Drove some over the road back in the mid 80`s with a uncle of mine.And went threw the trucking school in Dallas and graduated in 1989.And work a few years for a Crane Co. and drove tractor and trailer for them some local.And now i`m driving a bobtail propane truck for five years local and hate it!I will be starting on Oct 8th with a Mfg Factory driving over the road 35 cents a mile plus 75 to unload with a crane on the tractor.Does this sound to be a pretty decent job ???? And its all dedicated Accounts TOO! Tried of going hungry all summer and making about 700.00 a week for two to three months out of the year!!! :?:

 

yep sounds reasonable,do you get paid on all miles or book miles?

 

Really don`t know that, i will be sitting down with them this coming week!The why the he talked i would get no less than 2000 miles a week and met a guy that has 38yrs as a driver with them!

 

With all the OTR guys on here that are fed up and trying to find local work instead, this seems a bit unusual. :?:

 

getting to be winter time every one wants to avoid the big white snow

 

NOT TO ME!!! The man sounds BORED out of his mind.... which is the way I picture MOST local jobs!

Also, and not meaning to be contrary, but there are actually very FEW real OTR drivers on this board who are tired of it and would switch!

MOST of the posts about wanting to find local jobs come from NEWBIES, who want to make the money in truckdriving, but don't ever want to leave home in the first place!

All fine and good, but they are a different breed. Their GOD, of course, is Cold Frosty Mug. :lol: :lol:

But, I believe I can count on ONE hand the number of OTR drivers here who have actually opted for a local gig. Whereas, maybe 60% or more of newbies have SAID they will "pay their dues" OTR, and then want to know if they can go local. They are NOT real OTR drivers. (Again... no harm, no foul.)

A longhaul driver, as you probably KNOW, has the open road on his mind and a bit of "lonesome" in his SOUL! We want to see "lubbock in our rear view mirror" and California sunshine on the morrow! We would rather sleep under a blanket of STARS than a blanket of polyester!

Do not confuse the Mustang with the plow horse! EACH has his calling and virtue. But, there is a world of difference between us. With a few exceptions, one drives a truck to live.... and the other lives to drive a truck.

I apologize if my "characterizations" offend anyone. I don't MEAN to. The great cities of the West were settled by "pioneers" who took chances on the way, but "settled" the cities nonetheless. The trade routes were traveled though, by the Teamsters!

We are the wolves to the canines, the eagle to the fowl. Indeed, the mustang to the equine. We cannot be chained or domesticated. And we would HAVE it no other way!

We are misfits and miscreants and we offer no apology for it. Some might say we "have no life." But I say..... this IS my life!

I've BEEN "chained" and I don't LIKE it! I've punched a clock, and I DETEST it! I've been cubicled til I was manic! And I will NEVER go back to it!

I'm as FREE as I can be.... and paid well to do it! I have the BEST of all worlds, and am LUCKY enough to know it!

I cannot SEE me ever wanting to go local, but hey, "never say never." For those who DO, again.... no disrespect intended! Your LIFE is THERE..... but MINE is Over The Road!

Well... gotta GO! Kick the tires, light the fires.... and we're OFF to the great Northwest!

 

Dang Hobo... sounds like the makin's of a country song :P

 

I have to agree with Hobo, For I am first hand experience in the boredom.

Since I was 20 years of age I had a job that I traveled. 13 years US Coast Guard mostly Sea duty, and then trucking. I was terminated cause I refused to drive while under the influence of Medication at the end of 2000. Due to an accident I had a month earlier, and then the termination I found it hard to get another job, and not even able to get a local job due t people seeing me walk up and saw I was disabled. So I went on disability, and won my case in 2003.

For me the walls are closing in on me and bored out of my mind.... Give me the open road or give me death, for one of us got to have some relief.. Tonight I leave out on my first run since Nov 2000. Small company driving small trucks Ford and a Dodge Pickups with a goose neck trailer and a Freightliner Flatbed 10 Wheeler. The 10 wheeler not ready yet so I start in one of the Pickups. But I was hired to drive the Ten wheeler and to train his other drivers on it. None has driven anything larger than a F350 Pickup with the Goose neck. The Freightliner is only waiting on a Crane being mounted on it.

 

Good ON ya, Coastie!! Glad to see you back in the "harness" so to speak! It don't really matter WHAT you drive, the thing is just to DRIVE!

I love my big truck, but I often get jealous when I see a "hot shot" driving in the comfort of a 350!

But, it better have a manual tranny! :lol:

I understand the "something's gotta give!" I don't like to talk about it, but I had gotten pretty LOW with depression prior to starting my driving career. I had gotten "stuck" in North Carolina, and felt I might DIE here, without ever seeing the country again!

Now, my depression is GONE, as are my back problems. I just needed to get out of my cage and FLY!

Fly on, Coastie.... Fly on!

 

rad way to put it dooood!

-tracy james