Howdy,

I drove cross country a few years back and really enjoyed the experience. I am thinking OTR would suit me. I have been researching getting my CDL and becoming a driver.

I am a single male, 44, no felonies, clean driving record. No drug or alcohol use.

I have a few things that concern me about this lifestyle. The other day I was behind a semi driver who was constantly drifting into the breakdown lane. He was obviously either sleepy or drunk. A few weeks ago I had a similar incident. How much sleep are you people getting? I don't mind putting in a 14 hour day but I need my 8 hours sleep to function well. I thought there were rules as to how long a driver can drive?

Look, I am single, I don't need to drive lots of miles to pay a mortgage, child support or a family to feed. I don't need a lot of miles to support myself. Am I going to be able to get work? I saw Schneider has a plan where you drive two weeks and are off for one. I could do fine three weeks on and one off.

What do you suggest would be my best bet working within those parameters?

 

most over the road company's give you 1 to 1.5 days off for every seven you are out.

can't say for sure but I believe the schneider deal is a slip seat thing. three guys share two trucks and you basically rotate around. problem with that is you are constantly moving your gear and you need two other guys in the same area.

not knocking you by any means but a lot of people go on a long trip and think "oh this is fun or I like this I should be a truck driver" its not like that. its a job. A job that you don't get to go home at the end of the day you know that feeling when you are on your way home from a long trip and you just can't wait for it to be over. well just imagine that you have that long trip and the only thing you have to look forward to is another long trip. I'm not saying its all bad. some love it some hate but very few just sit in the middle.

yes there are rules laws and regulations on how much you can drive and how much time you must spend not driving. does that guarantee you 8 hours of sleep? NOPE! the trucking industry is a 24 hour a day business it is all based off when people want to ship stuff and when they want it delivered. guess what? its usually not 9-5. You have a certain amount of time to get from point A to point B and a whole bunch of variables to mess with it. ya for the most part you will have time to sleep but it doesn't mean you will be tired then. imagine working swing shift but unlike most people who do that, you don't work days for a week take 2 days off then work second shift etc. today could be second shift and tomorrow could be day shift and then the next day is third shift. some days you get 10 hours sleep sometimes you only get 3.

as for the driver you saw, I doubt he was drunk. He may have been sleepy but I would guess he was playing with his phone or otherwise distracted.

 

Yeah! I'd go with the phone scenario.

I work for a Company that is very liberal with home time. I say that with the qualification that I am never late on Pickup or Delivery and I make runs solo that usually get repowered to a Team(all Leagal). I guess what Im saying is that I do my job and do it well so they dont hassle me about extended home time. Im home now for 8 days after 5.5 weeks out. It is spring break for my kids. I usaually am out 4 weeks and home for 4 or 5 days.

 

got mud you nailed it very well
we run team so you would think we ALWAYS get 10 hr's in the sleeper and in a perfect world we would but it doesn't always work that way even for a team.