Old Dominion Freight Line - 3 Year Review

They took my existing physical, but I had just renewed a couple days before I applied…

 

I'm thinking of going the LTL route after I spend 2-3 years more OTR. I'm only 24 but I'll be ###### if I spend the next 40 years only being home once a month. The two LTL terminals my town has are ODFL and XPO, but they're pretty small terminals compared to others in much larger cities. Probably not much if any linehaul but I think I'd prefer P&D anyways. Driver jobs are scarce at those terminals but they do open up from time to time. Pretty sure that when the big Yellow terminal here closed up shop, those drivers picked up any local job they could find.

 

Why wait 2-3 years? Apply as soon as you see a posting. Small terminals for large carriers are where it’s at. My ODFL terminal has 11 drivers. 9 P&D and 2 Linehaul (although we’re really more shuttles than real Linehaul). The only issue with P&D at small terminals is freight volume. Right now only 5 of the day guys are getting their hours. The other guys have basically become combo drivers to keep up their hours. Linehaul has been fine because we always have more freight inbound than what we can run when it’s normal, so now we’re still getting our runs without help from the larger hub.

 

I’m with @NvySwmr626 on this one dude. I follow the thread you’re in and I know what town you call home, and any time OD has an opening, apply. Like you said you live in a smaller town and people who get those jobs don’t quit them. If they throw an ad up now, they might not in 2-3 years. The ole adage “strike while the iron is hot” is never more applicable to a situation than applying at the job you want, when you see it.

 

Pure FYI: It was the same pretty much at ever LTL I've worked at. Pay varies slightly as does politics and terminal toxicity.

OD and ABF are the only modern LTLs I'd remotely consider, but Yellow(not because the closing) and FedEx made me hate LTL culture..

 

i took a gander by my local OD terminal and it looks to be a fairly small operation. I’ve kept up with the jobs page on OD’s website and nothing has popped up there for awhile.

 

Just keep periodically looking at their job site page… You never know when an opening will pop up… If one does come open, you should jump on it

 

Are they sticklers about needing your hazmat when you apply? The other few endorsements are easy to get. Just a multiple choice test at the DMV, but hazmat will take a bit more time to get

 

If you are serious about applying for any LTL job get your hazmat now.