[cdswans]

. . why is this post oversized?

[belpre122]

Originally Posted by cdswans

. . why is this post oversized?

Plenty of oversized personalities that will definitely be a part of this nuclear war. Not a problem though. The war has been coming for quite a while and I am happy to announce Jed as my Lieutenant. Jed will be handling all of my media inquiries. Matter of fact----I hereby promote Jed to Colonel Jed.

[cdswans]

Originally Posted by Double R

Exactly what are you going to see as you go down the interstate at 62mph? Not much. Although you may luck out and get stuck for a weekend close to a major attraction, you will then have to find your own transportation(bus, rent-a-car, taxi) to get to it. Your 23, start think about your future. I started driving at the same age as you. Do what you think is best.

Who knows. NO FREIGHT=NO MILES=NO MONEY.

If all you want to do is be home, forget about OTR.

I have been to all 48 and learned to make arrangements to do whatever it is I see fit to do in all 48. Lobster in Maine, salmon in Washington and steak in between. That is the essence of OTR. If you find yourself sitting at a truck stop waiting for a nameless/faceless dispatcher to pen the next chapter of your life, you don't "get" OTR. It's what you make of it. Once you've been at it for awhile and you can look at a load and say "Alright, I'm going through . . " then you begin to enjoy OTR.

Different people have different needs. No one is right or wrong and there is no one size fits all solution. Get out and try it or stay home.

[Mo Miles]

Originally Posted by cdswans

If all you want to do is be home, forget about OTR.

I have been to all 48 and learned to make arrangements to do whatever it is I see fit to do in all 48. Lobster in Maine, salmon in Washington and steak in between. That is the essence of OTR. If you find yourself sitting at a truck stop waiting for a nameless/faceless dispatcher to pen the next chapter of your life, you don't "get" OTR. It's what you make of it. Once you've been at it for awhile and you can look at a load and say "Alright, I'm going through . . " then you begin to enjoy OTR.

Alot of companies don't want you deadheading around town in their rig sightseeing. Some will pitch a fit about you disconnecting the tractor from the trailer, especially if under a load. Many places with nifty things to see and do and the roads leading to them, are off-limits to CMV's -even bobtails. And then you're usually all by your lonesome with nobody to share the experience with. I always wondered who that kooky guy sitting in the back of the theatre all by his lonesome was. Now I realize it's road drivers.

Sure, you can rent a car but that all depends on where you are in relation to a larger metro area. And you'd have to time it during a 34 hour reset in order to get the most bang for your buck. Unless, of course, you're sitting around due to no freight in which case you ain't making any money and are still kinda technically on-call. Which kind of defeats the purpose. Hometime can be used to see the sights and wonder about the country, I suppose. But when do you actually go home?

So IMHO the whole sightseeing thing is sorta overblown. Not that you can't do it, but for the most part you're out there to make $$$$ and that means keeping them big wheels movin. Mostly your sightseeing involves blowing through town because you don't want to get caught in morning or evening rush-hour gridlock. If so, you'll have plenty of time to sightsee when you're stuck in Chicago traffic on the 94 looking up at the Sears Tower. Wheeee!

[belpre122]

Originally Posted by franwake13

i was thinking if i go over the road for a couple months to a year i can turn my life around.

Scrap that part of the plan. A few months to a year of OTR is the last thing that you need to turn your life around. Hoboing around the country while earning less than minimum wage is no way to get your life together.

In theory, I think that I understand your plan. However, in practice you are treading very close to making the OTR mistake. The days of becoming an over-the-road truck driver and becoming a part of the middle class is long long gone. Since the deregulation of trucking, the industry has become nothing more than a carnival type job. Far gone are the days that you could get hired on with a reputable OTR company, make a fair wage, work hard and live in the American middle class.

For the most part. A lot of the OTR community now consists of folks that are nothing more than homeless persons driving around the country. At around $25,000 annually. Coolie carriers require that these drivers stay out from 2-4 weeks at time, leaves little time or money left over for any type of life other than becoming what is commonly termed as "trucker trash," as they basically spend a majority of their time malingering at truck stops with nothing to do. Eat, sleep, live etc etc at an endless parade of filthy dirty, drug and prostitute infested truck stops. For $25,000 a year? LOL OK apologists.....I'll go ahead and bump it up all the way to $50.000 for a couple of ya! Still, is it worth it? Children growing up without a father? A lonely wife at home as you are gone 90% of the time making very little money. Bill collectors, collection agencies, repo men, service cancellations, living paycheck to paycheck, supplemented by company cash advances is how the majority of OTR drivers trudge through life these days.

Money helps things. No matter what anyone on here tries to say. If the OTR drivers out there were making the $80,000-$100,000 that they should be making, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. Instead, what will happen is that a few of the diehards will jump on and say that I am so hardcore anti OTR and I have no idea what I am talking about...............Let 'em.......because they know that I am right and this entire irregular route OTR/CPM scam pay/FLSA exemption mess is one that adversely affects all of us, OTR and Local.

What is coming down the pike? Well the economy sucks! EOBRs are about to become a reality. Not many drivers are being trained as opposed to even two months ago when the coolie carriers were cranking 'em out like rabbits. Some of this may actually work out to our favor in the end,

In the meantime, be careful about making the OTR mistake. The cards are stacked very heavily against you. BOL

[unclehotte]

I went to R+L after 3 years OTR. I make $900 a week and work average 35h. I drive night linehaul and wouldnt want to do ANYTHING else anymore. Yeah, when I went through the OTR-Hell I saw the country! (OR NOT) I have 44 coffee mugs to prove I was in all those states. ( Or their crappy truck stops?) I went right into a bid nobody wanted and do it now for almost 2 years. I DONT touch my freight and usually wait for my slip driver 15 to 30 minutes. Only problem I see is that R+L hires through a different company these days and will pay a whole amount less for new hires compared to drivers who got hired a year ago or longer.

[mike3fan]

seems like a fruitless arguement to me.

chevy vs ford
xm vs sirius
pete vs kw
aero vs long hood
dry van vs reefer
local vs otr

see there is no clear cut answer, I've done both in my 22yrs. each has good points and bad ones also. It's about finding something you enjoy and paying the bills. I just don't understand the hatered for the otr drivvers by a few here. How do you guys think you get that bacon you eat for breakfast every morning?

[Flatbed]

I have done both also, there are good and bad points no matter what you do.

Somewhere the wires got crossed with some of the guys here and instead of ragging on the companies that treat drivers badly, they take their hatred out on the OTR drivers instead. I just don't understand that and never will.

I'm sure there will be a few posts now along the lines of 'no, we hate the carriers, not the drivers'.... well, y'alls posts sure don't show it that way and haven't for a very long time.

<dons flameproof suit>

p.s. I've been on and off this board for several years now, I had another name until the database got screwed up a few months back, can't access the original e-mail I signed up under to get my old name back... and no, I've never been banned!

[Cluggy619]

OTR or local?

Out of the years I've been driving, I've only been OTR for a MAX of 5 months. Everything I have done has almost always been local.

Of course, I have a wife and kids, which in my case, have prevented me to go OTR. Too many problems.

But if I could set the wayback machine to a time when I was single, and with no kids, then I might have preferred to be OTR.

I do know this much. If I ever get a divorce, or my wife dies... I think I would rather be OTR, providing that the kids are with their mother, or provided for.

However, the pay would have to up a bit to be OTR. What is the sense of going out for $500 per week?

Just my opinion.

[golfhobo]

Thanks, Rev! :thumbsup: