Re: Local Drivers are Wusses!!
 

most logging companies haul to paper mills.... around where i live only 30% of most trees and logs taken from the woods actually go to a lumber mill.. hell around where i stay most logging companies have the best equipment around, the pay is so so, 35 to 40 k a year being home everyday but i think thats about middle of the line compared to what i hear most people make on here.. but the work is steady year around!!

I drove a sleeper today as my JUNK MACK :lol: had a bad starter (not to mention sloppy 5th wheel, leaky rad hose, junk fuel gauge, etc) and was in the shop.
I worked 4 hours and still got paid for 8..

When I grow up, I'm gonna be a real truck driver and haul.......... :arrow:

Now that would have been intresting to see. You making local deliveries withe a SLEEPER :lol:
By the way, get back on that shuttle, I need someone to run with next week. Boring this morning on the way back.

golfo, running as a "wild" driver for old d isn't a true regional run, you have to follow the freight and a lot of times there isn't a choice in the matter of where you go, they will dispatch you based on your hours available and what loaded trailers they have sitting in that yard when you drop off a set.

in addition to that, there might be a set sitting going in the direction you want to go, but they won't allow you to take them simply because they are already assigned to a dedicated ( the guy that does the same run day in and day or night out) relay driver. if you try to steal them they get highly agitated since that might be the only set going their direction, meaning he'll get cut and doesn't work.

they do have wild teams, and dedicated teams out of some terminals, but those go to senior drivers because they pay better. you'd have to apply to the terminal closest to you.

i'm one of the wusses of whom you speak, :oops: i'm home every night with the exception of when i run out of hours and have to lay over. they try to avoid that with us as much as possible simply because it costs too much for the motel and our layover pay compared to getting us home.

we have a lot of runs in the same area everyday, but they're done by different drivers all the time due to dispatch's inability to get everyone back at the appropriate time to get it again the next day.

I have joined the ranks of the local wusses. I now drive for a construction company.
Today I spent almost the entire day delivering heavy equipment to different jobsites with a day cab and a RGN trailer. I also picked up a dump truck at the shop and took it back to the yard.
Worked 10 hours, got paid for 10 hours, then went home and had dinner with the family.

Logbook? No thanks.
Trying to sleep in a truck stop with a reefer next to me? Not going to happen.
Lot lizard knocking on my door at 2am? never again.
Working my butt of and only getting paid 92-95% of the miles I drive and none of the waiting, strapping, chaining, servicing? Not on your life.

So they only had you work a half day today, then?

Here ya be. She was a nice lookin truck! I felt like a real trucker with a 13 speed!
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...er03/psp37.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...er03/psp36.jpg
This was the building I was talking about with the sand parking lot at the end! Other than that, it hasnt been TOO bad.
Tomorrow I got 1 delivery in Sharon, 1 in Sharpsville, and then picking up 2 giant oversize "gears?" in Oil City that will be taken to Quakertown on the night shuttle.
I'm working on getting back on the shuttle run but it's looking like another week.

Why not have a sleeper on a local truck? Gotta have somewhere to stash your soft drinks and chips.
And anyone who got the urge to go back to OTR can just look back at that cramped little thing, think about having to live in there, and then come back to their senses :P

Oh, are we back CLOSE to the topic again? :roll:

For awhile there, I thought half of ya had gone off with a bunch of wogs, limeys and Aussies to have a Fosters or three, see who could tell the biggest lies, and start a brawl!! :lol:

Thanks, Hawkjr and Vavega for the info. And a few others for your opinions if nothing else. :wink:

But, there are enough threads about why one should or shouldn't drive local (or OTR,) I was kinda looking for a reader's digest about the TYPES of local jobs. I mean..... just what DOES a CDL driver do when he has "failed" at the OTR life??? :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hump beer to the convenience stores? Haul gravel to some tiny stretch of road that's being fixed? If you are TRULY local, do you get more than just 10 hours at home each night? What kind of job can you get 5 or 600 miles outbound ONE day, and the same back the next for a night at home every TWO??

I LIKE motels, but I would really miss my sleeper!! :shock: :wink:

Vavega.... I would NEVER steal a run from a greybeard! I kinda liked the sound of the "wild" thing because I don't REALLY care if I get home every night OR two!! I'll go where the loads go as long as I could get home a couple of times a week and have a couple of days off every OTHER time or so! Does that make sense?

makes a whole lot of sense, it's tough having that homesick disease, :P and an addiction to the road. :wink: old d wild driving isn't for you then, those guys have to stay out for something like 2 weeks at a time to make any money, and that sounds like otr to you. :P :D :wink:

Hobo,

I know where your coming from on missing the miles. I gave up OTR a month ago and got a local job for a LTL Co and just shake my head at the end of the day when ive only logged 200 miles.

IF you want the miles but still want to be home a couple of times a week, look at doing line haul for a LTL. Most linehaul starts a .40 per mile and i see most of those guys every other day so i know they make it home.

I do still miss the sleeper (slept better in it than my own bed) but its nice coming home and seeing the wife and kids and having a home cooked meal daily.

Our guys who are out of Ohio drive nice Freightliner sleepers as line haul trucks. My terminal in PA has ONE....which is the holy cow and cant be touched. :D

Okay..... another question or two.............

A friend of mine pulls doubles for FedEx locally and does about 9 drop n hooks a night. When I talked to him, he was on his way to work at 5:30 pm. Says he ususally gets off (or home?) at 7:30 am.

That means, he gets exactly 10 hours off a day to sleep, eat, shower, pay bills, and commute! What kind of life is that?

Other than getting $18/hr to drive a dump, do ANY local jobs pay well and only require about 10-12 hours work a day? In other words.... how do I get time to ENJOY being home every night? :shock:

I don't have a wife, so it's not enough JUST be able to "sleep" at home every night.

Do you know that if we could slow down the Earth's rotation, we'd ALL get a longer day... or night off!!! :wink:

Hobo I understand not wanting to work 65-70 hours a week. However local driving can be just as unpredictable as OTR. Sometimes you're forced to work longer than you want or work days you thought you would have off. Every job has ups and downs. As a rule the better paying jobs are seniority based, no one quits, and the bottom guys dont get enough work. But then again, in trucking, rules change daily. LTL is very fickle. Either everyone is overworked or starving. The only way to try and get some control over your schedule is by sticking around and getting seniority, that way you can choose your run. Even then its not foolproof. We are more structered but we get delayed just like you OTR guys.

My current run is roughly 8:30PM till 6:30AM. Its only 327 mi but I get alot of clock time for waiting and drop and hook. I pull 4 different sets a night. All together I gross about $1200. We rebid every year so who knows what I'll get next.

I'm not sure what the right job is for you. You might already have it! Trust me, LTL isnt a job to try just for a couple years. It takes that long just to get off the bottom of the board. Life at the bottom is rocky. Hell it takes 2-3 years to get to top scale. LTL is more of an investment in the future. Once you pay your dues you hope to get a cushy run with hours you like, 4 weeks paid vacation, .55/mile, blah blah blah. But by the time you get that, you've earned it.

As far as local vs OTR.

Dont forget even if you do get stuck working 70 hrs your getting paid for it. Thats a big paycheck.

You can still call in sick and go play golf.

You can get to all your little chores, doctor vists, shopping, mow the grass etc.

I've done both and I'll say this. Humans by nature are adaptable. When you're on the road you tend to justify it in your own mind...say you like it...tell your friends you like it...look for the good parts...overlook the bad...(thats just truckin right!)...I dont want to drive a crappy daycab...I dont want to slip seat...I dont want to be told what to do etc,etc. Believe me when I say your brain has to detox a little and return to a normal lifestyle. After you're finally off the road and working locally then you will say "I'll never live that way again." I dunno maybe its just me, I admit I'm a homebody. I will admit I miss some things about the road, It does have a certain attraction.

Give a local guy a sleeper and they will use it for either a toolbox or trashcan.

Hiya folks.

IMHO, the best job for local work is tanker jobs. I no longer haul fuel, however, fuel delivery is needed all over the US. So you might check into that.

What I do now is hauling water from oil/gas wells. I make over $1000 per week, work 6 on/ 2 off, 10-12 hours a day. My pay is only $16/hour. Overtime after 40 hours.

And here in Texas, the tanker jobs are hiring......just in case you decide to move. If you know they are drilling for gas/oil where you live, check with those companies. I would expect the pay is better over there.

Ahhh, the simple life. Sooner or later, I'm going to find me a real job...... :lol: :lol: :lol:

The Good Life?!
 

Like Hobo, I've had too many jobs to list. It seems I always come back to trucking though, being it is my 'first love'. Being a third generation truck driver, I've seen alot and hauled a lot of different commodities. Nearing 50, I've tired of the job change and (think) I've finally settled into one company to stick with, since they have phenominal growth and offer constant opportunities to move around.

Since signing on with them, I'm driving mostly nights, average eight stops, about 2200 miles a week, though we unload our own trailers. Some hate this, but night-time is the best time to drive even if the daytime sleep thing is hard to get used to. I don't mind unloading my own trailer since this gives me a great opportunity to get exercise. Finally, I am finding my home-time more than I've ever had. I run four nights a week and have three days off. I'm catching up on my 'honey-do' list, I even get to read a book now and then.

The pay started at what it would take me years to earn if I were still teaching, and I can back up to a dock when I return and just go home. Pretty good compared to all the complications I had OTR. Plus, I'm not paying the bills, even if the economy tanks. Something to think about.

Steve

Jumbo you are correct. Our sleepers=trashcan A/C hawgs. I much prefer a daycab.

Well you will find out there are two types of local outfits when it comes to hours worked.

There are those who mimmik otr and expect all drivers to work a full 70 hours and up to 14 a day just as much as can be logged. Then there are those who are not using this method and treat the drivers as regular hourly employees. These outfits dont usually consider themselves as a trucking business as much as a service business. There are of course exceptions.

I flat refuse to work on a log book and on a mileage basis. I have had dozens of local jobs. I like to experience many different types of work and find myself bored easily.

My first local gig after my initial 6 years spent OTR was just shagging for a local reefer company. It paid by the hour and had benefits and I worked directly with the dispatch. I would shag trailers from shippers and recievers all day long and worked within a 100 mile radius. I left to get my second job after making contacts in the course of my dudties.

The next was a union job for a meat packing plant. I pulled swinging meat from various feeder (slaughter only) plants into the main processing plant. Empty out, loaded back. Eventually a big mega carrier decided to purchase day cabs and rate slash to get the gig and the processor decided it was more economical, we were all cut loose without warning and sent to the mega carrier if we wanted our jobs. None of us went.

My third gig was for a small outfit servicing this same plant but instead pulling Hide buckets (end dump semis) from the same kill plants to the major plant. Also at this time would pull tankers loaded with blood in the same manner. Mega carrier eventually branched into this too and we lost out.

Then I hired on with another tanker company that I had met during my travels and hauled Asphalt tankers from a distibutor to various asphalt plants around the area. During this time I met an owner operator and he talked me into going back OTR with the promise of high percentage the brand new truck of my choosing and the abillity to run the truck as my own. Stayed with him until eventual burn out after 5 years. Went back local.

Got a gig hauling across town from a box factory to a warehouse. Left that to take another offer obtained during my duties.

Hauled from a pet food plant to a warehouse all in the same company as a private fleet. Eventually found another job after getting bored.

Signed up with a Paving company that I had gotten to know years earlier and went there to pull a low boy moving equipment and also pulling a truck and pup setup from a quarry to the plant for stockpile when no low boy work needed. I am still at this job and have been for 5 years. I like it a lot.

All these jobs I worked no more than 10 hours a day . Usually 7 am to 5 pm monday through friday and had benefits and was paid hourly with OT after 40.

My long lost son! Home at last! I knew that I would find you eventually!

I couldn't have said it better myself James. May I be so forward as to add that they would also expect you to;

"work 80-100, log 70, paid for {50." (usually less)} Just like an OTR driver?

Most companys that do it that way dont pay by the hour. So they can run you that hard and not have to pay OT.

Sorry Jeff, I kept meaning to get back to you on the Bullwinkle situation.8)

No, I never did know why you chose Bullwinkle?

I don't think it was the admin. I think that your avatar was inadvertently deleted along with a number of us. I had to reload mine as did others. I wish that you would get it back up soon. Guaranteed me a laugh every time that it popped up on the screen here in Indy! :P

Move out, soldier! :lol:

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...ullwinkle2.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...DS/aawings.gif

AA! I forgot about that. I'm getting a little long in the tooth these days! :wink:

There's Bullwinkle. Get him back up on the avatar! LOL

And back to the topic of Local Drivers are Wusses:
Here is a gift that was left for me at an undisclosed southern Indiana gas station last night. This is the 89 octane well!

That is not a Baby Ruth! :evil:

http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/l...thersville.jpg

:evil: :evil: :twisted: :P

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

it's time for the ROFLCOPTER!
http://i.domaindlx.com/vintec/roflcopter.gif

I WAS eating breakfast. Now suddenly I am not hungry any more.

that reminds me, have you ever seen 2girls1cup.com? :idea:

I have seen two girls one cup. Atleast their I knew what was going to happen when I started viewing it. Do you actually think I am going to click on any link you put up? Rick roll me once, shame on you. Rick roll me twice, shame on me.

i rick roll myself on a daily basis. it's great fun and makes my days go by faster. :D i strongly encourage the practice and art of rick rolling. :twisted:

Ah hell, I GOT Rick rolled!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_roll

Rick Roll? I guess that I am getting old! Got it figured out now. I always wondered why you had that guy on your signature line Syncrosonix? I thought that he looked like "E" on Entourage. Now I know. I guess you can teach an old dog a few new tricks. :wink: :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvUiL...eature=related

http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/l...2/RickRoll.png

click the link in my sig. you'll have a life changing moment.

Actually Hobo I have the perfect job at the moment according to your specifications. I still have my TMC sleeper cab, get home for several 12 hour breaks per week plus a 48 to 60 hour weekend. If I am not getting home I am at least within ME, NH, VT, RI, or eastern MA, so I dont' have to go toCT, NY, or NJ and deal with that traffic. Of course I do have to deal with the 128/95 loop outside of Boston several times a day. If I am getting home my run has me leaving the house at 3pm and getting home at 2am which is a decent hour. If I had that run 5 days a week I would earn $1300 before all the taxes you liberals like to suck from me.

If my trailer is ready the drop and hook takes less than 30 minutes including all the paperwork and the pit stop. Unloading can take as little as 18 minutes from setting the parking break to releasing when empty. The counter to that is that Friday I got to my first stop ten minutes before the receiving shift change and somebody FORGOT to inform the incomming person that I was out there so it took nearly two and a half hours. Of course I was early for my appt so no detention time. We do get detention/delay time paid if we are there more than one hour after our appt.

Sorry we aren't hiring for this Home Depot dedicated division at the moment. If you want to move to Maine I will subcontract this run to you at say 50%, so you can do all the work, and I can collect 50% tax just for letting you do the job. :wink:

Rawlco said:

Spoken like a true Conservative! :lol: :lol:

Question: Would that kind of a job qualify as OTR (experience) if and when I wanted to go back to my first love?

Someone mentioned 6 months off the road requires a refresher course! That's a bit harsh! :roll:

That's.... just... disgusting. I'm glad I never encountered that when I ran food grade.

The previous post reminded me of my first year in the Army, when I was stationed in the ROK. We had a PSG who had come from Eight-Deuce, and every other sentence out of his mouth had something to do with legs. Of course, I was a brand new E1 with only my five jumps from jump school at the time, so I didn't fare much better.
Anyhow, we used to talk about how he'd open his own theme park when he retired - "SFC Bowden's AIRBOURNE KINGDOM!!!!!". And we'd come up with tag lines for it...

"Take the family to the concessions stand for our C130s On a Chicken Strip!"
"The kids can take photos with Jumpmaster Flash.. right before he pins them with a summarized!"
"Ride our bumper buffers in the Extra Duty Village!"
"Take the family to meet Air Assault the Clown!"

And don't feel bad about the Rickroll thing... he got me with it, too.

Beats me if it qualifies. I don't see why it wouldn't since I work for an OTR company driving a sleeper cab and have to deal with a random schedule some days. It is as much OTR as your coast to coast gig running the same road every week.

It does depend on the hiring company, but the most common thing I have read on the board is that you need to have at least one year of OTR experience and 6 months of that experience in the last 3 years to be considered an experienced driver.

Seymour, In T/A

"It's a lifestyle"

http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/l...2/seymour2.jpghttp://i288.photobucket.com/albums/l...2/seymour1.jpg

only t/a would have those ghetto asian massage set-ups. i was tempted to ask the lady at the t/a in santa rosa, nm if it comes with a happy ending. i kept my mouth shut and told her, "no thanks." the shower left much to be desired. it stunk like crap and the shower shoes of mine didn't keep the itchy feet away. :x