What bugs me about OTR

That's the dream job but there aren't many out there. His company probably makes so much they don't have to penny pinch.

There might be cheating the books in the opposite direction!

 

I wouldn't call working 70 hours a week a dream job....even it it paid alot more than the 70,400 that one pays.

 

Well now, that all depends. If a person loves what he does, and does what he loves, (as far as his job is concerned is what I'm talking about here,) then 70 hours a week could well be a "dream job!"

 

I guess you're right Big Don...beauty is in the eye of the beholder....

 

That's not OTR! I hate shuttleing, relaying, etc.... That's why I signed up for OTR not LTL! I love my life out here!

 

Interesting post, and some good replies.

I have been looking at the truck driving industry for about a year now. And I have a similar question as the OP but my Q is about how freight is handled across the country..

Why don’t they have truck freight hubs outside of big cities where the ORT trucks would just drop-off and pick-up trailers? I can see where some loads would be problematic, but 99% of the freight should not be an issue.

This way the long-haul trucks would keep moving at highway speeds between hubs. And the day trucks would haul in the city.

The city truck drivers could be home every night, the smaller day cab trucks can maneuver around the city better. The city drivers would know the routes, areas, alternate routes, and some of the local delivery address.

Since I’m not a truck driver, I see things as an outsider, but it’s still a question I have. I do think the industry and the consumer is benefiting from the hard work some are doing working for less than the true hourly cost should be. Hope I’m not screwing up any future replies the OP might get, but since our question is similar.

 

What happens, Cy, is that some of these companies have no intention of paying a "local driver." The OTR driver, as part of his job, does his pickup and delivery, wherever it may be.

Some outfits do have terminals in or near big cities. But they STILL want their OTR drivers to do the P & D for their loads.

And then you have the once like KNIGHT who will do their best to con a road driver into doing local P & D work for a whole lot less than they pay their hourly city drivers.

It all goes to the bottom line, and to what the company thinks makes it the most money, for the least expense.

 

Thanks, and I figured it would boil down to money, plus there is cost of a hub. But I would think that fright company would make more money keeping the longhaul rigs moving at highway speed.

Thanks again for the reply, I didn't know they had a way to save on the P&D part.

 

Thank You for your service!

 

If I take my mileage pay and convert it to hourly pay, I'm making over $22/hr driving down the interstate. Now obviously that is not steady pay, and it will fluctuate wildly depending on driving conditions. Even at an average speed of 55mph, I'm making close to $19/hr. I also get paid detention, layover, breakdown, holiday, multiple picks/drops, etc. That wage certainly won't make you a rich man, but it's still not Burger King food stamps wages either. The real kicker to it is the fact that we don't get overtime. Just think...time and a half for anything over 40...now I'm up to over $28/hr at an average of 55mph...for 30 hours. That's an extra $850 on my paycheck every week If I "work" 70 hours. Boy that line 4 is starting to look really nice now. Imagine the gross abuse of the system. Drivers would be sitting on line 4 for hours to get that 70 hrs/week in, and how would a company prove that they weren't working. After all, anything having to do with the operation of the truck (pre trip, post trip, trip planning, etc) is supposed to be logged line 4.

Trying to implement an hourly wage in OTR would be a logistical nightmare, but I do agree that mileage pay should be higher. Regards to relaying loads and whatnot: We do that already. They're called repowers. Personally, I prefer to carry a load from shipper to receiver. That way, I know how it was loaded and handled and I don't end up with os&d because the other driver drove like an ###### and turned a pallet over.