is local worth it ?

doesnt really matter, if you are working local, then you are probably OVER Qualified for OTR!

 

Some people are always a day late and a dollar short. Go to the beginning of the thread to know what we are talking about.

Here's your helmet

 

I'm pretty sure I know what the thread is talking about. Go to wikipedia and look up rhetorical question and sarcasm.

Here's YOUR helmet.

 

Think I'll do better going to Websters Dictionary.

Your Helmet won't fit me lol

 

Well if I ever got to the point where going OTR for a small carrier was my only option, I'd most likely leave the industry and do something else. And if things ever got to the point where going OTR for a large carrier was my only option, I would DEFINITELY leave the industry and do something else. I only drive local and I only do it for small carriers. I don't recommend large carriers to anyone ever nor do I understand why anyone would put up with the sort of treatment that is commonly associated with large carriers if they have other options available.

I'm in trucking because I want to be, not because I have to be. There are other things I can do if need be.

 

No offense....but that is certainly not true, given some of the local drivers I have seen of late. They're more aggressive than they should be and some are downright dangerous.

This is pretty much true of all segments any more.

 

That's a good point. But bad drivers aside, its true that someone driving local isn't automatically the best candiate for OTR work. However the reverse is also true. You wouldn't want to take a driver who has only driven single screw tractors and 28' single axles trailers and turn him loose on the world in a condo with a 53' box with no other training. But for the same reasons it would be idiotic to take a driver who has only driven long nose condos and 53' boxes between large DC's and put him in a single screw/28' box and send him to nightmarish alley docks in the middle of a large city with no other training.


And there are other factors as well. From an HR perspective, taking an OTR driver and putting him into a local gig carries just as much of a flight risk as taking a local driver and putting him in an OTR gig. They are two very different types of driving and two very different lifestyles. And its not unusual for drivers to switch from one to the other only to hate it and go back.

I guess what I'm saying is, the point is valid that some OTR companies won't take your local experience. But my assumption was they did this because most local guys who try to go OTR end up hating the lifestyle and quit. I'm local because its what I want to do I could care less if OTR companies don't want me because I'm never going to want them. Given the broad availability of OTR work as compared to local, why would anyone take a local gig if OTR is ultimately what they wanted to do? If you've got a CDL and a Polaroid picture of yourself breathing at some point in your life, you can get hired by any one of 100 different OTR companies. Why would you take a local job and try to transition to OTR later?

 

This is, as a certain old-time detective would have said, "a most excellent post" on this subject.

I am OTR because at present, it fits my needs. I pulled a propane tanker for a year back in '99, and would love to return to that on a local level. I may do so in the future. But right now, our housing situation just doesn't allow for me to be home daily (has to do with a job change by my wife, her rooming with a friend in a house owned by that friend, and us renting our own home out....not the ideal scenario, but it is what it is..).

I'll be 52 next month, and shooting to be done with OTR within 3 years.

But again....excellent post jgremlin.

 

I did only local 5-ton stuff from the age of 17 until I got into towtrucks 6 years ago, in my 4 years doing that I started getting into the class 8 stuff the company did, left there and did OTR for a year and loved it, left that and found a local warehouse/driving (only drove 1 day a week) job for family reasons. I was bored out of my skull at first, pay wasn't the best but it got me home every night where I got to see a lot more of my son and that is what I needed the most.

On Monday I start a new localish job. I will be spending 3 days a week doing in town deliveries, and 2 days a week doing a regional run. Still home everynight and every weekend and holidays off. And a mandatory paid week off between Christmas and New Years. Best part is that the pay is at a pretty decent rate. I'm hoping that this new job will give me the mix I'd love to have.

I'm doomed to stay local whether I like it or not for right now though. Wife and I have split and staying local allows me to keep shared custody of my son. If I went back OTR not only would I not get to see my son as much as I'd like, but any extra money I'd make would go straight into the ex's pockets in child support anyways. Maybe once my son is older and would be able to join me on the road that can change, but for now I have to do what I have to for him.

Keeping my fingers crossed that I've found a job where my schedule works for my son, but I get to do something I enjoy. If the hours hold up like I'm expecting then I don't know if I will every go back OTR, I've found my self a decent sized company that is small in my area and I will be the entire trucking division with full reign over my truck with from the sounds of it so far...little to no interference from my direct boss. I haven't even offically started yet and I've got my keys to the truck and he's already placed an order for $700 worth of "stuff" I want for the truck, given me the go ahead to install anything I want for my comfort in the cab.

I agree with a lot of whats been said above that not everyone is suited for OTR and on the same hand not everyone is suited for local stuff. I do disagree that local work isn't real trucking like someone mentioned. We're all truck drivers, all with different needs and we all have to find the thing that works for us and our families while getting that behind the wheel time that we all love.