OTR to Local... Do You Like It?

otr=lifestyle... local=job

 

Trucks are for working. When it comes time to rest, I like to be comfortable. If a load is going to keep me out of my own bed, it'd better pay enough to put me up at the Holiday Inn Express.

I'm only REALLY "local" every other day. The other days, I venture out a little past that 100th air mile. Sometimes I stay local more, and other times I get a string of longer runs...and sometimes I just take the day off (and stay REALLY local)...especially if the only "available" loads aren't worth firing the truck up for (which hasn't happened nearly as much with this company as it had at the last place I was at).

The part of OTR I always hated was the sitting around waiting. "Hurry up and get there" followed by "we're working on it" when I ask where I'm off to next. By not venturing out very far, I'm never "too far" to bounce home if return freight isn't readily available. If the ELD mandate doesn't get tossed, I'll be be venturing out less than I do now...8 days or less in any 30 day period.

I've done the whole OTR thing, went local, regional, local, OTR again, and back to local. Always made more with every switch...never took a cut in pay. I really don't see myself doing anything BUT local from here on out. Even if I did, I'd run it in my day cab...like I said, if it doesn't pay enough to put me up someplace nice, it doesn't pay enough for me to be away from home.

 

I hear ya, man.

I've been OTR for the past four years. Was local for the previous 6. And before that was OTR for my first 2 years.

The perfect job for guys like us would be home most nights with a couple three runs per month requiring a layover just to stretch your legs a bit and get a change of scenery without losing your quality of life.

 

I started off local, then regional, now otr. I love otr. It is a different lifestyle. I spend less money, I have more money in my pocket, I wake up everyday in a different city. Sometimes I get to explore around. Maybe later I'll get sick of it. Maybe when I'm old I'll go back local.

 

MANY a day I miss the days of OTR. I'm actually running more "regional" than local, but still within my home state; home daily. So, I don't see the same places everyday; they rotate through about twelve, at 3 a day. At least it's some variance. For the family, it's definitely a better fit; as the kids are 12 and 15 and I like not having to miss their school/athletic/band functions.

The wife still has some duties she took on while I was OTR, that I'm not in any hurry to take back, tho.... ie: SPLITTING WOOD, by hand! (Dang, she's good. Don't wanna steal her thunder, LoL!)

It's all about choices, man. Like above poster said, OTR is a lifestyle. For sure. It's like moving out of your home, and into anew. In many ways I miss it; wish I could alternate months. What's more important to YOU, though? Solitude and freedom *yeehah* . . . . or the beloved wife and kids daily.

Some days I'm still kinda torn myself.

Best of luck, whichever way you go; stay safe, drivers.

 

I'm local but once in a while I find myself driving past the point of no return and in those cases my company puts me in a hotel and I get per diem for food.
Yes local does get boring and once in a while I do volunteer to venture out into the wild country just keep it interesting. No I will not go into OTR full time unless the pay is worth it. I consider sleeping in my own bed and having weekends off as compensation so I factor those benefits in dollar value when considering other company's pay.
It's all about pay as far as I'm concerned.

 

It depends on who you work for really. Many drivers have different needs and trucking companies try hard to accommodate us the best they can but there are limitations. I have spent many years OTR and have been to all states and all provinces of Canada. I've even been to Nova Scotia. I have spent many years sleeping in cabs and many nights in hotels and I don't miss it at all. There was a time when I couldn't wait to jump in a truck and go to new places but those days have long since passed. I don't make what I used to when I was OTR hauling cars or piggybacks but I couldn't ask for a better local job than what I have. My job is all drop and hook. I have a 2015 day cab and I work Mon - Thurs between 10 and 12 hrs. a day and on Friday I am done by 1 or 2 PM. The trade off is that I can devote 2 1/2 days to school and my real estate sources which I hope will one day open the door to saying goodbye to trucking for good.

 

I decided to go local primarily so I could be home in case of family emergencies.

Other than that, I didn't really think having a local job would be a big deal. I was home on weekends and holidays when I had the road gig.

But after the first few weeks, there was no way I'd ever go out on the road again.

I really hated the road in the winter. The northern states aren't bad, but any snow or ice in the mid south is just miserable driving. And most of my loads went to (or thru) the mid south. Memphis, Atlanta,, pure torture with snow/ice. Also, whenever it got really cold, stuff would break and the shops were super busy, so it took forever to get things fixed. Now if something breaks, just write it up and get another tractor.

As an added bonus, I haven't been on truck stop property since I started local.

Showering, eating and sleeping at truck stops never bothered me, but after being able to do all those things at home for the past three months, I kinda got spoiled,, it would suck to have to do that again.

If I could run the road a few weeks a year, I'd do it tho. Texas steaks/mexi, doing a ten a few blocks from a marina restaurant/bar in FL (always took a pair of shorts and sandals for that trip),,, there are some things I miss,, and I have no regrets about the experience.

 

I came off the road hauling triple trailers from L.V. to Reno to Salt lake City then back to L.V. Every night I'd go to work around 10pm get the loaded trailers hook up a set and go. The pay was lousy and the hours away from home was just too much. The pay for any OTR job is way lower than it should be. You end up given away hours because I believe that when you are with that truck you should be getting paid.

Then I got the call to haul gasoline in town. It was a much harder job to preform but the pay blinded all the negatives. Every minute I was there I got paid. I started at $18 an hour and ended up at $23.50 an hour. This was back in the 90's. A while back I retired from the military so I really didn't need a lot of benefits. But what the company offered was beyond what the government gave. Like three retirement programs. Even when the work was harder I got treated with respect and felt valued to be there. I would never go back to OTR unless it was specialized hauling.