Question:
You hear it all the time:
"I'm going to run over-the-road to get enough experience to qualify for a good local job so I can be home with my family at night and on weekends....It'll just be a temporaty thing....my wife and kids are behind me and are willing to put-up with me being gone for a while.....in six months or a year I'll have a good local driving job...."
But here's how it usually turns out:
You spend a small fortune on truck school and sign-on with a entry-level carrier. You pass training, get your own truck and start accumulating your experience -- all according to plan.
But then you back into another truck's mirror, and although it's minor damage and no big deal, it gets recorded on your record (and DAC) as "preventable accident".
Then you're rolling down small hill in California or Ohio with all the other trucks at about 65mph and a bear singles you out for a ticket.
Then you get stuck in bad weather and deliver late, but you neglected to properly inform dispatch in advance, the customers makes a big stink, and you get charged with a "late load".
Then you get another ticket. Then you barely scratch another trailer pulling into a tight spot, and although it's barely noticable compared with the scars that trailer already has, the driver makes a big deal and takes pictures and calls his safety department and your company gets charged for repairs....and you've got another preventable accident on your record.
.....see what's happening here? In your first three months, these minor "mistakes" (all too typical for a newbie) are now part of your permanent driving record, your DAC record, and your company's record.
You try applying for that local job you wanted, but they've got stacks of applications from other OTR drivers with more experience and a better record, and very few openings since their drivers don't turn-over very often.
So you stay on the road and try real hard to keep your record clean so you can re-apply for that local job later with a bettter record. In the meantime, you're getting disgusted and depressed with the situation you find yourself in, and despite your good intentions, your worsening attitude makes it harder to stay out of trouble. You speed to avoid another late load, and get another ticket. This means you have to work ANOTHER six months without any problems before you can apply for the local job again. You snap at your dispatcher more, and they start sticking you with more difficult and less productive runs.
At this point, you've invest so much into this plan that you don't want to "give up". In your mind, it would be a mark of failure. So you tough it out and keep trying to survive another day, another week, another month.......doing something you've come to dispise. This attitude makes it even harder to stay out of trouble, make good decisions and look optomistically toward your goal of getting a local job.
Your dispatcher finally pushes you far and you switch companies. Another OTR company is glad to take you - you're not THAT bad....but now you've added "job hopper" to your already blemished experience record.
Your wife is disappointed and your long-distance relationship starts to fall apart. Meanwhile, you're lonely and depressed and start to feel like a "loser". Then you meet a sweet young waitress you takes a liking to you, and you keep passing thru because, unlike your wife, she makes you feel......
.
There are many versions of this story, but they all have the same pattern.
Keeping your record clean to qualify for that local job, is almost as difficult as deciding to fold your cards and get out when things don't turn-out the way you wanted.
Frankly ----- I prefer to see married fathers out here who WANT to excape their wife and kids by living on the road. They may not necessarily be the best "family men", but they tend to be better drivers than the guys who feel trapped in a job and lifestyle they've come to hate.
Be realistic. The vast majority of drivers who try to qualify for a local job by getting experience in OTR first, do NOT get that job. If you choose this route, make sure you'll settle for driving OTR the rest of your driving career -- cause that's what most folks end up doing.

Answer:
That's easy... drive right and don't hit anything. Although, maybe I'm in the minority, because I fall in with that last paragraph -- with the proviso that we can't wait for me to get home, but then, once I'm home, we can't wait for me to go back out! :\
For what it's worth, I haven't seen any local job that's better anyway. They all seem to pay relatively low hourly rates. Why take a cut?
Answer:

Absolutely. I know may drivers who have this relationship with their family, and I didn't mean to imply that it doesn't work FOR THEM. Many are EXCELLENT family men despite little time at home, and are raising great kids and have a happy wife who prefers 4 days a month of companionship to a full-time housemate and bed partner......etc....
But let's face it, this "alternative family lifestyle" -- one that actually works -- is pretty rare.
The above post is my warning to guys/gals who DON'T want this type of separation, and are only using OTR as a temporary hardship to pursue a relatively normal life at home once they "qualify for a local job."
Fact is -- it rarely turns out that way.

Answer:
This is very logical thinking. I don't nessesarily disagree with it.
HOWEVER:
Not all local companies "think logically." Not by a long shot.
A) I'm a hopper. I make no bones about it. I don't deny it. And it hasn't hindered my job hunting one damn bit.
1) One key is to always leave gracefully. Give 2 weeks notice and a letter of resignation. Don't leave with bad blood on your hands.
B) With the trucks governed the way they are, i don't see how anyone can get a ticket. Nevertheless, it is still possible. Just keep it within 5 mph of the posted limit and you should be ok.
C) I think i have found several sources of local work that do not check DAC nor MVR. E-mail me for more info.
I was able to get hired after only one (1) month of OTR (didn't particularly like it) AND get this, two speeding tickets on my MVR! I guess they were desperate and i lucked out. I don't think it would be possible nowadays.
So, yes i do agree wholehartedly with shufflers thinking, however the reality of it is local work does exist, and they are more desperate than you might think. Christmas time is coming.

Answer:
My own experience is to the contrary, but I do agree with Shuffler in general. I wouldn't go in planning to make the sort of switch that I made. I got very lucky and my current job just happened to fall into my lap. I didn't even search for this job, it found me through a friend.

Answer:
If the goal is to drive locally, why even waste your time driving OTR? Talk with the local companies FIRST to see what they require and/or desire. I've always found it easier to find a local job than a decent OTR job (I'm still looking for a DECENT OTR job ).

Answer:
My two cents worth on this.
In my rather limited experience with otr versus local, I have come to the conclusion that the one year, two years of experience that some local outfits require is based solely on what ever insurance carrier that company has and what type of trucking that they do.
For me, I had some good and some not so good experiences otr. I have since found a local deal, that no, it's not the big dollars but it suits my life at the moment. Monday-Friday, no nights or weekends, time and 1/2 after 40, 401K plan, $17.00 per week medical (CIGNA), including vision, holidays, and vacation. Average between 50 to 55 hours per week. Time is paid from start of day to end. No lunch hour or breaks deducted. Oh, and the yard is only 5 miles from my house. A real plus, with fuel prices the way they are.
So, for all those that are looking for local, they are out there. Just keep looking and don't get discouraged if the first 5 or 6 you apply for don't pan out. The right one will come along. It happened for me.
Codger

Answer:
Chad, Leave grace full and ethical. Do one to others as you would have others do one to you. I think it goes something like that?
A person quitting a job to move on with their life is not the problem. The problem is filling the position. Some one has to fill your spot. It seems right and fair to me to respect this and give a notice. How would you like to be the employer and have to fill the spot on a days notice?
You sure wouldn't like the employer to say your job is done see ya. I would rather be told, We have to cut back. You have a job for the next two weeks, but you are on the cut back list. I can repect that. It gose both ways.
Many potential employers will look at how you handle the “other” job you are leaving. This way they know what your character is like.
Chad, you have my respect. Still waiting on the truck net Chad bobble head doll thou.lol202 N Main Street
Summerfield Il 62289
TRUCK PARKING AVAILABLE!

Answer:
Lets not forget all the newbies who get fed up and abandon the truck....
Having that on your DAC is as bad as having a DOT reportable preventable accident.


Answer:
I started out driving local, I didn't go to school. Years later I started driving OTR and no I didn't have a trainer. Good thing, from what I see out here in driver trainers, I would have probably thrown his A$$ out of the truck. LOL.

Answer:

The chance of that scenerio taking place is nonexistent today.
It takes place EVERYDAY. It happened to a neighbor the day he came off of Vacation.
Answer:

Actually it is worse. Some carriers will let you have maybe one accident. Abandonment and it's over for a while.

Answer:
I took the route that the original writer of this post advised against but i managed to keep my record clean for the 7.5 months that i was there. My plan was exactly what he said not to do...lol....I went with a large OTR company after driving school and it mostly sucked from day one. I never knew an organization could be so disorganized....lol....
To make a long story short, I got the hell out with a clean record and left on good terms but i'm getting discouraged by all the job ads that require 1 or more years driving experience. Are these requirements always written in stone?? Also, i'm not worried about the lesser pay, I'm just glad to be home.

Answer:

No they are not,in some cases. Don't let it stop you from applying
PERSONALLY for the jobs.
Answer:
In my 10+ years of driving, I don't think that local driving is all that great either. If anybody wants a somewhat "normal" life, than any kind of trucking is not the best way to go. In my experiences, most local jobs require almost as much sacrifice as an OTR job. Even with a local job you can for the most part forget about having an 8 hour day. More than likely you will work 12 to 14 hrs per day. This does not leave much time for family since you most likely will get home, grab a shower, and go to bed so you can do it all over again the next day. The only good thing about being local is being at home every day. I have found that in the trucking industry more than any other, be it local or OTR, your personal and/or family life is secondary to the job. I myself am currently exploring other options, including going back to school and getting a degree.
Keep in mind that this is only my opinion from my experiences, but it is something else for those considering driving to think about.