[mrBlonde]

question: What's it really like out there? I'm headed to school, signed up with a co., and ready to go.
little background info for ya before you answer........
I'm 30 yrs. old]
nobody at home....
wandering spirit...(when I graduated high school, I backpacked around the country for 2 1/2 years
I've been driving for a moving company, and love the road so far...(we stay in hotels tho)
I'm a rugged sort, camp, rock climb, etc...
just love seeing new sights I guess.

I'm just looking for what to expect, and what to watch out for...
thanks,
M

[Doghouse]

Its got good points, and bad points. What specifically are you wondering about?

[Mr. Ford95]

Just depends on the person, some absolutely love being OTR and not getting home for a month or more. Some find out that they hate it once they get out on the road and really run. You will not stay in a hotel, it's more like staying in a small doghouse. It is what you make of it.

[brian griffin]

If you've got the wandering spirit, you'll probably love it.

The biggest issues for me, so far, are:
1) Finding a suitable place to park at night (or you may opt to drive only at night and sleep during the day more on this later). Most truckstops, you may have noticed, fill up quickly by 8pm. Same with rest areas. And with the tolls some states charge, there is NO excuse for not having enough parking spaces.

If you manage to find a spot, you'll have to deal with airport/rock concert volume levels; You're going to actually sleep with that going on?

Everyone insists on running their engine at 1000rpm when they sleep. I do not know why. I guess truckers have fast metabolisms or something.

Last night, i found a nice, dark and quiet place to park adjacent to a hotel. I did not idle (didn't need to) and slept pretty good for 8 hrs.

2) As you've probably noticed, too high noise levels in the cab.

3)Inadequate ventilation in the sleeper. Although last night i was able to open the windows and the sleeper vents because it was quiet enough to do so.

4) Inadequate light control in the sleeper. Sleepers have been around for what---70yrs and they still can't get it right?

5) Inadequate temperature control in the sleeper. Adequate means NOT having to idle.


Other than that, it's pretty fun and profitable. If you're willing to run, any decent company should be able to give you plenty of work (miles).

[inmate1577]

Forget about sightseeing. You will spend the good part of your time on the interstate and after awhile........all interstates look the same. Plan on driving at least 500 miles per day. Enjoying public toilets and the mess that others leave behind. Plan on sitting at loading docks for hours, even though you made it your appt on time.

Enjoy traffic jams, weigh stations, endless paperwork and logging stupid stuff like taking a dump. Lousy truck stops, lousy food, lousy people. Redneck racist homophobic morons on the CB radio who claim to know more than you. Idiot dispatchers who have never driven a truck who read from a manual that has a standard set of laminated answers:
YES
NO
I DONT KNOW

You'll see some of the most exciting and historic loading docks around :lol:

But on the other hand you'll meet some really nice people who dont fall into the above categories, but it will take some searching.

The job essentially is boring, absolutely boring, but what I like about it is some of the people I've met along the way. IMHO there is very little challenge to driving a truck. You can put a baboon in a truck and send him from Charlotte to Atlanta and he'll come back with the truck, the challenge for me is tight loading docks, city traffic etc.

[jrhbull]

WEIGH STATIONS time lost

[KATMANN]

Originally Posted by brian griffin

If you've got the wandering spirit, you'll probably love it.

The biggest issues for me, so far, are:
1) Finding a suitable place to park at night (or you may opt to drive only at night and sleep during the day more on this later). Most truckstops, you may have noticed, fill up quickly by 8pm. Same with rest areas. And with the tolls some states charge, there is NO excuse for not having enough parking spaces.

If you manage to find a spot, you'll have to deal with airport/rock concert volume levels; You're going to actually sleep with that going on?

Everyone insists on running their engine at 1000rpm when they sleep. I do not know why. I guess truckers have fast metabolisms or something.

Last night, i found a nice, dark and quiet place to park adjacent to a hotel. I did not idle (didn't need to) and slept pretty good for 8 hrs.

2) As you've probably noticed, too high noise levels in the cab.

3)Inadequate ventilation in the sleeper. Although last night i was able to open the windows and the sleeper vents because it was quiet enough to do so.

4) Inadequate light control in the sleeper. Sleepers have been around for what---70yrs and they still can't get it right?

5) Inadequate temperature control in the sleeper. Adequate means NOT having to idle.


Other than that, it's pretty fun and profitable. If you're willing to run, any decent company should be able to give you plenty of work (miles).

Not sure what you are putting in your pipe, but it must real strong!! :lol:

[DBW]

Depends I guess on how you approach it. It's not the best job in the world, but it's definitely not the lousiest. It's different no doubt. I've seen some cool places. Seen some places that are downright scary (Walt Whitman truckstop in Philly comes to mind). You'll meet all kinds of people out here. Some good, some bad. Sometimes things go great. Other times not so great. Overall though I like it.

120% annual turnover rates across the board. What does that tell you? Outfits like Swift and Schneider with 15,000 power units burn through 18,000 drivers PER YEAR!!!!! That's why they're constantly hiring/advertising.

Why the big churn? Simple. Too many hours on the job. Too much time away from home. And a paycheck that doesn't compensate for either.

OTR is hazardous to your health as well. Truckers are seven times more likely to die on the job than workers in other occupations. They are more prone to diabetes, heart disease, and lung cancer than the general population. This is due to the sedentary nature of the job and overall poor diet.

The first thing you will begin to notice is bags under your eyes from the irregular work-shifts. You will become sick more often. And despite the lack of physical activity, you will want to sleep ALOT. Diet consists of canned goods, truckstop slop, fast food, and burton stove meals. Showers are sometimes hit and miss.

Not a good job anymore. Lots of foreigeners getting into it because Americans won't whore themselves out for such cheap-a$$ wages.

[Kranky]

Originally Posted by brian griffin

If you've got the wandering spirit, you'll probably love it.

The biggest issues for me, so far, are:
1) Finding a suitable place to park at night (or you may opt to drive only at night and sleep during the day more on this later). Most truckstops, you may have noticed, fill up quickly by 8pm. Same with rest areas. And with the tolls some states charge, there is NO excuse for not having enough parking spaces.

If you manage to find a spot, you'll have to deal with airport/rock concert volume levels; You're going to actually sleep with that going on?

Everyone insists on running their engine at 1000rpm when they sleep. I do not know why. I guess truckers have fast metabolisms or something.

Last night, i found a nice, dark and quiet place to park adjacent to a hotel. I did not idle (didn't need to) and slept pretty good for 8 hrs.

2) As you've probably noticed, too high noise levels in the cab.

3)Inadequate ventilation in the sleeper. Although last night i was able to open the windows and the sleeper vents because it was quiet enough to do so.

4) Inadequate light control in the sleeper. Sleepers have been around for what---70yrs and they still can't get it right?

5) Inadequate temperature control in the sleeper. Adequate means NOT having to idle.


Other than that, it's pretty fun and profitable. If you're willing to run, any decent company should be able to give you plenty of work (miles).

He said "more on this later".

There's that phrase again. :lol: