What bugs me about OTR

I am currently 56 years old. I have been in the work force for 39 years, (since 1974). I have been a low income to lower middle income wage for all of those years, including my 8 years in the U.S. Navy. Truthfully, I have nobody to blame but myself. I both stupidly and naively put myself into this position.

Currently, I work as a retail clerk. I am in my 6th. year with the company that I work for. In addition to waiting 4 to 5 more years to get an unbroken and consistent 10 year work history, I am also trying to clean up both my MVR and credit report. I am very close to getting completely out of debt.

I am also using these next 4 to 5 years to get into the best physical condition and best health possible, not only for my own health, but to be able to comply with D.O.T. standards. I hope one day to learn how to drive a truck and possibly go OTR as a solo driver.

My current wage is $9.30 an hour plus any overtime or commissions that I may receive. Believe it or not, this is the highest wage that I have ever made in my life. When my mother passed away over 5 years ago, some of her income that she was receiving from investments was legally channeled into my direction. It is not much, but it is an excellent supplement, totaling about an extra $4,000 to $5,000 a year.

About 3 years ago, I had spoken to a recruiter out of Arkansas. When I told him that I had never married, never had any children, that both of my parents are deceased, have always worked for NON-union shops, do not own a house or any property, and that I was not a high wage earner, the recruiter's reply was that I am the type of person that they could keep out on the road for a long stretch of time without any problems or issues whatsoever.

Without sounding stupid or naive, was this meant to be a compliment or a cutting remark? Please advise.

It is true, that I would be able to stay out on the road for long stretches of time compared to other drivers who have families and need extra home time to keep up with or take care of what is going on.

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

It's really just a statement that you'd be ideal for them as an OTR driver. A lot of guys say they want to stay out then progressively take want more time at home as time goes by. If you really have nothing to go back home to you most likely wouldn't be wanting to get back that much which is great for them. I know for me, I had never made anywhere near what I do now driving. Once I started making it, I just wanted to stay out to keep making more. They probably think that's how you will be.

I know you mentioned health as one factor but if you've been working solidly for 6 years you could probably easily get a job. My 10 year work history was not great at all when I started and I still found something. I was disabled for 3 years, and worked maybe 20 hours every other week for a year in my last four years before I started.

 

Thank you.

 

I think that unless I'm in a union ltl company (where they hook and unhook the sets for you) and I have a bid run, I like otr better. Driving up and down the I-5 in California is just terrible! That's all I do every trip. Being on call is also a bummer. I hate being a slave to the phone. When I had a dedicated otr run, I was only making 1200 bucks a week, but I saw lots of different scenery, knew when my days off were, had the same truck every time, a nice truck and knew when I'd leave and be home every week. I was never gone for more than 5 days. For me the only advantage of ltl is the money and my benefits are all paid for. Other than that, I drive bad equipment, get called in after my 10 hours off, do vias and have to hook and break sets a lot, hard to get a hold of anyone at a certain yard (up north) in the morning to find out when I'm headed back south! LOL! When I worked at CF back in the day ltl was good to me. Yellow was good to me up to 2007. Estes was really great and hired me onto a sweet high paying bid run but they ended up cutting it. Reddaway is a whole different ball game. They work us pretty hard down in southern Cali and they aren't happy about the union coming in. I'm just along for the ride.

As far as the pay goes, ltl charges a lot more to haul freight. OTR outfits do it a lot cheaper and direct. Funny thing is all the ltl outfits use OTR companies too.

 

Unless the laws get changed in our favor,otr will always be underpaid.I did the otr thing for 8 yrs because it was something different and plan on going back in a couple months.Many fail in this industry because they have this crazy idea trucking is where the big money is.They find out it's not and quit.Of course it should pay better.If companies can afford upgrades on their qualcomm,elogs map routing bonuses for the big boys,no reason why they cant pay drivers what they are worth.Many great drivers as well as dedicated to what they do but yet don't get paid what they're worth.I think a penny raise here and there especially after yrs of service is a huge slap in the face.My last company did that and I told the boss to take his raise and stick it where the sun don't shine.

 

One thing that makes me mad is that the government can legally mandate how many hours we can work in a week, then the government should mandate that we get paid for all of our time!

 

Mostly everyone can go home every night or at least get a hotel room every now and then. Gas stations don't need to be open 24 hours a day nor does wal-mart, etc. The problem is America worships money and there is never enough and there will never be enough for the beast. No time for anyone for family, kids, good times or anything. We are all a nation of bitter loners shuffling from one measly paycheck to the next from truckers to baristas to lawyers. We are a slave nation and we work more and more for less and less. The American money machine never sleeps and will never be satisfied, no you won't beat the system. No one can.

 

That's where you run into the slippery slope. The more you have the government mandate, the more freedoms, and choices that you lose. That's for political thread though. Most should realize that getting into this work they have limitations on workable hours, and pay vary a lot in this industry depending on what you do. Like doctors, a general practitioner does not make what a neurosurgeon makes, yet they are both doctors. People should also realize the sacrifices they are willing to make to do, and make what they want. Pro football is another example. Those athletes know the dangers involved in order to make the millions they do, choices. I do not want to live in a country that tells me when, where, how, and NOT why.

 

Also with OTR there are several different options to choose from. I was always dedicated because I didn't want to stay out for weeks at a time. If you are highly motivated, you can make some really good money driving OTR. I made a boatload as a mover in 1999 being an owner operator. I was gone a lot and sat a lot sometimes but I made so much money that it didn't matter. The work was kind of stressful and I was always worried about the customers stuff. Specialized and heavy haul make good money. Car haulers used to make good money too. Of course this all could have changed. I agree the regulations need to decrease instead of increase for all truckers.