Litmus test for new drivers...

baloney I started out local 27yrs ago taking home 650 to 800 working bacicly 8 to 4 hauling ocean cans. Did it for about a year got fired went long haul company went under previous Richard cranium hired me back fired me again went back on the road.

You do not have to pay any dues running otr to get a good local job.
Matter of fact I don't know where people get this whole , ya gotta pay you dues bs.

STOP BELIEVING THESE STUPID MYTHS PEOPLE.

 

I think "good local job" would need a definition to support your argument.

Very few drivers start out working days, driving a new truck and making $25 an hour. You have to "pay your dues" to get there. That dues does not have to be OTR, but it can be.

It can also be working local for a guy that serially fires you and doing time with companies that are going under, as you pointed out above...

 

I'll tell you where people get this. When I look in my local newspaper and the majority of the ads are seeking CDL A with anywhere between 1 and 3 years experience. About 60% of those ads specifically state, "OTR experience".

Now I'm not saying that there aren't any entry level, fresh outta school, get your butt in the truck, jobs out there. I know that there are. However, your chances of landing a regular local gig, that pays what the work is worth, are significantly increased once you have a year or 2 under your belt. There was a time when most local jobs wanted 3-5 yrs. experience before they'd even look at your application.

Personally I'm starting out on a dedicated run because that is the position I'm being hired for to go to school. Once I complete my year doing that I will probably go OTR for 6 months to a year, unless I happen to love my dedicated position. Then I'll either go O/O through LS or SNI (Depending on what the freight market looks like at that time) or I may try and find a local gig. Either way, I will have far more options available to me because I "paid my dues" as people like to say.

Just my observations and opinions.

 

Yeah but those starter otr jobs dont pay "what the work is worth" do they? Dues are dues.. dont much matter if its local or otr, till you prove you can keep it dirty side down and between the ditchs, your still paying dues...

 

Honestly,it seems that dedicated pays a better cpm than otr does but your CHANCES of getting higher mileage are better at otr. That being said I'll be making very good money FOR ME doing the dedicated gig. on the low end pf estimates I'll still gross triple what I did at my last job. I did bring in enough at my last job to get by. Here I might actually be able to get ahead. Which is what I'm looking for. Your mileage may vary.

 

Eh? For me its about contentment. Not money. I could make a good bit more tomorrow, but it ain't worth it.. so here i sit.

 

I figured out a long time ago that people will work as hard as they need to to get to a point of "OK". After that they may ##### and wish but mostly they will stay where they are "OK".

That is not a bad thing: If everyone's "OK" was billionaire chief executive nothing would ever actually get done.

 

I'm just tired of living right at or below the poverty line. I'm also tired of not really being able to get ahead and have some money saved up for when I need it.

This job will help to get me out of both of those conundrums. I figure once I get some experience under my belt THEN I can look at getting to a place that will support the kind of life I want to lead.

 

For the record the life I want to lead is neither glamorous nor complicated.

 

For me its a cost benefit analysis. The cost of moving up is not worth the benefits. I dont have (and never had) a desire to have a big house or 5 cars, big toys like boats and such, they cost to much time and effort for very little enjoyment. Safe clean and happy. Beyond that? Its all gravy.