Regional/Local/OTR

There's a few reasons behind that. Daycabs are much easier to maneuver, and some daycab drivers spend more time in reverse than in any other gear. When you spend more time bumping docks than anything else, you have no choice but to get good at it.

 

I've done OTR, local, Linehaul. You know why you need exp? take a daycab and a trailer into downtown city and back into a parking garage dock on a busy street or even go inside of a skyscraper garage and maneuver a truck without hitting a pillar. I like to see rookies do that. It ain't all no easy fun and games. Most Otr docks got alot of room. I did foodservice average Otr guys lasted 1-2days and usaully quit. Guys saw me there after awhile and told me they thought I would quit like the rest of the Otr guys usaully do. Local is demanding and fast paced not as easy as Otr. I drive regional now make 60k +, home 4-5 days a week and don't unload freight either. My company requires 3 yrs exp. That's why they don't take inexperience cause they pay well. Not many road companies can pay me that and be home.

 

I dont think you are going to find a local company such as LTL outfits that care about Sacrificing time away from home. Thats not work, its the lifestyle that comes with being OTR I have done OTR and now LTL for 17 years and you cant compare hooking up to a load and taking 2 days to finally tap the dock on the other end to Driving your entire shift in a city environment with 20 deliveries, some of them going to places where your lucky to fit a straight truck, unloading freight yourself only to start making pickups all afternoon dealing with closing times, other trucks ahead of you picking up 24 skids while you wait in line for 1 pallet and finally not being able to get in a dock because the driver in the next dock is so crooked and wont move cause it took him ten minutes just to get in crooked. Sorry, OTR is a hard life but more demanding then local? not in my opinion.

 

I lucked into a dedicated run at only 11 months. Same company though so that helped.

Keep trying. Sooner or later you will get what you want.

Mikeeee

 

Keep looking, yeah it doesn't seem fair, but fair and trucking do't go together very much. I have run local, regional foodservice, and OTR but only for a few weeks. I think it depends on where you are in life. The reason I left OTR was my kids were young and I was not geting home like I was promised (go figure). All 3 jobs require different skill sets but I would say local is probably the most demanding and requires the most running. If I got ahead on regional food service I could still pull over and take a nap. Local I was running my butt off all the time. And if you have more than a 15 minute comute that time really adds up at the ened of the week.
Yep putting a 53 footer in a tight space with a sleeper, is more difficult but putting it in their with a day cab and constantly negioating city traffic when you have 17 more stops in front of you is no picnic either.

Good luck to ya bud.

 

I just had to back into a dock on a busy 2 lane street on Friday the frikin 4 wheelers drive right over the sidewalks behind me just to get by when I'm clearly backing up when an otr driver deals with that stuff multiple times a day then il tell you that's harder than my local job

 

Somehow if you would have hit them ,probably would still be your fault, lotta arrogance out there that everyone has to deal with. Glad to hear this didn't happen and that you are the safer driver!

 

The thing driving local,for me, is unless you have 2 days off in a row,you can't sleep in on your day off.Because you won't be tired when you have to be in bed by 5pm. Yeah it's nice to see the family for the one or two hrs you have before you need to go to bed,but,it really is a lifestyle.(I can't really compare it to otr,never did it). I usually have between 8 to 9 stops per day. And if you get held up at the first stop, you'll be behind for the rest of the day.

 

mmmmmm Reading some of these post, I have to say I did that and done that, No Problem Drill Sargent. And that as a OTR driver. Backing in off the road with only inches on either side with parked cars, then do several maneuvers to hit the dock with an inch off on 1 side. When I told them wait I get the inch touching the Ramp they said NO!!!!! Your fine, most they had to drag the ramp out cause driver could not do what I just did. Or drive a 18 wheeler through Graveyards to deliver tomb stones and not touch the grass.

Why give that up to have the stress of city driving every day of a local driver beats me..... I keep OTR.. I love trucking for the Challenges not the stress of the idiot 4wheelers.