Why would anyone stick with OTR instead of getting a local gig

I’m not OTR. I’m local in the Philadelphia area. It’s not all peaches and cream- I have to drive a tractor trailer in Philadelphia. Lol.

 

Best of both worlds is a local gig where you still get highway miles

I pull a gas tanker. 400-600 miles per day on the interstate. Home every day

 

i guess i have it really good for a local driver. i load 2 trailers every day. i deal with a total of 8 farms, the same 8 farms...... 5 per day. i load one trailer with two farms, drop and hook at the yard. load a 2nd trailer with 3 different farms. so i do a total of 2 loads per day. i drive 120 miles or less per day. my weekly gross is at minimum $1k if i work 6 days and only load my two trailers. if i work 7 days and have to take some of my loads to the local plant it can be $1,200-$1,400 gross. i dont do ANY of what would be considered city driving, its not thruway driving either. i see small rural towns but NEVER major cities. i drive a day cab with a 48' tanker so my rig is probably 15' shorter then a van/sleeper trailer. i work 8-10 hours per day usually and go home to see my kids every night. i see my wife every night briefly and see her after work the days she is off. i dont have to worry about getting my satisfaction from a lot lizard, i go home to my wife.

i love my life and am quite content with my job. i make 55-60K per year and see my own home/bed/wife/kids on a regular basis. i wouldnt have it any other way. driving truck in the rural setting is very enjoyable. sometimes it's hard to believe i get paid to do what i do. i wont be leaving this job for a long time. i just got assigned a nearly new T880 day cab with a 18 speed manual transmission. i love my truck. i was formerly a milk receiver, so when i do go to the plant i sometimes hang out with some of drivers that i have literally known for years.

is the job flawless no, nothing is but the good way outweighs the bad. i bet there are at least a few drivers on this forum that wouldnt mind my gig.

 

i wouldnt mind that except for the fact its a bomb behind me. flammable liquids kind of concern me. milk isnt known to blow up.

 

Cons: You will be home every day (because you work at night) so you can use your house as a sleeper. By the time you get home, get your stuff sorted out, shower, eat, and go to bed, you get a solid 4-6 hour nap before you have to get up, get to the truck, and do it all over again.

No sleeper to rest in if things go to $#!t.

 

This, also commuting SUCKS! I did City only in a Daycab with a Mega Carrier for 3 months (they needed some help, and they didn't have a highway truck for me during the FL recalls in 2017). While the work was OK, and being home everyday was OK. The commute in the morning, the slip seating, the ####### docks/customers you have to go to (The places they WON'T send highway trucks, for one reason or another) The constantly being tempted by fast food and convince stores lol. Yea I was happy to go back OTR, the most tired I've ever been was City Only; and I wasn't even on the night shift. (dunno how those guys do it).

As with anything, the company you work for makes or breaks OTR. I'm with an amazing company now, did both company driver with them, and now O/O. Never tired, make great money, no stress, when I come home I'm home 100% and do whatever I want all day long. I personally think the sweet spot is regional work (like others above have mentioned). I would LOVE to eventually run turnpike doubles 5 days a week, finish up at 5pm on day 5, 2 full days off, and start again at 8:00am for the following 5 day cycle. I know guys on runs like that, and they will NEVER give it up.

 

stereo typing local work? i dont work at night, i start my route at 6am done by 4pm usually earlier. so done by 4pm and dont go back to work till 6am, that's typical im not saying its every time. a few exceptions, recently i took a load to the plant and didnt leave the plant till 7:40pm, then had to drive 20 minutes back to the yard..... done by 8pm. that's still 10 hours between shifts, and that has only happened twice in 9 months. when i did dump truck i would start at 5am done by 4pm at the latest. there are good local jobs.

 

One of the things I will miss most about OTR is never being more than 3 feet away from my home. Within 5 minutes of finishing work I am lounging in bed. No rush hour commute or related expenses.

 

i might feel different about OTR and local work if i didnt already own a home and have kids waiting for me...... not to mention my wife. i had these things long before i became a trucker. i LOVE driving nothing better, but i also love my home and family. i have the best of both worlds..... AND no ELD

 

I live 4 miles away from work so I can be there in 6 or 7 minutes.