Say I do my 2 yrs. over the road, then try to find a local job. Will most of them be 8 to 5? And I do mean that LITERALLY. If it's a job where you get there at like 6:00 A.M., and don't get off til about 10:00 P.M., every day, then IMHO, having a local job is no better than being OTR. It truly defeats the purpose of getting a local job in the first place.

Now, I know you'll make a fortune with all the overtime, but what good is being able to afford a nice house and car if you're never around to enjoy any of it?

When I ran local last year for a concrete & asphalt company I worked hours that ranged from 5am start to 10pm finish. And that was 6 and 7 days a week.

Well I suppose your local P&D will probably be those hours since those are the time the docks are open... You will probably work more hours in the summer than the winter.

Line Haul is generally your odd hour overnight stuff.

I work funky hours where I'm at but I get every weekend off. Which beats the hell out of OTR.

When I worked for Pepsi, I needed to be on the road by 6 so I got up at 4:30AM, down to the plant by 5AM and on the road by 6. I was usually back around 6 or 7 in the evening, sometimes not until 8 or later. The guy who delivers bulk Coke products to the WM I work at gets there at 1:30-2AM. I think he's up at midnight or ealier in order to get ready.

My last trucking job was hauling gasoline and bulk oil, I was on second shift and reported between noon and 3pm 5 days a week. Most days were 10 to 12 hours and holidays payed double time and a half for the first 8 hours and time and a half after that.

It was a good job but I didn't like that I never knew what time I had to report till the night before. A few times I got switched to 1st shift and would find out when I would call in the night before and only have 6 hours before having to report at midnight. It's hard to get any sleep before leaving for work and I usually was awake for two days before catching up. At least the switch was for an entire week and then back on the regular shift. As I got seniority the switched shifts got less as did the BS. Also I got in good with the dispatchers and they learned my likes and dislikes. The max we were allowed to clock was 60 hours but I tried to stay around 45-50 hours a week. Some drivers wanted every minute and I found that my times gave me a good paycheck without getting burned out.

I made good money, good bennies, and had plenty of time off. Plus had 2 weeks of vacation before even completing the first year.

All was well...till the union showed up. I lost $5,000 the first year in pay and benefits. All of the union supporters left in the first 6 months and we were stuck with the mess that they created. Even the union said that they didn't know why a union was needed as we had a pretty good deal going on with the company as it was. I was anti-union anyway but this was the breaking straw.

Mad Fatboy...REALLY MAD NOW!

All unions care about is your dues and the ability to count you as a member. They could care less about how you are actually treated. As long as you are fooled into thinking you are protected, thats all that matters.

my day is usually get in the truck around 6:15am. parked at 3pm.

Fredog's pic pretty much says it all. 8-5...... I wish. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays are delivery days for me and go 01:00 to somewhere between 11:00-14:00 depending on how many stops I have. There's nothing at my company that goes out any later than 05:00. Wednesdays and Fridays are kind of up in the air. Sometimes I don't have to go in until 07:00, then again, they may dispatch me for 23:00. Then you have the guys that deliver to Manhattan, they usually come in around noon, and are going home as my day begins.
Our parent company is an LTL outfit, and they're pretty much on the same kind of schedule.

I run local, 7am-7pm. Long hours are the norm I'm afraid.

The only trucking company i know of that has steady 8.5 hour shifts for their drivers is Daimler Chrysler Transport and they ain't hiring anymore.