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

I have never seen an ad saying a local company wants otr drivers. The ad would state experience. Some newbie OTR dude with one year OTR backs up what? Once a day? Yea, I want that guy in my truck backing up off the road blind side 15 times a day. Really?

 

My personal experience with this says most OTR companies simply want to check off a box on their pre-qualification form and have no room for actual thought. Here is why.

I never drove OTR until I had already been a driver for more than 10 years. Started out doing mechanic work, driving buses and running a tow truck which led into hauling cars into and out of New York City. Eventually I bought a small towing company and things didn't work out so I took 6 months "off" to go drive OTR and clear my head while plotting my next course for life.

It was dang near impossible to get an OTR company to hire me, none of them wanted to count my local experience, even though I had spent most of it backing in and around tight areas within New York City, and silly enough when I was towing I was the one they called to fix their drivers screw ups! I was qualified to tow their tractor trailer combinations across the state but couldn't be hired to drive one.

Finally did get JB Hunt to give me a shot, actually was a good job but I didn't like the OTR lifestyle. Came off the road, started a car haul business and ran that for the next 14 years eventually going back into towing as well. So, the moral of the story is that local experience will make you a better driver in many cases, but the OTR companies don't see it that way.

Last thought, I had a heck of a time keeping OTR drivers, they simply could not deal with working a full 14 hour day and being back when the 10 was up. We ran local shuttles with the car haulers and on-call shifts with the tow trucks, long hard days with a lot of physical activity, very few miles. Even paying them in the high $70's for home every night work they wouldn't stay.

Best drivers I ever hired were guys that had never driven OTR a day in their lives. They knew how to fix a problem and work independently plus keep up with the pace.

 

Most of our drivers have come from other local places and have been in the same business for a long time, we rarely get OTR drivers, they don't like unloading the trailers, most food guys are usually people who have been in that business or line of work or used to doing local stuff and making deliveries and working with customers face to face unloading product and what not.

 

every local company I applied to in Atlanta wanted two years of OTR to be considered for a position

 

I've done both. They both have good and bad. OTR you have a bigger combination and you traveling areas you are not familiar with. However, the majority of the time you are on open roads and going to major shippers and receivers, note that I said majority. With local work you get a smaller combination and your familiar with your area. But with that, you have non-stop heavy traffic, many tight truck manuevers (including blind siding off a busy highway), driving down roads not meant for big trucks, and to top it off it's much faster pace than OTR work.

I enjoyed both honestly. I felt VERY comfortable doing local work in my home town to the point that it barely felt like work. I went back to doing OTR work recently. Much less of a grind and I just like to travel way too much. I do miss that cheater window in the back of my daycab though!

 

My current sleeper has a rear window, but it doesn't work the same as in a daycab. The window is much smaller than the daycabs and it is far enough back to the point that it doesn't help. Sigh, guess I have to use mirrors now ...

 

I did 18 years in a daycab. The first company I applied for when I decided to go back to OTR put me 1 step above a brand new CDL holder. They required I ride with their trainer for about 1 month. They were stricter than average, in my opinion. I recall them and other companies were concerned I hadn't done OTRin the last 3 years. Once I had 2 years OTR they would would put me in my own truck after orientation and a road test. Some companies don't care if you were local, regional, OTR. Some companies consider OTR operating in 5 or 7 states.