[madii'swife]

We are in an area that has a few options for local CDL jobs, and a few that are currently hiring. We are not so much pursuing this for now, but it brought up some interesting questions.

Do most local jobs still run out a 14 hour clock? I know most are not going to be 9-5 kindof jobs, but theres still a big difference between an 11-12 hour day and a 14-15 hour day.

If most locals run 14 hours plus commute, what exactly is the advantage of taking it, except to sleep in your own bed? For instance in our circumstance, if my husband were to leave at 6 am, and not get back unitl 9 pm he would effectively totally miss seeing the children, and basically get home just in time to eat, grab a shower, and go to bed. Maybe I'm missing something, but I just don't see a huge difference between that and being out on the road. And with less pay.

Thanks for humoring me, I haven't checked directly into the jobs here but wanted to see if someone was willing to give us a general idea!

[Uturn2001]

As far as the pay issue goes it all depends on the job. If you can find one that pays a decent hourly wage with OT after 40 hours then the odds are pretty good you can make a lot more.

As far as the time issue goes, it once again depends on the job. Some local jobs might have you working 5 14 hour days with 2 days off, while others it could be 5 or 6, 12 hour days.

Granted if you are working a local job 6 days a week for roughly 12 a day and you have much of a commute you might find that you have more time at home with your family running a regional route that gets you home every week.

In the end, it may come down to the psychological aspects of being home every night vs. spending several nights a week on the road.

[Graymist]

Driving locally, apart from the better pay,you also get to save quite a sum of money that you would have otherwise spent on stuff like food, showers etc, that driving OTR entails. I'm sure that would add up to about atleast 400-500 bucks a month.

[Mackman]

Well i know when i was with Venezia (dry bulk) it was almost 14hrs everyday. Now when i drove tankers it was 10hrs avg. a day. Dump truck that i drive now is 8-11hr a day. IF they pay by the hr. more then likey you will have less hours to keep down on paying OT. If your paid by the load or % like Venezia they want to run you hard.

[Snowman7]

It varies greatly. You just have to look around. Another thing to consider is even if the hours are long at least you are near home if something happens rather than 1500 miles away. Also you can call in sick, or request a day off, or even half a day if you have a doctor appt or whatever. Leave early to see a childs game or school play etc. You may have to try more than one local job to get one that works. I work nites and some weeks its 35 hrs some its 60 but the average is 50 plus my commute which is 25 min one way. I also dont have to worry about home time or when I'm going to get home or will I get home the day before xmas or xmas morning or etc, etc, etc. To each his own and research is just as important as OTR research.

[Voyager]

Originally Posted by madii'swife

We are in an area that has a few options for local .
If most locals run 14 hours plus commute, what exactly is the advantage of taking it, except to sleep in your own bed? For instance in our circumstance, if my husband were to leave at 6 am, and not get back unitl 9 pm he would effectively totally miss seeing the children, and basically get home just in time to eat, grab a shower, and go to bed. Maybe I'm missing something, but I just don't see a huge difference between that and being out on the road. And with less pay.

That's basically it in a nutshell, at least in my experiences. Every local job I've had I've run between 12 and 15 hours per week. Even on my current gig running tri-axle dumps. On top of that, I've always had a 45 minute commute each way to work, so in many instances, my day was 16+ hours long. Just enough time to eat, shower, and go to bed. I'm ready to hit the road again, but my wife is adamently against it.

By choosing to drive truck for a living, you are pretty-much dooming yourself to helter-skelter workschedules, long hours, the boom/bust nature of freight, etc. It's a helluva way to make a living - no matter what you're dragging in your rearview mirror.

That being said, there are exceptions. For the most part, a 9-5 job can be had in some or your local P&D city operations because stuff can only be delivered and picked-up during normal business hours. These jobs tend to be hourly and sometimes they pay overtime.

LTL is the one that most readily comes to mind. However, there's also the cryogenic/LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) companies such as Air Liquide, Praxair, etc. Beverage and foodservice outfits ala Coke, Pepsi, Sysco, US Foodservice, Rhinehart (strong back and weak mind required!). And then you've got fuel hauling gigs such as Flying J, Kenan Advantage, BP, etc although there's usually a good deal of night-work at these jobs. Some construction jobs such as tri-axle dumps, mixers, lo-boys, etc. Trash and refuse haulers like Waste Management. Don't forget your milk-haulers, the bus-lines, and the small-parcel courier guys & gals at UPS, FedEx, and DHL.

Alot of these jobs (the good-paying ones that get you home, at least) don't advertise. That's because they don't have to: turnover is low and job satisfaction is high. Best way to land one of these gigs is to knock on doors - sometimes you're just in the right place at the right time. Talk to drivers at these companies - most will give you the scoop when they're about to hire so you can get first dibs in.

Keep in mind that you generally won't walk into a nice 9-5 bid run. Those go to the guys with seniority. So you have to work your way up the totem pole, which could take several years at some outfits. Layoffs, slow weeks, night work, junk trucks, sitting by the phone, etc are all possibilites.

Good luck in your quest. If I can be of any assistance, shoot me a PM. Once you find a good day-time local gig that gets you home everynight and weekends off, you'll never go back to OTR (unless you have to).

[bean head]

I have been driving local for Pepsi for 11 years. I work about 45 to 50 hours a week. Weekends are required and I make a little over 15 dollars an hour and for around here that is pretty good. Benifits are good and I get to sleep in my own bed at night. Now for what I consider the not so good. The job is mindnumbingly booooooring. Management is disconected and lazy. The salesmen wont do their job making your job harder. You have to deal with Wal-Mart daily some O.K. some not. Mad coustomers being promised the world and getting a rock. And as far as trying to get a day off well good luck with that. Might happen if we have enough help ha ha ha ha ha ha ha and that is only after having to beg for it weeks in advance and then being told we'll see. If you do get the day off you will more than likely have to work one of you other days off to make up for being off. Even being a local driver I still have to miss out on some of kid and family stuff. I have had to change many plans because of being called in on my days off also. Just saying all this to tell you that not all local drivers are happy with their job either.

[Skywalker]

I tried a couple of local gigs in SW FL.... hauling fuel for FL Rock & Tank. The hours "sucked".... 15 hour days. Up at 2AM, back in bed at 9PM, no time with wife, pay less than promised. Paid by load not hourly. Saw my wife more when I was OTR.

Drove a concrete truck.... M-F and half a day Sat. Again, pay was less than promised. If you didn't have enough work..they sent you home early. They had no problem getting you out of bed at 1AM for an early AM pour, then they made sure you did not get any overtime. This particular company "Krehling" had crappy trucks...they no longer exist. I think they got bought out by Cemex. That work has died completely in SW FL because construction is at a standstill anyway. I did this probably 9 years ago. I went back to OTR after that as well.

What kind of local gigs you can find will depend on where you live. Some will find a ton of decent local jobs....others will see garbage jobwise and paywise. Where I live...Teamster jobs are basically "non-existent". So, hourly pay really "sucks"....and the cost of living has skyrocketed.

Also, if any of you are thinking about moving to Florida....stop thinking about it. Real estate prices have gone sky-high, the cost of insurance has tripled/quadrupled, and real estate taxes have done so as well. Jobs do not pay well.

[Double R]

Beverage and foodservice outfits ala Coke, Pepsi, Sysco, US Foodservice, Rhinehart (strong back and weak mind required!).

Strong back yes. Weak mind, I don't think so. I don't have a weak mind and I have been doing foodservice for nearly five years. Now, crazy mind, that's another story. And as for foodservice being less then 12 hours, NOPE. Not to hard to have a 60-65 hour week in this type of business. Saturday work, early moring start time but you can be home everynight and make real good money .