mine is a guy that does not sleep at home. whether it is in hotels or in the truck, or one night or more. that means i am otr, i sleep in the truck every other night now, and next week when i get back to fed ex, i will sleep in the truck tuesday nights and thursday nights. as for the guys that work with snowman at overnight, uh, i mean BUSTERBLUE...the ROAD drivers, they are otr if the sleep away from home. local means local...home everyday. not trying to start a fight here, just wondering what everyone else thinks.

I wouldnt classify you as OTR,probably more along the lines of regional.But if it makes you feel more like a manly trucker calling yourself an OTR driver than go head.

My defintion of OTR:
Irregular routes and unpredicatable hometime(be it 5 days out or five weeks out)

jd112488, what you do I would consider more like regional and /or dedicated.

OTR to me is a combination of a couple things. Being away from home and getting paid by CPM or %.or any other way of getting around not paying overtime for excessive hours.

OTR= Over time Ripoff

I would think the industry defines OTR as multi state irregular route. Technically were all "over the road". My job classification is "road driver" where I work. Road drivers go hub to hub 300-600 miles a run and usally returning to the same location. City drivers are classified as "local cartage" and they do P&D. I agree you have to spend at least a couple days a week away from home to be called OTR.

ok here's how i see otr. otr is when you drive most of the 48 and are out for at least 2 weeks. regional is where you are out maybe 1 week but home a couple of days in the week. dedicated is mostly the same route and maybe out a week but could be home every few nights and local home every night.

Since a thread was started for this...I copied my definition from "Finally out of OTR" thread and brought it over here to add to the mix.

OTR...Common Carrier. Irregular Route, Irregular Freight. Distance of haul would not be a factor. Short/Medium/Longhaul. Xcountry or regional

The emphasis and fundamental definition is Irregular Route, Irregular Freight.

Sorry, Drew.... not looking for a fight...... but, it is more complex than that.

There are MANY companies that haul under contract to specific shippers, on "regularly" scheduled routes that go clear across the country nonstop before delivery. Then, the companies pick up produce (usually) or something else that will bring the driver right back to his home terminal. A week or two at the most before getting home.

What you describe, has aptly been called "hoboing around" picking up short loads from all points inbetween A and Z. But, it is MOSTLY the mega-carriers that do this. Why? Because they have more trucks to "feed" than they can get contracts for.

Medium to smaller OTR companies quite often haul for a few major contracts, to mostly the same places all over the country, and then get their drivers home to do it all over again.

But, these runs require many nights in a row on the road, sleeping in the sleeper (or motel) and thousands of miles per week.

I know that there are many drivers out there that never know from day to day where they are going, or when they will get home. But, they may spend NO MORE nights on the road, or drive more miles, than the OTR drivers that go coast to coast every week.

Like I said, it is a complicated matrix that defines OTR. But, I would say that anyone who sleeps in his truck MORE than he sleeps at home qualifies. Be it regional, dedicated, longhaul, or linehaul.

Those are just some of my thoughts on the question. Local is local! And there is nothing wrong with the "wusses" that do it! :lol: But, pretty much everything else is in some way considered OTR.

If there is a stretch of ROAD between you and your home, and it is still there when you wake up in the morning in your sleeper (or motel,) then you are OVER the road.

One more part of the matrix. You said "common carrier." Not always true. Many companies have their own fleets, and they are called Private Carriers. Consider Bernhardt Furniture here in the south. A private fleet of trucks, whose drivers haul furniture to, I suppose, ALL 48 states. Probably "regular" runs for these drivers who "bid" on them. But, they are out for days, maybe a week or two at a time. They may sleep in their trucks or not. I don't know. But, they definitely cover alot of asphalt! They are definitely OTR drivers.

So, as I said.... the matrix is complicated. Not ALL OTR drivers work for "common carriers." Not ALL drive "irregular routes," or haul "irregular freight." And, not ALL of them have no idea when they will get home.

What they ALL have in common, is not being at home every night. Which is the definiton of a "local Wuss!" :lol: :lol:

I haven't been home since February. Dedicated OTR.

Your home just called. Milk is sour and you left the bathroom light on.