Great idea--if you have a slow season....

 

Listen to the otr drivers who know what theyre talking about. And ignore the theorist driving teams.

I'm a trainer w star and so see pretty much all sides of the coin. Team, solo, know what kind of setups other drivers end up with etc. EVERY drivers job is different. When you hear someone tell you "this is how its done" he's full of it.

You wont get to see much but truck stops and offramps. Ya once a month you might see something cool. And if you're with a decent company (that DOESNT route you) and you're comfortable with it you can drive the little roads. There you get to see.. well maybe a neat something once every couple weeks.

You will be treated like a newbie. Im training an experienced local now. Butting heads a Lot because he didnt want to admit he had things to learn. Guess id feel the same way but he has a LOT to learn. Drivings the easy part.

Money: You wont make anything close to that kind of money, even if you go otr 3 weeks at a time and then 34 home. You'll be bottom of the totem pole. All the crap runs. Fewer miles etc. And you dont have anything like the stamina an otr drive rhas. Now you can back circles around us.. its not a competition. But the jobs are different. That means fewer miles because you cant physically run them. Id expect to Gross 600-700 a week when you start. If you run very hard maybe 700-800. As i said you probably cant run hard. Add in bills. $50-100 a week for food and misc. Cell bill. Its going to be astronomical. Try 150 a month to double that. "Stuff". You have to and will reward yourself. You live in a box. LIVE in a box. Your toys will get very expensive. etc etc etc. If i lived at home i could live on one less paycheck a month easily.

A life: You wont have one. Ya you can shut down for a ten when you're out of hours every day. Gluck w that. Cut 100-300+ off your paycheck doing that. Maybe more. Expect to sit. A LOT. Dispatch has you.. legal driver.. and joe runs his b*lls off. They need this load there ASAP. And owe joe...Who's gonna get that load? You'll wake up. Drive. Sleep every chance you get. Drive more. Your "relaxation" is talking on the cb or phone on the road. Or that 5 minute convo with random driver in the truck stop. When you do shut down for a 34 or get home.. you'll sit on your butt. Sleep. Relax. Not wanna hear it.

Family: no trucking company is going to let you havea passenger from day one (you CAN sneak them on but its risky). Try 3 to 6 months before you can officially have a passenger. That wife n kids you love. Wave byebye and tellem you'll see them again once you get rid of this wild hair.

Sleep: For some reason we cant disabuse people of the notion that we dont just screw off all day and just do what we want. We wake up. We drive. We get sleep when we can. Then we drive more. Like the above said "keep the door closed and the wheels turning". LOTS of drivers of course dont do that. Try 1800-2000 miles driving strictly legit regional. Possibly more if you're full out OTR. Good luck w that.

Adventure: my big "adventures" consist of running a little road down lookout mountain.. um running a VEYR restricted road (sr64w) in nc.. once i spooked an omish dudes horse by accident.. erm got stuck at a cool ts once. OH and i shut down in daytona beach one weekend. If i were local i coulda just taken a car to the beach heh. "Adventure" is usually BAD.

Dont be a fool my friend. You have a cream job. You're at the top why would you want to jump off into the muck? Buy yourself an RV. Or plane tickets. Much more fun to travel with someone else driving.

Teams: theres a reason few drivers team. Its not easy if your best friends. Its a nightmare if your not. ITs worse if you cant stand your codriver.

Stress: Your stress level otr is going to be astronomical. I try my best to teach my trainees to handle it. Its the hardest part of my job. You're going to hit different docks every day. Have no idea where shippers are. Go down roads a truck aint got no business bein on. Theres a reason drivers scream and cb fight. Stress.

Stay where you are. Or better yet.. hook me up. Ill get a run down there wednesday

:P

 

ColdFrostyMu said: Sounds like lunch-counter tales to me. Most companies give you a route and expect you to follow that route to a "T". Any miles over that route are OOR (Out-Of-Route) and are considered wasteful given the cost of diesel and the additional wear-and-tear on the truck. Of course, you won't get paid for all the miles on that route, nor will you be paid to go off the route to fuel the truck when it benefits the company. But as we all know, such freebies are "part of the job" = codewords for geting the shaft.

You may take a "secondary route" now and then, but good luck finding a place to park. 99% of the time, you spend your 10-hour DOT break flopped out in a truckstop, pickle park, terminal, consignee, drop-yard, or deserted get-off ramp miles from home.

I'll admit, it is possible, that MOST of these side roads are taken by O/O's. However, I CAN take them anytime I want, if I have the time for the slower speed limits. But, either way you slice it, the ONLY way to see these roads is to be OUT HERE! "MY" company allows me to take ANY "approved" truck route to get to my destination. I can go 100 miles "out of route" on a 2,500 mile trip coast to coast WITHOUT even asking permission! I get paid by Truck Miles, and that's all I'll get. But, I can burn their fuel to take a side road if I want to, within reason, because they know they'll get their freight delivered "on time."

I've gone south of I-40 from exit #8/9 (whatever) east of Needles in AZ to go walk across the London Bridge, and take a boat to the casino on the CA side. I've recently gone 15 miles each way (out of route) to see Monterery, CA while waiting for a load in Salinas. I've taken I-90 through the Dakotas instead of coming back on I-80 through Wyoming and Nebraska, just because I wanted to see Couer D'Alene! I left Kingman, AZ and went through Laughlin JUST to see it on my way to Vegas! You are talking out your AZZ!

I haven't yet, but soon plan to, leave early enough to stop in Williams, AZ and take the train to the Grand Canyon. I've gone "out of route" to visit my niece in Texas, and recently "planned" a solo trip trip to Vegas to be there for her Wedding! I've gotten off the interstate to see my old home in Rialto, CA, and a few other places I used to live in.

There's no doubt in my mind that, if I wanted to pay a few bucks for a rental car now and then, I could have seen MUCH more. But, I've seen it all before. And I'll PICK my times.

BTW, parking is MUCH more abundant on these "side routes" than on the interstates.


Dunno about that. I take my car to "see the sites" and I can go anywhere I want. I'm not restricted by weight limits, no-truck signs, idle restrictions, HOS, lack of parking, bridges, etc.

You CAN take your car to see the sights, but how often do you leave the comfort and routine of your front porch? I doubt that you do so very often, but EVEN if you do, MOST peple NEVER do so. You must remember that MOST of the newbies on this board, just getting into trucking, have NEVER left their hometowns! YOUR negative comments are trying to KEEP them there. I'm trying to encourage them to at least TRY to see our great country before settling for what YOU have! If a man has NEVER been in Cali or Western AZ at midnight (EDT), and JUST now seeing a beatiful sunset because it's only 9 pm there, he has not lived!


I would like to know what your company’s insurance carrier thinks of this. Not to mention Homeland Security. Every OTR company I pulled for was very strict about keeping the tractor connected to the trailer unless you were on company property or engaged in company business.

Well, I don't think the insurance company cares OR has a say as to my route! Homeland Security doesn't seem to have a problem with it, and can't find their Azz with both hands, anyways! I see "dropped" trailers EVERY day in every T/S I stop in. YOUR "limited" OTR experience was definitely with the wrong carriers! I just recently "bought" (with rewards points) a kingpin lock so I can be somewhat "protected." But, I'm not expecting some fellow trucker to "steal my load!"

Look at is like this: at say .37 cpm, you need 2800 miles per week to gross over $1k. At 7 days out, that's over 440 miles per day (because of 10% HHG you must actually run 3080). At 55 mph, those are 8 hour driving days. Not counting getting loaded/unloaded, breaks, fueling, waiting, traffic, and all the other assorted BS. Then you've got to get your 10-hour DOT break in. So where is all this time to sightsee?

I can't quite follow your numbers, as they don't apply to me, but I'll say ONE thing, even the slowest Hunt truck can do better than 440 miles a day! I can do up to 805 miles, legally! :shock: :roll:

IF I were "solo" and had 5 days to deliver a load that takes 3 days to get there, I'm SURE I could find some time to so some "sightseeing!" Heck, I drive TEAM, and can find enough time! EVERY DAY.... I talk to drivers that say they've been stuck in this truckstop "waiting for a load" for well over 2 days! What the heck are they thinking? Probably something akin to what YOU'RE thinking!! :shock:

Even as a TEAM driver (keep the wheels moving) I've seen MORE than you are allowing! If I were SOLO, I'd have seen just about everything I wanted to in my few short years! This is what MANY people get into trucking to do! YOU are like the Grinch who stole their Christmas! And, I, for one, won't let you get away with it!

Trucking is an Attitude! And YOU.... don't HAVE IT! Probably never DID, and certainly NEVER WILL!

Why don't you go find a board where "old drivers" can b!tch about what they NEVER DID, and get off a board where NEWBIE drivers want to know what they MIGHT can DO! ? You're a JOKE here. YOU'RE the kinda "wuss" I've been warning against! You should have NEVER gotten into trucking! I've said it before, and I'll say it again.... if you can't leave HOME and "apron strings" you haven't graduated yet, and should stay at home with some MILL job, or drive a DUMP! I hear Waste Management (2 miles per hour at the MOST) is hiring in ALL parts of the country!

 

Trkn..I was really just wondering what type unit you were driving. If you only had experience driving a "Hotshot" in the Oilfields, then you would be in need of training for driving the "Bigrig", which would make you a "Newbie". However...since you are driving the bigrig..all you need do, is decide for yourself what it is YOU want to do. As a couple poster's have pointed out, your local experience is different from OTR experience. However..I don't really think they have that good of an idea, as to what YOU do, working "local" in the "Patch".

As I suggested..if you want to try the OTR thing, the place to start is one of the Flatbed companies in your area, that run "Regional-OTR". You already have the flatbed experience...plus most of the companies in your area will understand, that YOU have a very good foundation for doing the job. You just won't be getting as muddy or greasey doing the job. You will need to learn things like tarping, securing Coils, and sheet metal. You already know how to secure equipment properly...I should hope!!!

You and your wife may well enjoy seeing some of the routes that OTR drivers run, versus those of the "Patch". I for one, have enjoyed seeing Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. If I had not changed locations, from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast, chances are, I would have never seen Gettysburg. You have plenty of choices..and being realistic..If the company you work for now, places any value on you..they will hire you back, if and when you wanted too return to your job there again.

 

im an otr i just left apretty good company to join another so i can do what you wish to do you only live once if money @pride is all you have you have nothing memeriories@respect last for ever enjoy the ride its not just a job