I have to do OTR starting out?

More than 97% forget numbers.

100 wanna drive, 50 cannot. Medical reasons, Drugs etc. 50 got a job. 25 left in 6 months. IF they survive school and training. In 5 years we are down to about 10. A variety of problems kill off hires. Prreventables. Service failures etc.

Not to mention a small percentage killed, prison, medically disabled or maimed and so forth.

One company had me at 226 people me bottom man when I hired on, 6 months later they were 236 drivers me high 30's, top 15 or so have tenure and will die there.

Only the company had only a year left to live before they too died.

Finally but not least. When I was in school instructors told us we have one body. It will break by 55 for some of us. I was finished OTR at high 40's I managed to work with trucks another 10 years as a crew boss but I was finished. Took what appears to be about 220,000 in medical care so far to fix some of the issues with another 110,000 potential expenses togo. I just finished watching insurance pay off 14000 just last three weeks.

And earnings? Inflated away from 80's money to 2010's worthless dollar. HA....

 

Where is your location?
Depending on your location; maybe some local/regional/dedicated runs.
A lot of that turnover is simply going from one trucking company to another.
Some drivers think the grass is greener somewhere else.
The grass is also greener over the septic tank.

 

While that isn't always the case, to drive local, you'll need to be proficient at backing. Gaining backing proficiency requires experience, and most local outfits require at least a year of experience.

 

While OTR experience comes highly recommended by yours truly, I have found that most LTL companies will hire new CDL-a drivers with hazmat, tankers and doubles/triples endorsements with little or no experience. You will, however, be starting from the bottom of the pool, as far as available work/shift preference, and probably a few months of training/probation before you get your road legs.

 

Right now seems to be pretty slow for ltl companies hiring

 

I know lots of drivers with over a decade of experience that have never spent a night in the truck. I live in a large city so there’s plenty of options for those not going that route. But no, OTR is not an industry job requirement.

 

If you can get on with a decent OTR starter company and can manage to be away from home most of the year(it's tough for most), I would recommend it. You will get to travel the country and learn about the industry, as well as gain the job experience. You can put your applications in with local companies after a year or so and it probably won't take long to get something more to your liking. I personally found out after I was hired local that no OTR experience was necessary, but if I could do it over, I wouldn't change anything. The OTR experience really helped me hit the ground running by the time I went local.

 

All the other guys answered appropriately, but OTR is really not bad. Me personally, I prefer OTR to local. You hear more negativity than you do positivity. I like it because of seeing different scenery, meeting cool people, eating great unique food lol. Either way, it is a long day. If you go OTR, you'll be able gain the experience necessary to make yourself a hot commodity for a local or regional gig. Do one year, itll come and go. Watch a bunch of options open up after.