Am I better of going OTR or staying Local?

I am a recent grad and just passed my CDL test , now I need to figure out what I want to do. For training prepuces would I be better off going out over the road with a trainer for the 4 to 8 weeks? Or try to find a local job. My only thing with a local job is that I feel I will not get the same type of training as I would if I went over the road. Any type of feed back would be greatly appreciated, also if anyone could point me in the direction of a good local company that is in the Boston area or a good OTR company that hires out of MA that also allows dogs. Thanks for any help!

 

Good Luck on that local thing. Sounds like you been listening to recruiters and school personel.

You'll need some kind of additional training to get hired as a solo driver. Unless you find a smaller company or owner op willing to hire you.

 

Yeah that was my question. I do want more training, I just wanted to know if I could get it if I went with a local company. In my area there seems to be hundreds of local companies of all different verities but would I be better of over the road to start out with or what if I started local as a yard jockey. Thanks for any input.

 

If you intend to stay local, by all means make the applications. You might get with a good company.

If you intend to do OTR at some time. You will need the OTR experience, as most OTR companies will not count local or small regional runs as OTR experience.

 

I'm not sure why local jobs have such a stigma attached to them. Many of them pay very well and many of them require at least couple of years verifiable driving experience before you will ever get on with them, some companies require much more driving experience, like at least 5 years.

I'm doing the local job thing, and have been doing it for years. I don't get a $300 paycheck one week and a $1000 paycheck the next week, I get the same paycheck every time. I don't have to worry about miles, I don't have to do work that I am not getting paid for. I don't sleep in rest areas and truck stop parking lots, I am not away from home for 2, 3, 4, 8 weeks at a time. I am able to have a life outside of trucking, and I only work 44 hours per week. I don't have dispatchers regulating my life - I dispatch myself. My boss? He just makes sure that the work is being done to his satisfaction, he doesn't play the "God" game.

I can actually have a BUDGET with a local, hourly job. There aren't any guessing games. I like coming home every afternoon, and I like sitting at my computer, or watching my satellite tv, or just going to take a snooze. Go outside and tend to trees and plants. Pet my 3 Great Danes and my little Rat Terrier. I have a normal life. OTR is not a normal life. I'm not condemning it - I did it for years and years. You will probably have to pay the price in OTR BEFORE you get any kind of decent local job.

And yes, there are BAD local jobs. Plenty of those around, too. Whatever you get fresh out of school, probably isn't going to be too rosy. But - don't diss local before you try it. If it's a low-paying local job, well, it probably isn't any worse than the pay you are going to get OTR in your first year of driving.

I could have totally misread your post, but I'm just putting my 2 cents in here. Some people are totally geared for OTR - they don't have a home and don't want one. Or, they have a home but don't care one way or the other whether they're there or not. OR a lot of other factors. But - I found after years of OTR that something was lacking in life - and that's just the normal social interaction you have at work and at home every day that you simply won't get OTR. I guess I would qualify that if you are a married couple driving as a team.

Whatever you do, good luck!

 

It's not a stigma. It's experience. Most of us out here are looking for that dream local job.

Back to the experience.

OTR needs to be able to handle ALL forms of terrain. Flats, mountian grades, snow and ice, heavy traffic in and out of town.

New York traffic, is not the same as LA traffic, and they are not the same as Seattle traffic. Every city and state is the same...but differant

OTR needs to have some experience with individual state regs (all 48 ) and what they expect of the driver and company at ports of entry.

OTR needs experience with border crossings.

OTR needs experience with logs, proper loading, sliding tandems, general repairs and a host of other things.

The more knowledge you have as an OTR driver, the easier it is to plan yourself for a coast to coast run...without a map. I can tell you where I will be stopping for breaks and fuel, on a MS to CA run every time. Just like I can tell you where I will be stopping for fuel and breaks on a FL to WA run.

The are a host of experiences a local driver does not receive. That doesn't make him less of a driver. It just makes him less prepared, if he has never run OTR.

 

Thanks for the help, I was not putting down local or over the road. I am just fresh out of school and I want to get the best driving training as possible. I just was not sure that I would get the same training if I went local rather than being OTR. I see what you are saying ,they are two different animals, even though they are both driving jobs.

 

No offense was taken. I was mearly pointing out the differances, that made things seem to be a "stigma".

As I said, we're all looking for that dream local job. We just aren't all looking at the same time

 

I drove a year otr followed by 3 years of local work. I can tell you that I learned more about driving a truck driving local than I ever did otr. You do much much more shifting, turning, and backing local.

 

JD, I did some yard jockeying (with different tractors not yard horse) and the backing experience was great and help build confidence. There are alot of local jobs in our area and they're starting to pick up steam. If you can get on with one that you like go for it. Keep us posted.