Quote:
Originally Posted by bubbagumpshrimp
(Post 532591)
I've got two pre-hire letters from "mega" carriers at the moment. The only reason that I'd lean towards a mega carrier (that has a VA approved vocational program) is that I'd stand to get an additional $1,000+/month in benefits.
Solid!! If that's the best way for you, then go for it. :cool:
One thing that gets me is that people (by people...I mean people at the CDL school) seem to encourage students to take OTR gigs, rather than local ones. i.e. Werner vs. Pepsi. Someone like me (values downtime)...would rather make a bit less and get (pretty much) guaranteed time off each week with a local carrier than go somewhere where a weekly 36 hour reset is considered doing drivers a favor (when it's required by law).
First, bear in mind that wholesale freight relocation universities are largely geared towards preparing students to become OTR drivers, and there are sound reasons for doing that.
1.) Most of their students are planning to embark upon careers as OTR drivers, which puts the school in a more favorable position where job placement assistance is concerned. IIRC, the wholesale freight relocation university that I attended (Roadmasters) graduated about 15 to 20 students each week, 52 weeks every year. There just aren't enough good local gigs to place that many students each week on a regular basis. Having graduating students (somewhat) prepared and trained for OTR is largely in keeping with market demands.
2.) Another matter to consider is that it's far easier (and generally safer) to transition form OTR work to local driving than it is to transition from local driving to OTR driving. Local driving offers greater risks for mishaps than does OTR driving. City streets, freeways, and parking lots, can be very unforgiving, and a rookie driver will encounter many more possibilities for trouble than will an OTR driver. Add to the mix, you're dealing with local drivers who may be distracted while texting, looking for streets and addresses, or lackadaisical driving habits. Those are just some of the reasons that many local employers will offer preference to OTR drivers who are looking to come off the road.
3.) Regarding the 36hr. reset: Unless HOS laws have changed since I came off the road (and they may have) employers are not "required" to offer you a 36hr. reset. Hours are logged on a rotational basis; if you hit your limit on driving/ on duty hours, you may have up to 14 hours of driving/on duty time from the previous week that will drop off, thus allowing you to keep running legally. Logging hours will be covered during your training. Here in Texas, I don't believe that driving local route sales/delivery work requires you to keep a log book; not sure about other states.
I appreciate your advice. I don't take your input as being pessimistic, but realistic. There's one carrier in my area that pays ~$20-25k/year more than more of the others (for newbies). The catch? The shift is 1500-0300 and it's VERY labor intensive. The labor doesn't turn me off so much (it would be a chance to have an active job), but working a shift like that would suck. I can't say that I have any interest in dealing with a set shift like that.
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I understand where you're coming from, but I'll offer you some points to consider. By nature, my circadian rhythms have always favored evening hours; from the time that I was a teenager to now, (I'm in my mid 50's). It's far easier for me to work late into the night than it is for me to awaken early in the morning. Having said that, "graveyard shift" hours have never agreed with me. Working until 11:00PM or Midnight is fine. Working at 4:00AM doesn't work so well for me.
Having said that, while I was running OTR, I ran at night as often as I could, and for some pretty good reasons:
1.) There is far less traffic on the highways, freeways, and streets, and fewer traffic jams. Less traffic means a couple of things:
a.) Fewer risks for collisions.
b.) More miles due to the lack of traffic and other delays; more miles each night equaled more miles each week. Being able to cover more ground in less time equaled more favorable and more lucrative load assignments. It also endeared me to my dispatchers and freight manager, which translated into
MO' MONEY!! :cool:
c.) Very few traffic jams. Of the traffic jams that I did encounter, most were due to road/highway construction, which meant that where traffic jams did occur, the delays were far fewer and far shorter.
d.) Where trucking is concerned, the drivers who ran at night were generally more professional and courteous than those who drove during the day.
e.) My truck was far from being new, although it ran pretty well. Problem was, with a Freightshaker Classic XL with over 600,000 miles, it had a tendency to run hotter that I would have liked. Many of my runs were from SoCal and southern Az. to Springfield/Peoria, Illinois, which meant driving the mountains and the desert regions. Traversing the deserts and mountains during the day in all but the winter months was an open invitation to overheating, and that's something that you really want to avoid as much as possible. Driving the deserts and mountainous regions at night kept overheating issues from becoming a problem.
g.) When it was time to shut down, I didn't have to clamor for a parking spot. Trying to back a dry van or reefer in a tight parking space after 10 or 11 hours of driving and a tired mind offers more risks for something to go wrong. By running at night, when it was time for me to refuel and shut down, most other drivers had vacated the TS parking lots.
Was there a downside to me running graveyard hours?? Most definitely. I was almost always tired. Very, very tired. I never handled freight, and as result, my work was excessively sedentary. I gained weight, and my blood pressure and cholesterol levels shot through the roof. By the time I came off the road, I
LITERALLY looked and felt like I had aged from 5 to 10 years.
As far as a "labor intensive" driving gig is concerned?? I don't know how old you are, but I will tell you this much. The kind of labor that is involved with some local jobs (Beer/wine/soda/ etc. routes) will help keep you in good physical condition. Yeah, it means working in the summer sun, the cold of winter, and sometimes crappy weather, but it beats the hail out of being out of shape as result of years of long haul driving.
Hope this helps!!
