Burned Out Local LTL Driver - Need Advice

Hi Everyone.

I drive a daycab locally. Home every night.

I did my time over the road and finally make more money than I made over the road AND I'm home every night and have weekends off.

I basically max out my 70 hours each week monday thru friday (locally).

I'm more worn out with this job than I was over the road but there's no way I'll ever go back over the road.

It's extremely physical. All day 16+ stops a day, unloading 1 or more trailers per day with a pallet jack. Some of the stuff weighs several thousand pounds and I go to tons of places without forklifts/docks/etc.

I use the pallet jack and the liftgate and and muscle power to get stuff off the truck. Sometimes I downstack whole loads box by box, other times stuff is all on pallets (but those pallets can be so heavy that to get them rolling I have to make jerking-motions with the pallet jack which makes my arms feel like they are ready to fall out of their sockets).

My body is falling apart because of this job but I literally grew my bank account balance by $15,000 last year. Of course that was being extremely frugal and having no life.

What has me burnt out more than anything is the fact that the company is totally against giving time off and it's extremely physical.

I get 1 weeks vacation after a year (I've been at this LTL company for 1 1/4 yrs so far) and two weeks vacation after two years. And I get weekends off.

It's better money than I made over the road but I hustle like you wouldn't believe unless you have this kind of xp. I thought I was pushed over the road, that was until I started doing this gig.

I drive circles around my over the road experience. Less miles but tons of backing. Blindside, alleys, quarter miles at a time down dead end streets and in the woods, etc.

To get 16 stops done in a day means a superman pace. But since superman isn't real and the job basically forces me to become superman to do the job - it's taking a toll on my health, and my enthusiasm.

I have no time left after work to have a life. It's nearly impossible to get errands done (since everywhere is closed during the hours i work). I work same start time each day but end time is obviously whenever the stops are done and dispatchers have so much freight.

*I'm ready to be done with this industry entirely*

I could make an extra 4 bucks an hour at a competitor LTL company, but the same problem would be there with the lack of reasonable work hours (they all expect way too many hours).

How can u have a life outside of work when working like this?

Is there a way someone with basically no xp except trucking can get a decent paying job that allows them to have enough free time to have a life?

I'd really appreciate advice on this.

Thanks,

-Burned Out LTL Driver

 

There's no way to go to school or learn another skill set while doing local ltl. It's extremely hard work and the companies are so inflexible about time off. I am literally more tired doing this even with time off than I was over the road for 3 months at a time without a single day off.

I currently make more money than most college graduates so it wouldn't really make sense to accumulate debt to gain a way of making money. Plus the time that takes...I'm too burned out NOW to be able to handle MORE responsibility and work (school is work - not a job but it's work especially when you already work so much at the job that you are worn out beyond belief).

I wish u the best of luck in getting those certifications but especially if you are doing LTL with manual unloading and for a company that doesn't give u a set schedule (which is the norm in this industry) than I think you will find it much tougher than you think.

 

Why? I have no idea why. I think the same way u do. It makes NO SENSE whatsoever why they are so against time off. But it's nearly impossible getting time off requests approved. It took me 3 months to get my driver's license changed after moving from one apartment to another (I know it's supposed to be in 30 days but when the DMV is closed on weekends and work doesn't give time to take care of errands - that's the way it is - not much I can do about it until I work somewhere better).

The company definitely sucks and doesn't care about it's driver's, but what are my options? Another trucking company? This is the best company I've worked for in trucking. I have 7 years xp and worked for lots of companies. There's profit sharing and stuff that takes a while to add up but the longer I stay the better off it gets, provided my health doesn't fall apart.

And even if my health does fine - I'm simply missing out on life. Friends/family want to visit/hang out - I'm never around. I can't get errands done nor have fun nor have down time for rest and recovery.

It's a blatant recipe for being burnt out is what is it.

But try telling that to the company - in one ear out the other.

 

Ideally I'd love to get out of trucking. It's all bad in my opinion but this is like u said *brutal*. Another type of trucking may be a lot easier, but would most likely come with a decrease in pay. I get paid hourly right now, and most trucking companies have pay per mile / percentage /etc. (whatever way they can find to screw you out of pay). Hourly makes a gaurantee of getting paid a lot, and getting paid at a higher hourly rate after 40 hours - but the workload is too much.

I can't afford to go to school - I would need income while being in school.

I think a break from trucking would fit but I did that before in between OTR companies. I recharged my body/mind but lost so much money in the process. It takes years to save what you can loose in a few months without a job.

I can't afford to let my income dissapear without lining something else up first, and that really sucks but it's the way it is.

A job out of trucking would be the best thing but how could I match my income in a field I have no experience with?

And where is the time with my schedule to even get applications/interviews done?