, better driver than I am, but no recent experience. I say, let us come thru orientation and go on an extended road test, if we can't pass so be it, if we can then just turn us loose. He ended up buying his own tractor and one of our car trailers, got his own authority and went back to driving last year, has a full year under his own authority this month and of course, not a single accident or issue yet. Some companies passed on hiring a good hand, and now he is self employed again and is not looking back, their loss.

 

I always figured that any outfit who felt that local work wasn't enough to qualify a driver for OTR, wasn't worth working for anyways.

This isn't new, I fought this when I came out of the oilfield in 1987. As if 3 years experience running road and gin trucks meant nothing. Didn't help I was only 24 when most wanted 25.

I understand that there's times (like the spot @brian991219 was in, ) where you just need to find anything that's work, but with few exceptions, any company big enough to be widely known won't be a decent job. If you're serious about making a good living in trucking, niche markets are where you need to be. General freight and non-specialized flatbed are largely commodity markets nowadays, and that makes it nearly impossible to find any gravy in those markets. To have value, you have to offer a unique skill set, as a carrier or as a driver.

 

Hammer is right, usually the big fleets are tough to find happiness at, with a few exceptions. Sadly, I have used the megas three times in my career, all three times were due to my own mistakes in business. In 2004 I went to JB Hunt after trying to expand my tow company too fast, lost everything including my house that time. I used JB for a six months to reevaluate my life and career path, refocus my energy, and plan for the future. It was a great work experience, they treated my brother and I well, I almost stayed there. In 09 I went to USF Glen Moore for about 2 months (then moved to New Mexico for 2 years), trying again to refocus my life and escape reality for a while, my partner couldn't go anywhere so I did to help reduce my draw on our company during a tough time. Lastly, in 2013 I used JB for 6 weeks, they were offering a real sweet relocation package and I needed to come home to Pennsylvania, I stayed just long enough to get the bonus and then went back to driving my own car hauler with my partner. The last time was probably wrong, but they were offering and I fulfilled my end of the bargain. Again, they were real good to me. I would have stayed longer, but our hired driver in the 7 car hauler had a heart attack on Dec 23, 2013 and I was in our truck by Jan 2nd so we didn't lose any accounts.