Am I the ONLY one that actually wants to go OTR?

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by Six9GS, Jun 13, 2019.

  1. motocross25

    motocross25 Road Train Member

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    E1CE68B5-03AE-4245-9326-5A7F498AAE0E.gif
     
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  3. Six9GS

    Six9GS Road Train Member

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    I figure that perhaps if I am someplace worth exploring more, I can take my "hometime" there, rent a car for a couple of days and see other than the industrial parks and truck stops.
     
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  4. starmac

    starmac Road Train Member

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    As an oo, that refused to haul cheap freight, it was not unusual for me to sit somewhere for several days.
    I also deadheaded back out of Alaska a lot, close to half the time. I was limited at the time to 244 wheelbase, but kept thinking about getting a cabover and stretch it to 244 so I could haul a bike behind the cab, just for this reason.
     
  5. tscottme

    tscottme Road Train Member

    Trucking companies often require you designate when/where for your "home time" 1 or 2 weeks before you take it. I believe that's how it worked at Jim Palmer and Prime when I almost went to work for JPT. That's the only company where I was not home every "weekend". The knock on "home every weekend" companies is you have the same rush to get your week over ASAP so you can do your weekend activities as the M-F/9-5 people and you are burning up the roads back to your home base. Plus your weekend is often just a 34 reset that may start late on Fri night, sometimes Sat morning, and still requires you to be 500 miles away unloading at 6-7am Mon.

    Being away from home 2-6 weeks before home time means more consecutive days off eventually, and that can mean more meaningful activities but it isn't much fun doing a 34 reset at some random truck stop each week until you can get your recreation time. There isn't much to do at a truck stop for 34 hours except get caught up on sleep, do laundry, eat, find a Walmart. Doing some of those things seems kind of depressing to me. But much of life is how you think about what you are doing, not necessarily what you are doing. You would likely be doing those things at home. So who knows.
     
  6. asphaltreptile311

    asphaltreptile311 Road Train Member

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    The term driver manager is used to replace the infamous dispatch name. Dispatch isn’t your manager they are just a receptionist in most cases. Dispatch doesn’t make the rules.
     
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  7. Six9GS

    Six9GS Road Train Member

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    Well, if you get with a major rental car company and rent on somewhat of a regular basis, they can and do cut some pretty good deals on rental cars. So, potentially, while I'm sitting at someplace I may be able to get a rental car for a day at a reasonable amount (around $20 and even less). Trick is to establish a continuous relationship with a specific rental car company to start qualifying for their honey deals.
    I lived in Yuma Arizona for many years. Yuma is isolated by 200 or more miles from pretty much anywhere else you might want to go. For many years, if I had or wanted to go out of town, I simply rent a car instead of the risk of taking my own and having a breakdown. I rented a Chevy Cruze, drove it 650 miles in one day (to Las Vegas and back) and the car cost me less than $20 because I was a recurring customer.
     
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  8. Hotplate

    Hotplate Medium Load Member

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    Driver, your dispatcher's gonna love you since you'll be the only guy on his board who actually WANTS to go to NYC, LA, Boston, etc in a big truck.
     
  9. starmac

    starmac Road Train Member

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    ONCE. lol Then it stands a chance of becoming a love, hate relationship. lol
     
  10. TravR1

    TravR1 Road Train Member

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    I spent last Christmas at a TA near Billings MT.
     
  11. D.Tibbitt

    D.Tibbitt Road Train Member

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    I remember when i first started . i had barely been out of my hone state of arizona. My first month and half of otr trucking i had been to over 30 states..definatly a crazy world outside of arizona.. To say the least
     
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