How do you keep going on?

Other, more experienced drivers are welcome to correct me if I'm wrong here, but for the most part you will get very limited choices of loads as a company driver.

If you become a lease operator or owner operator, most companies will allow you to choose from a couple possible loads. Sometimes though, even at big companies, there won't be anything going where you want to go from where you are. In that case, since you are paying for fuel, maybe you are willing to deadhead farther than a company driver would be allowed.

If you want more consistency in scheduling, then what you probably want is a company that mostly hauls drop and hook. That way you can set your own schedule, provided that the schedule gets the load to where it needs to be, in the time window that it needs to be there.

So, you probably want dry van work, since dry van can be largely drop and hook. You also want a decent lease or owner operator opportunity. There might be other opportunities that I am not aware of. I'd love to hear other drivers mention them.

My biggest question to you is this:

Do you think that taking on more personal risk so you can choose your own loads is worth it?

There are OTR companies that do not operate nationwide. Quite a few avoid the Northeast US. Is that your concern, or are there other places you want to avoid?

 

Thank you very much for the informative post.

The concern is avoiding crazy 4-wheelers in heavy traffic. For example, I’ve driven the I-5 corridor so many times that I have grown to hate it. Some of the drivers there make me feel uneasy and frustrated driving around. That’s why I marked the West Coast red. When I go into the inner states, I feel much more relaxed and happier... less crazy traffic to worry about and just watching the beautiful scenery pass by. It might sound I’m being picky, but right now I’m treating trucking as a mix of lifestyle and a job. I want to enjoy what I’m doing like it is my life and still earn decent money doing it.

I’m still looking into doing tanker/hazmat/doubles/triples instead of the dry van/reefer I’m currently doing. Just not 100% sure who or what to pick. I don’t feel ready in doing lease-op and O/O stuff yet, but it is something to think about. I might look indecisive but I don’t want to regret my decisions.

 

Welcome! Choose wisely...

 

Trucking is one of those "start at the bottom and prove yourself" type careers. Keep your record clean and eat it for a year or two and make a move.


If it isn't what you imagined don't make it your life. Do it to have a life.

 

I was in your shoes about 7+ years ago money was horrible but I enjoyed my job. Being on the road and seeing all of the U.S. and meeting folks was exciting. But I was young only 22 at the time so I didn't have alot of bills or any kids. I kept my nose clean like all the old timers said and moved on after.a year. I'm so glade l never quit, I run local now make great money and think back at the fun I had.

 

If you drove a road enough to hate it, something else is going on.

I don't personally hate any particular road except perhaps the Dumfries at 95/495 interchange and perhaps the Chicago tollway. But those are easily bypassed or rolled through.

If there is going to be trouble it will be along the 95 past the GWB in my thinking and experience. Since I expect the "Crazy 4 wheelers" to pull some bad things I say bring it. It don't bother me too much if I can get around it. Although I wasnt sure if I will stay on the pavement a time or two watching the world go tilt through the windshield.

Im pretty sure you have a part of the USA you like very much, wherever that might be for yourself. Make that your home. The eastern mountains and tidewater is a personal favorite for me such as State college, front royal, Pokomoke city etc. But the west is a REAL favorite particularly in winter due to it's epic challenges. 4000 foot eastern hills don't compare to 12000 feet and so on. I love it.

But Chicago, they can have it. Wall the place off, catapult some food over it and let em sort it out.

 

Average daily truck traffic compared to your prima donna I don't want to drive there (red zones) map.


Your stupid map cuts out most of the truck traffic and loads in the country. So If I was in the position to hire an OTR driver, you and your stupid map would put you last on the list.

I am an experienced trucker; I have not problem going to California. None! Get away from the lunch counter and take political comments for what they are. Most of what these lunch counter truckers issues are nothing but politics. The miles click away in CA just like any other state.

CA has more trucking companies and freight then any other state. So if you want to cut them out of the picture, expect that to reflect in your paycheck and your luck finding a satisfactory job.

 

California has not really been a problem, but it is not exactly all be well and joy for me when I go there.

If today the entire state had a big one and dropped into the ocean, boy howdy we will not have much of anything left in our grocery stores back east. I cannot stress enough just how much comes out of California, many good things to buy and eat as well as use etc.

With that said, some of those traffic lanes in red should be marked in much thicker lines, 30, 40 and 81 in particular east of Oklahoma and Texas some days. There are so many others that are pretty dense traffic, I-70 in the midwest comes to mind. It's annoying, but not a problem when you have enough horses to keep up.

 

I too pretty much cut out CA and the 5-corridor after moving away from there about five years ago. Only way I go out there now is by either personal pickup truck or motorcycle.
Sticking to strict daycabs in the Inner-Mountain west has proven to be more fulfilling than any sleeper-cab, away from home months-at-a-time, runs.
Sure, if you want to be strict, over-the-road, then it would be appropriate to bottle up any prejudices you have about a particular area and keep running to them until enough money is saved, or an asteroid/nuclear strike/tidal wave/ < insert regional cataclysm here > makes that region uninhabitable.
Or, just drop long-haul/OTR off the list like I did once experience was gained, and start shooting apps out to well researched, day-cab or strict regional outfits.

 

I never did otr and never will. You don’t need to start off in otr like people say. I was pulling tanks 3 months after having my license. You just have to network and talk to people.

I drive a sleeper but I run all Midwest and am home basically every night. I’ll sleep in it here and there but it’s like once a month when I got a lot of work to do in Iowa or Illinois.

I’m based out of Minneapolis. I’m actually pushing for us to get some accounts in Wyoming though. I don’t mind flying down 90 and turning around and heading back.