i have no desire to drive OTR at this point in my life, but if i ever did?

Difference is. Local in day cab home everynight.
Otr is in a sleeper or day cab n hotel... Thats all the differqnce realy.

 

Your experience will count for something, yes. But most mega companies and a few others see even regional experience as different from OTR. So there could be some considerations given to your being just local.

It works the same for OTR going local where I live. They really don’t want to hire you.

 

Being a local driver actually gained better traffic skills and docking skills in my opinion. Thats why most local companies want people with some OTR service beforehand to prove they are ready for the next step. I drove OTR 3 years and drove a year of local in Atlanta years ago. Local in Alaska now too. Most people can hold a steering wheel for 600 miles a day but not anyone can deal with serious local traffic issues all day every day

 

Starting as a local driver you have little experience with the longer sleeper cabs, even possibly with 53' trailers.
We could talk about backing in truck stops, or a wide variety of other backing situations with that longer sleeper unit.
That makes the experience a moot point for the most part.

Is it any wonder that local companies want OTR experience vs the other way around?
We never see an OTR company requiring 3 years local experience, for a very good reason.
Local with day cabs is just that much easier.

 

OTR is much easier. Longer the trailer easier it is to back and dock than a 20 ft container for example.

 

@akfisher dont forget that besides putting more miles going backwards, we get pretty good at backing blindside on a two lane street while traffic is coming and it never fails to have a 4wheeler honking at ya

 

oh yeah. I always tell younger guys dont be afraid to “ claim the lane” Thats what your flashers are for. They can wait while you do your job.

 

Another driver and I were talking the other night. We both work for small, local companies, and we do the same work, just different customers. Hauling lime to coal fired power plants is a huge part of what we do. That's a 24/7 operation, 365 days a year.

Being we both work for small outfits, winter and summer can be rather busy. We both run three loads a night, all week long, and once a month on Saturdays. (Saturdays are on a rotation. I usually work one every 4 weeks)

OTR drivers usually don't last long here. While they're making more money, they seem to struggle with the daily grind. One former driver we had said he'd run hard, burn up his 70, and take two days off. He'd do this for three weeks, and then go home for a few days. That's not an option here.

Another thing the otr guys seem to struggle with here is because it's a very small operation, there's really nobody in the office overnight. When you're out at 230am and you have a minor issue, calling the boss and running him outta bed isn't always going to help. Now, if it's something major, then you call. But for most things, the drivers rely on each other around here.

Another interesting thing I've learned about all this: I have become very rusty at backing a trailer into a spot at a truckstop. I stopped at a Loves recently, which is very rare. But I looked like a rookie backing into a spot! After 17 years of driving, I thought I was doing good. But to the outsider, I was just another dumb rookie who couldn't back up!

But, OTR and local really are two different animals. Because a guy is great at OTR doesn't make them great as a local driver, and vice versa.