Hardest thing about being an OTR driver

Good for you. I guess I was a little obnoxious in my answer. They mice in the ceiling kept me up. And I was too chicken to go after them last night in the dark. I hate winter, my house is apparently rodent heaven once it gets cold. And my dog is worthless. He doesn't even see them. I need a good mouser (cat) for a week or two. I would shoot them if I thought it would work.

 

I'll have to agree with that...here is mine (last Christmas)

 

A lot of us "knuckleheads" actually know what we're doing. There are idiots in every age group and lately I've seen far more young idiots holding the steering wheel with one hand and texting or fooling with their laptop with the other than "old fools" doing drugs or drinking or any of that other #### that you seem to think we all do.

There are a LOT of things that these new youngsters do that they should not be doing...

Who's trying to get older experienced drivers off the road?

CDL mill companies like England, Swift, JB Hunt and the other bottom feeder companies that want young stupid idiots to work for free?
The reason those companies don't want experienced drivers is that WE ARE NOT DUMB ENOUGH TO WORK FOR NOTHING!

You have a lot to learn my friend...

 

For me it's running the northeast region. I mean anything north of Richmond Virginia and east of 81 basically. I hate it up there with a passion. Not the people so much but the layout of the roads and the aged look of everything up there (although it's pretty in a few spots here and there).

I left OTR trucking for good and will find a job running regional. Many say they love the open road but you never get to see it any more. Getting stuck up there all the time and never going West got old for me. Hadn't been west in over a year and I finally said enough is enough.

I like a lot of things about trucking but being gone for weeks at a time puts a strain on personal relationships and with the lack of freight and increased waiting times, the weeks go by a lot slower than they did when I was staying busy.

All the small stuff never really bothered me much. You become numb to the stupidity you see out there in traffic and you learn to anticipate things.

If you think you'll be running long loads cross country, think again friend. Get used to running the same ole crappy lanes in ghetto cities with little parking and ###### food.

I'm still going to stick to trucking of some form but I will not be running the NE ever again and will likely never even go there to visit lol.

 

Sabine, I understand. After re-reading my post, what I said did sound arrogant. Believe me, that certainly wasn't intended. I have had a very hard life, but I have also worked hard to make it better.

What part of Missouri are you in?

 

I love running the North East. It's where I grew up and I don't think you can get any better food anywhere. I like the challenge and I also get paid better to run there. I have found that the best way to deal with the traffic is to remember you are not running a race. Get a good music player (iPod, iPhone, XM radio) or whatever and relax.

 

That's like telling a dude that's getting sodomized to put a little K Y on it and it won't hurt as bad. Traffic ain't a big deal, the NE doesn't hold a monopoly on that. However, there really is no other part of the country (and I've driven #### near all of it) that I loathe as much as the upper east quadrant but the Bay area in Commifornia comes close (LA's a breeze compared to that nightmare).

I won't like it and that is why I won't be doing it any longer. There's more than one way to skin a cat. I've never really heard any driver say they can't wait to go there (unless they live there and are going home or maybe are making so much for the trip the torture is worth it ).

Hey, it's not your fault it's just the oldest and most congested clusterfack in the nation with little real estate to go around and I'll never understand why people like living like sardines but whatever floats your boat.

 

road dust,

I am a local company driver and have never driven OTR but everything you listed is a hard part of the job for those drivers if you have read this forum. There is a valid argument for everything you have written.

Here are some of the items that would prevent me from ever going OTR. Remember that these are just my opinions.

First of all, most OTR drivers are paid by the mile. The sad part is, they are not even paid the actual miles they drive. Why is that? It is like my company telling me that, we know you worked 12 hours but we are only going to pay you for 11. Thats fair?

Second, most OTR drivers are only paid for miles (short). What about the other on duty time? Pick any time that comes to mind. They are on duty and in the service of their company, why are they not compensated? They should be paid in some fashion from the time they start their day until they go off duty.

Third, paid time off. How many OTR companies provide this time? I am talking about sick days, holidays, jury duty and vacation? I don't see too many. And most of those that do, pay a lower rate for those days. I think that you should be paid at 1 5/2 of your last years gross or an average of what you make per week divided by 5 to calculate your pay for those days.

That is only 3 items! There is a lot more obviously.

Now you can add in everything you have written and you will find out why there is so much driver turnover and disgust in this industry. The companies don't care because for every driver that leaves, there are more waiting in the wings. It won't change anytime soon. Why should it? The companies are happy.

There are good companies out there. You are just not going to find them advertising for the most part.

Drive safe