OTR with Schneider or Line Haul LTL with R+L Carriers?

I appreciate the comment. R+L said their training is just two weeks. One classroom, one on the road with another driver. That would be even less than Schneider. Also, no flying out to stay in a hotel for three weeks of orientation. Terminal is a 10 minute drive from me.

Apparently R+L pay comes out to around .68 cents per mile / $30 an hour vs 44cpm from Schneider. Big difference.

The only thing that makes me hesitate is working nights... Not sure if I can rush home to sleep on a sunny afternoon but I guess plenty of people do it.

Anybody here drive OTR for R+L in their "systems" division? I did see the Peterbilt 579 Ultralofts they get. Maybe they get the same miles but can run daylight hours?

 

Thanks Mack. He specifically said there was nothing available for the P+D side right now. I guess those guys like their jobs and want to keep them. The nightly grind must have a higher turnover rate. But yes, it's good to get that foot in the door. I think I will start my career with R+L unless something better pops up. Cheers.

 

Most people who go into truck driving quit. I started with Schneider is 2018 and in training they told us that over 90% of new drivers are out of the industry within 1 year.

A big part of your first year OTR is adapting to the sleep schedule. I have two years experience and its a piece of cake for me to wake up at midnight and work 14 hours or more (Im ag exempt - no logs).

I dont mean that its easy. But I'm used to it so it doesn't seem like a big deal.

Your body will get rest when it needs it. A 20 minute nap works wonders. One time I sleep my entire 10 hour break.

You don't have any experience. You will either stick with it in spite of the hardships, or you will quit like almost everyone else does.

There's hardly anyone on the roads from midnight to about 5:30 in many places. Also if you start your shift at midnight you won't have to fight for parking as much which is especially tough as a rookie because your backing is going to probably suck for awhile.

Especially if you run the Northeast where parking can be #### near impossible by 5 pm or earlier.

Ive taken breaks of several months from truck driving and I sleep from like 8 pm to 4 am. But when I'm working I adapt my sleep schedule to the job. And I'm not trying to fight traffic for 10 hours. i ran on recaps when I was otr so I only had to fight traffic for a few hours. Makes a big difference.

 

Those are team drivers.

 

As far as otr companies go I think you can do better than Schneider unless you have minimal experience.

In my experience I've always preferred otr to local work. It just seems that I don't bust my ### as much running otr.
And I ran stepdeck most of my 38 yrs otr. Its alot easier to only deal with a load every couple days than have to (in my case) tarp,untarp and chain or strap multiple times during the day with local work. Just my thoughts on that.

 

LTL companies = home on the weekends 99% of the time. OTR megas = we’ll try to get you home on time. More money at a true LTL like R&L. I would rather go LTL especially if this is your first company. Wish I did that when I started trucking.