Is It Hard To Get An OTR Job?

You have no idea how needed you are and every company will act like your past will hinder other companies from hiring and likely will loball you- don't sound desperate and research potential companies.
My husband had similar situation- he sucked it up and worked for a trucker mill for 2 yrs ( PTL) for OTR experience and honestly, the first 2 years were rough $$$ wise but once he got those 24 months experience, he had the luxury to be picky with his next company and the pay increase was quite dramatic .
We are OTR together and feel like it's the honeymoon phase all over again ; we honestly have a lot of fun. But just so you know, he has standing open offers from local companies starting out at 80k if he decided we were done with OTR hauls, but plan on moving south so intend on finding a company with similar home time and pay.

In our experience, the OTR drivers who excel are ones who travel with a SO or are single guys over their FOMO days. If you're willing to do month long hauls many companies would hire you and most of them just raised their pay so you're in luck

 

Oh and he drives for KB which is mainly food hauls (all reefers) so you might look into them. They pay a guarantee of 2500 miles a week which is awesome and are very accommodating to us; giving us loads to destinations we want to see (we use Lyft and public transit to see sites on downtime). They just increased their starting pay and bonuses. If interested, I can give you his info for reference and referral.

Have fun!

 

Honestly, nothing that I can say in that regard. There are guys up there that have contacts and or contracts. I will not go East of Youngstown OH for that very reason. When I had my authority, I was pulling a flat bed with a conestoga kit on her, I would have to have at minimum $4 a mile to even think of going to NJ. Anything North of that, you better be upwards of $6 a mile. When I was pulling a reefer, $1 a mile out was the norm, and I would say it is right about there still today. And that is when fuel was at $1 a gallon. Others will chime in, and I think I am being realistic until you are actually established. That is, going OTR, let's be clear about that too. Local freight, that is another animal. Short haul, at least for me is where the money is. $10 a mile + is not out of the question in my area. My average works out to $80 to $100 an hour net pay. That is how I really like to figure all of this in my particular racket. Automotive Expedite.

 

Home - Lily

 

In horror, actually.
You say you attended Harvard; not if you write like that you didn't. And if you didn't write the copy, why would anyone who had attended Harvard allow their good name to be attached to work of such poor quality?

 

Easy to get a job in trucking. Even easier to lose it.

 

As hard as finding a toothpick at a steakhouse

 

The North East by and large is a aging part of the USA. They are a part of the USA that take freight, but ships little. They are dependant on the rest of the Nation for everything.

Most of the time we can bobtail somewhere in the NE a few hundred miles empty to get loaded west. But places like Sparrows Point Steel Mills are gone, it's condos now literally. And there goes the freight.

There are smaller parts of the USA that ship freight in the NE but nothing too wild. For example near seneca lakes is Salt. Akzo I think. Grab a truck load of that and it's a overnight run. Its not going to California. Maybe a little bit of brewery in Strohs up in Allentown or a spot of railroad related work such as freight car axles, this is flatbed stuff. Produce ships I believe apples south of Harrisburg. But that is regional.

Everything goes to the NE. Not very much comes out of there. Some but nothing like you expect for a reefer.

If you are a business and I think you are, it will make sense to relocate somewhere away from the NE to other parts of the USA where there is freight enough to drown everyone.

Ive already offered one major Type of shipper in the NE, Linfield CT they are McKesson. They handle all of the East Coast in medicine. They take a reefer for humidity and temperature purposes. You will find that sometimes in winter you will be keeping those medicines warm.

That is what I would be doing with both hands if I was plunked into the NE and told to find a load for trucking.

A second choice will be seafood. I don't know the current state of the seafood from say Maine all the way down to the Bay area crabs in Maryland and so on but that would be another item to look at.

A third and reluctant choice will be LTL to restaurants. Darden (MBM) used to be around the area for purposes of delivering. Aberdeen Maryland would ship as far as Connecticut for red lobsters which are a million plus annual dollar restaurant with high dollar food products to be delivered. The chance of getting robbed is high. I have had more crime happen hauling this into the NE than any other place. MBM is no longer in existance. But somehow those restaurants all over the NE have to be serviced.

You say that having a CDL is a waste if there isnt anything up there. I say it taint so. Having a CDL causes a different approach if you are pulled over in your car near home and there is a CDL in your wallet. Literally Sir or Ma'am instead of just the basic pig piling. At the same token you are held to a higher standard. If you hold a CDL for which you paid for and endured all the endorsements, real id 2020 requirements and so on and have the ability to go into Canada and such with a enhanced license, pass port etc it's going to be a little bit easier for you to get around on that thing.

Businesses thrive in good times. When times are not as good you must consider going somewhere else possibly where the economy is better and work there. Or change from Reefer to flatbed or something like tankers.

Bottom line, Trucking is the fastest way to reduce 2 millions of your money to 2 dollars overall. If you are smart and a little bit lucky you might keep 1.50 of that two.

 

What part of the USA has enough local jobs paying $80k that he can have standing offers?. It sure ain't South FL, so I hope you guys aren't planning on moving that far south.

Oh, I had to Google "FOMO". I tried deciphering it, but failed on my own.

 

www.lily.com sometimes hires new cdl grads.

Much of their stuff is team runs. Ask about that and about California produce runs.
They do hire military veterans right out of cdl school, and a few non-vets have posted they were hired right out of school. The website has "1 yr. exp. required" but these days, that doesn't mean much.