[302dad]

Originally Posted by GoldiesPlating

Not to change the subject but just responding to the "vibe" that has started to run through this thread.
Drivers who choose OTR driving as a career should NOT pick apart what is "paid" and "not paid". It's NOT that type of job. If you want to get technical, since you are away from home 24 hours a day for a week (or more) straight, then using THAT type of reasoning one should be paid from the time they leave their house, to the time they return home. I DON'T see anyone getting million dollar pay checks so this is NEVER going to happen.
Instead consider that you will be working 14 hours/day and compare that to what you should make for the YEAR. If you are happy with the ratio, TAKE THE JOB. If not, find another company or another profession.
It's getting a little old hearing the same old posters complaining about "working for free". The door swings both ways. You don't like your job, open the door and walk away the same way you walked in. You would be AMAZED how much better your job can feel (and BE) if you work with a more positive attitude and stop thinking "Everyone's out to screw me".

Good post, Fred. :!:

[rigidsporty]

Originally Posted by GoldiesPlating

OTR has a MENTAL challenge not experienced by local drivers. Then there is learning time management OTR, fueling, parking, scheduling, showering, eating, sleeping, etc....

You'll need to learn how to use a log book, the Qualcom system, talk/relate to your fleet manager, and also how to complete and return your paperwork.

Have you ever driven local? What MENTAL challenge is there that local drivers dont have? Trying to cope with boredom?? Okay granted you are away from home for extended peroids of time and yes that can be a challenge. Thats probably the hardest part of OTR.

Time management? I guarantee I am more under the gun than you are. I have up to 20 deliveries to be made EVERY DAY where as you have maybe that many a month. And they are just as critical and important and just as threatening to my continued employment. I dont get to sit there and watch TV while I'm being unloaded... I have to unload the truck (with a 2-wheeler, not a forklift... I'm in food service delivery). If the customer keeps you waiting... its a quick call to your FM and you get detention pay. If the customer keeps me I get to listen to all the remaining customers complain because I'm late. I HAVE to unload that truck cause I cant go home till I do... no matter how long it takes. And no I don't get paid by the hour. :wink:

Fueling, parking, scheduling? I do those daily... and I have to park and back in places designed for a milk truck (or no truck at all!), with cars AND CHILDREN all around me... several times daily. Some of these little diners and cafe's are in the middle of nowhere and on roads I'd be leery taking my pickup down, but I have to somehow manage to get a 32 foot trailer down it. As far as showering, eating, sleeping... I dont know about you but I learned those things LONG before I got a drivers licence.

We do however agree about the log book and qual-comm (if so equipped) but those can be (and usually are) taught in orientation.
Talk/relate to your fleet manager? I have to talk/relate to school staff, business owners, my transportation manager, the salesman, and about a dozen or so more people everyday... all day. Paperwork?... I got more than you can handle. Plus the businesses pay the driver so I have to deal with money, most of it cash. A LOT of money. If I lose it... its out of my pocket.

Is all that mentally challenging enough for ya?

I've driven OTR and locally... I've seen both sides of the coin. Local is more challenging and harder (in my case). And before someone says local is easier because you learn the same route... wrong! I am constantly given new places to deliver to and while you are given directions to the place your delivering... all I get is an address. Period. I have to figure it out from there. In case your wondering I dont just drive in the same town... I drive all over the state and sometimes in KY... about 1200 miles a week.