Local career ? But what type?

If I have to do local work, it will not be in trucking.

OTR or nothing.

 

I would say ready mix. 60 hour weeks, home every night, and if you're in a union area it's a job for life

 

If you cater to night driving, a line haul or ka-boom tanker. Most line hauls start at like 9 or 10pm, and you are back by sunrise. The stuff you take at night is for the drivers during the next day to peddle it off. Tanker at night is just plain common sense.

 

Here in Jersey I would say UPS feeder driver or Shoprite.

 

Oh, not so fast. I pulled containers when it was in it's infancy, and yes, I pulled a lot of junk, mostly at night. Today, I think it's changed, lot of places went to tubeless tires, many newer 53 ft boxes and it is a good way to stay local, even regional, like I did. You might even snag a by the hour gig, if you do city pulls. DON'T do an O/O though.

 

I would look at the companies. I would work for the biggest and/or best company regardless of the type of freight. My preference is for big companies since their benefits and opportunities are usually better. It's a bit like asking should you eat meat or vegetables. The answer is yes.

Also, be willing to move for good opportunities. The world will not split in half if you don't die in the same town you were born in. I hear most of the sea monsters and dragons have been driven from most of the country. A lot of people seem to think they have to stay in place and try to be the last person in their zip code to leave. Don't be that guy. Moving is a great American tradition. We move for jobs a ton less often now than our parents or grandparents moved. Moving is hard but it also lets you get away from the bad habits if you need to do that.

 

I’ve always been a night person, but I will never work the graveyard shift, at least continuously. There’s something about the human body that no matter if you’re a night person, you just can’t never seem to get used to it. Your body and mind just don’t feel right even when you are fully awake throughout the night shift.

I think there is a good reason why humans live in the day and sleep at night. Forcing your body to work against its circadian rhythm cannot be good in the long term. I remember meeting some people at some bakery factory who had been working the night shift for many years. I can tell you there was something off about their faces. They just looked tired, especially around their eyes.