Line-haul pay versus P&D pay

Hey guys. First time posting here. I been with OD now for 3 weeks out of NYC. To work P&D or linehaul? To each is own. I’m a P&D driver and I love it. Of course you have to deal with city traffic and freight and customers, but if you’re a people person it’s not a big deal. Where I’m at linehaul drivers that drive to Harrisburg PA get paid by the mile. If they’re going to jersey city NJ they get paid by the hr. Me personally I couldn’t do linehaul because I can’t work over night. It’s not for me. If that’s something you have no problem doing then I say go for it. At my terminal guys break down they’re sets. Not all the time though. If the yard jock is cool with you and he’s not busy he’ll help out. As far as linehaulers making more money than P&D drivers I don’t think so. At least not at my terminal. Remember city traffic. You as a linehauler are getting paid by the mile. If that truck is not moving you’re not getting paid. P&D we get paid by the hr so traffic is no biggie. Anyway like I said to each is own. Just giving you things to consider.

 

Overall it’s a good company. Everyone has been very helpful in helping me succeed. Pay is good and so are the benefits. They offer medical, dental, vision, life insurance at no cost to the employee, disability insurance and 401k. Now the bad. If you’re looking to do only 40 hrs a week this may not be the company for you. Last week I did 50 hrs and it was a slow week. I may be doing 60+ hrs when it gets busy. But that’s not a problem for me. You can say no to work but it won’t look good on you’re part. There’s no OT pay until you go over 60 hrs. They are under the motor carrier act.

 

I’ve been at OD for 9 months, came from another LTL doing both linehaul and p and d for two years, and OTR with different companies for 4 before that. By far the best company I’ve worked for. Personally, I enjoy city work, it’s daytime and something different ever day. My terminal only has nighttime linehaul runs. I don’t like workin at night. Now every terminal is different but one thing is very constant, at OD and all LTL. Seniority is king! Senior drivers get their pick of routes, drive the newest trucks, have the best hours... I got lucky and in 9 months, already have 7 drivers under me. We have 5 drivers that have been here 40 years, longer than I’ve been alive! Yes, linehaul will pay you more but starting off, you’ll run at night, have the shortest route, and need to work the dock to make the big bucks. I don’t mind the dock, some guys just won’t do it. Linehaul gets the newest trucks, I’ve got a 06 with 700k but it’s mine, and well maintained. Really just personal preference, I don’t like working nights and going to the same place every night. Maybe that’s right up your alley but I wouldn’t do anything but city. We’re growing like crazy too, my terminal has more office workers than my last job had drivers, same city. You have to hustle to get your route done but it gets easier after you’ve gone to the places at least once. Sometimes there’s just no way to get everything done because you get held up, traffic, etc but they understand. If you’ve never done LTL, take whatever you can get, figure out what you like, and there will be opportunities to switch if you like. I plan on retiring here.

 

so looks like everyone is saying OD pays 60+ cpm but i was just offered linehaul position and they offered me 57 cpm! am i getting a shaft or is that a normal starting rate? linehaul manager said it's not a set shift it's pretty much some crazy 24/7 on call type of deal which to me sounds like there's no chance to plan anything around it because they expect me to finish out my shift and go home and more or less turn around again in 10 hours and come back IF there's work if not i could be home for 15 20 hours awake and then go to bed and get a call 2 minutes later saying hey report to work in 1 hour. call me crazy but what kind of a shift is that? i'm in utah

 

I have to agree on that. I just had an interview for Local P &D position with another company and the TM was explaining to me about the pay. I started crunching the numbers together and I was impressed. The way he broke it down to me its easy to gross $70-80k a year.