i started local for 4 years then tried otr for 3 weeks. phuck that.. for my lifestlye i need to eat good and hit the gym. local is for me. work from 4 am to 12-4 get some overtime. go home eat **** shower hit the gym watch some tube go to sleep. its a good life.

 

There ya go.... FIXED that for ya! :lol2:

 

Okay.... I'm "IN."

You should TRY both first. Depending on your area, you may find you can't GET a local job without OTR experience first. But, you can TRY if that's what you decide you WANT.

However, as some have said, the "skills" needed for tight docking in heavy traffic (with NO experience) could lead to preventable accidents that could end your career.

And, in most cases, you will work HARDER, and even possibly longer hours than OTR. When you are done for the day, you will be able to continue "hanging out" with the same crowd that could lead you into "activities" that are prohibited in trucking. And then you get to go home to your PARENT's house! :hellno:

You're already BROKE, so money is not the biggest issue. You live with your parents... nuff said. You have NO KIDS, so WHEN would be a better time for you to go OTR? And don't forget that LOCAL experience will most likely NOT COUNT should you ever decide to progress your career in REVERSE.

I suspect, at your age, you've never been outside of PA. Never SEEN this great country you live in, and I dare say haven't been in the military to defend. (no harm, no foul.) I don't care if most of it IS through a windshield at 62 mph, it is STILL a sight you can't imagine until you've done it!

I would rather wake up broke on a ramp overlooking the sunrise from the eastern slope of the Rockies, than to another day in my parent's house in Conshocken anyday of the week!

Do you KNOW that, if you keep your watch on EDT (during the summer) you can watch the sun set over the Pacific at around MIDNIGHT?? The winds that blow that time of night are WARM and friendly, and so are the Senoritas!

The sound of diesel engines idling in a truckstop at midnight on a balmy 70 degree night, can rival the choirs of angels... to a true TRUCKER. And SOME of the people you will meet will rival or exceed those that post here on CAD every night.

Don't let those who've never managed to SEE the Grand Canyon, Mt. Rushmore, the London Bridge (at Lake Havasu, AZ) The strip in Vegas, Chinatown or Fisherman's Wharf in Frisco, or any of the OTHER great places in this country convince you that it can't be DONE. It CAN.... and I KNOW so!

In your OWN words, you are looking for something to "turn your life around." LOCAL work is NOT going to do that for you! I'm not saying that OTR will be the answer to all your prayers.... but, I DO know that it is a life changing experience that many of you "youngen's" could be well served by! Driving a truck during the day, and returning it to the yard and going HOME each night, is a JOB! OTR.... like the Navy.... is not JUST a job, it's an experience!

It may or may NOT be for YOU! Obviously, it hasn't helped many of our brothers here on CAD. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink!

But, HOW will you KNOW if you never try it? I believe someone said along time ago that there is a difference between a plowhorse and a stallion. You must decide which suits you best. And if you can make that decision WITHOUT trying both alternatives, you are a better man than ME!

Now, as you may have noticed.... I am a firm believer that trucking (especially OTR) is NOT for "wusses!" And "I kid" my wussy local buddies when I say that local drivers ARE wusses. There is NO trucking job that is not honorable. It is all about what is best for YOU!

But, if I were your age again, and wanted or NEEDED a change in life and circumstance, and lived with my parents, had NO kids and NO wife.... it would be an easy choice! With a few years of OTR .... and REAL "experience" under your belt, you can come home whenever you want! But, once locked into a local job, with NO OTR experience, you may NEVER have this chance again.... especially once some woman gets you pregnant! :lol2:

As a final note, you should ask Belpre WHERE he got his "experience" driving a truck. Where did HE start out? But, don't ask his reasons for wanting to be local. I've seen both of them, and they are beautiful! He has made the right choice for HIM! But, he has no right to make that choice for YOU! And neither do I!

The difference between us is that "I" realize that. :smokin:

 

GREAT post Golphy

 

Thanks, Mike! Some will "get it" some won't. I've always known that YOU "get it." You're an O/O, right? Maybe, I missed your "introduce yourself" post.... never MADE one, myself. I am curious though. How did YOU start out? WHY do YOU do it?

 

Been around trucks all my life,Dad still drives for Wally World. I started driving straight trucks out of high school, then went to driving school at 21. Absolutley lucked into a job with a local private company and helped them build their fleet from 1 truck into 8 running mostly to FL from MI and then went through some other jobs running mostly for other O/O's.

Finally got tired of running other peoples trucks that they wouldn't keep up so I bought my own 12 years ago and haven't regretted it yet. Since I have been an O/O I have run local (11 p/u's every day in Detroit) and run 48 at Landstar and everthing in between, currently doing the best job I have ever had hauling chemical tanker for one of the best companies out there.

One thing about running for a O/O is that you get a better idea of what it is like to own your own truck, you see actual pay stubs and actual repair bills/maintaince cost. When driving for a O/O I feel you get a better understanding of what works and what doesn't. I never wanted to be an owner until I started drivng for one, being a company driver usually gives a sense of me against them, where driving for an O/O gives you more of a us against everyone else, if that makes sense. I always worked harder for a O/O.

 

IMHO, OTR with a well-equipped company is the best route to go.

Depending on which city I found myself in, I was always able to go to a different gym and experience a different night-life on every trip.

City traffic is a nuisance when you have to deal with it every once in awhile, but for the past, seven months with this local, LA-based, container hauler, it was one experience I wouldn't want to repeat everyday for the next 20 years.

OTR FTW.

 

Both local and OTR can suck. Slow economy=no freight=no miles. Slow economy=no freight= no hours. Maybe if your friends with a bunch of losers and you need to "turn your life around" then OTR would be best. It's hard to believe R&L would hire a recent grad in this economy. The market is currently flooded with layed off, experienced drivers.

 

Crappy local jobs, yes.

Good local jobs, no.

Good or crappy OTR job...it doesn't matter. You WILL work over 70 hours per week and you will not see home. Anytime you combine a logbook with a sleeper berth, you are going to get ripped off.

Good local jobs rarely advertise because nobody leaves those gigs. Generally, someone has to die, get fired, or retire for an opening. Who in their right mind would give up a local job that pays good and gets the driver home every night with weekends off? Especially when the driver can make just as much or more money than living out of a tin can for 2+ weeks and peeing in parking lots.

Good local jobs are the holy grail of trucking.

When freight is slow at a local job, you go home early. When freight is slow in OTR, you sit in the truckstop.

If the local job is slow, you can always get a part-time job to pick up the slack until things get better. Or you can go to school and take classes on the side. If the OTR job is slow, you sit in the truckstop.

If I never see another truckstop again in my life, it will be too soon. Done with the hookers, greenhorns who can't back, people selling cheap/stolen goods, panhandlers, bums, idiots cruising along at 10 mph with the jakes on.

 

Lebron Makes his return!!!! And surely will be dismissed soon!!