Hardest thing about being an OTR driver

Nothing to disagree with, I wouldn't have mentioned it if it were a rule. I ran Home Depot dedicated for a while and not many of the stores did this, I was only using it as an example with dealing with the occasional moron. Docking with single digit degrees outside and getting sent back outside to do this was insanely annoying.

 

i know if you pull reefer and you get there and have to wait all day for that load. if you dont get any sleep then when you get the load late at night== you will be to tired to run, and thats when the trouble starts.

 

and the hardest part is taking advise from knuckleheads that call themselfs 20+ years on the road. they tell you all the things that you should not do. AND THEY WONDER WHY THEY ARE TRYING TO GET ALL THE OLDER DRIVERS OFF THE ROAD.

 

For me it was lack of sleep. I ran under the old HOS where they had the 8 hour break. You pull into a truck stop, eat, try to relax and grab a shower and you're lucky to get 5 or 5.5 hours sleep. The next day you do it all over again.

With some duty days lasting close to 15 hours, 5 hours of sleep didn't cut it for me. After a couple of days, I was tired all the time and when I got home for a couple of days, I slept most of the first day.

That's why I changed to a driving job where I got home every day with weekends off. It was much easier on the old body and a lot safer.

 

Darkschneider";
I worked as a forklift driver for Quad Graphics for 11 years. When I worked in shipping we had to have all loads set up ahead of shipping time and date. We had to make sure all loads were loaded for the OTR driver asap and never took breaks utill the load was finished.

 

Try going to americold in burley idaho, they dont have a conveyor to bring product from the fozen food place next door. It all has to be brought around by local trucks an they take all day with one truck, and they bring different parts of diferrent loads at once, You will wait there for up to 13 or 14 hours to get loaded, yes its happened cause it happened to me, i wouldnt go back there again no matter how high the pay was, and if your company sends you there after the appointment time because another driver couldnt make the appointment they will try to work you in. so yea good luck there.

 

i dont do teams anymore-- tired of my life in somebody elses hands. also the waiting and waiting to get loaded or un loaded. the way you have to sit at those stinking meat places and wait a day for your load. I just needed to get away from pulling reefers

 

the problem with that is we as drivers dont and will not stick together. it will always be a driver that says f' it i need to feed my family and cross the line for the quick buck, instead of doing it in the name of change.