Question:
Local Drivers
My goal is to get a local job (Fed Ex Freight...Roadway...Overnite...or a tanker company)
I'm convinced that OTR is the way to get the experience to get a good local job (the posts seem to endicate the better jobs require OTR experience)
Anyone with comments on how they may have secured jobs with these companies...is a years worh of OTR enough in most cases?

Answer:
and my hubby never drove OTR at all. He has a very good local job driving for a chemical company. He studied for the CDL test himself and when he first started out, he was working for a lumber company who let him use their truck for the road test.
I don't know about most of the LTL companies that you are looking at. He was offered a job for FedEx, but it was not exactly what he was looking for at the time. It was driving linehaul evenings and he wanted to stick with a day shift job.
The job he has right now is local. Home most nights with an occasional night out. The hotel/dinner/breakfast is paid for after he brings his receipts in. The company is getting a company credit card soon though, so we won't even be out of pocket that money for any amount of time.
Bennies are great with a pension plan/profit sharing and great medical. He does have over 11 years of safe..and I mean a perfect...driving record though. This job came with LOTS of background checks.
I know that some people do say that you need at least one year OTR for any type of local job. Maybe he was lucky..maybe we have lived in good areas...I don't really know. I do know that if he had ever drove OTR we probably still wouldn't be together. I have lots of admiration for the women/men that are home while their spouses are out driving OTR.
Best of luck however you decide to drive!
Renee'

Answer:
It really depends on the company and the area you are hiring in. Areas that, for one reason or another need lots or drivers but can not seem to kepp enough, usually have lower standards for hiring than companies that generally keep a full driver pool. I know while driving around the country I have seen local type companies advertising for driviers with big banners on the sides of the terminal and have seen the same company want drivers ranging in experience with anywhere from 6 months to 3 years.
Probably the best thing for you to do is go down to the local offices of the companies you are interested in working for and ask them specifically what their hiring requirements are for drivers.
Only two things I know of are infinite. The universe and human stupidity, and I am not real sure about the universe.
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Answer:
I drove local for several years and driving local takes a special type of a person. There is much more pressure on a local driver than a OTR man. You leave out with 10 to 25 stops and the dispatcher is yelling at you to get empty so you can start making pick-ups. They dont get you out until 9 or 10 am and then want you to be empty by noon.
There are men that wouldnt do anything else but local driving. But personally, I never cared for it. Different strokes for different folks.
Oh, you do get to come home every night, but you are so tired that all you can do is shower, eat, and go to bed. Then next day you start it over again.
When I first came off the road and went local, Overnite Transportation was really laid back, easy going, but then Union Pacific took us over and then the "push, hurry up" started, if you got 15 stops off today, tomorrow you would have 16.
But as I said, I know men that wouldnt do anything else. I just got fed up with it, so I took early retirement.

Answer:
It all depends. I started out local, usually within 200 miles, doing mostly rail yards. Home every night. I wanted to go OTR but was able to start here and now don't know. They advertise for drivers with 2 yrs experience, but I had none in a big truck. I did have a class B CDL with a perfect MVR. Had only worked at one place for 33 years. So it depends on many factors. Just get out there and start digging. As others have stated, there are many different types of jobs driving. Find out what suits your needs.

Answer:
Originally posted by Nocount:
When I first came off the road and went local, Overnite Transportation was really laid back, easy going, but then Union Pacific took us over and then the "push, hurry up" started, if you got 15 stops off today, tomorrow you would have 16.
Union Pacific bought Overnite for $1.2 billion in 1986 - a very hefty sum especially in 1986 dollars. They thought they could integrate Overnite with their vast railroad network and develop 'synergies' but they bungled things up by sending a bunch of railroad men to try and run Overnite. Thirteen years after the original $1.2 billion purchase, Union Pacific wrote down the value of Overnite by $547 million in 1998. Yikes! That makes investing in Internet companies look good in comparison!
However, Overnite has been coming back the last few years, especially with the closure of Consolidated Freightways. The Teamsters have abandoned the picketing actions that were started in 1994 and Union Pacific recently expanded Overnite by purchasing Motor Cargo Industries (an established Western LTL service) for $85 million. Union Pacific will most likely spin-off or sell Overnite in the not-to-distant future to concentrate on running their railroad.
Just a little info for you finance\history\transporation buffs out there. And now back to the regularly scheduled program...
http://www.subway.com
"Daddy was a veteran, a southern Democrat. They oughta get a rich man to vote like that." - Alabama

Answer:
local has downside,but in my oppion there is less downside than OTR
They enlisted the Teamsters’ help after the company decided that it would no longer pay them hourly wages but compensate them based on mileage, which would have cut their income in half
http://www.teamster.org/03news/hn_030110_1.htm
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Answer:
I run from St. Johns, AZ (flyash--it's what's left after the power plant here burns coal. It is added to concrete mixtures) Pulling pneumatic tanker doubles across the White Mountains and down through Salt River Canyon--a beautiful drive!
I go to the Phoenix/Tucson area, unload, then come back for another load. I am home every night (If not, for some reason, they put me up in a motel and pay an extra $19 for food.) I park the truck 100 yards from my house. Weekends off. 58 cents a loaded mile. Usually after emptying out in Phoenix, I run down to Tucson (Rillito) and pick up a load of bulk dry cement and deliver it to Globe or Show Low. Average 2/3 loaded miles.
They pay $4.25 a day for fueling/warmup. $8 an hour for delays, breakdowns, shoptime, truckwash, etc.
When I call dispatch, I do not give them my truck number or my employee number--I give them my name! Imagine that!
This is no bull! If you want to move to Arizona, call CTI (Chemical Transport, Inc.) in Rillito at 1-800-362-4952.
They require 6 months experience, pay a $1250 sign-on bonus (1/4 every three months).
Some people don't like it. Lotsa hours (11-14 a day), they don't like getting up at 1 or 2 am to go to work, they think the other guy is always getting better loads, they are mad because I have a 2002 Kenworth with a Cat and they are driving older (really older!} Peterbuilts, or it's too hot in the summar, or any number of other reasons.
Some guys just drive in the Phoenix area. Some run north and around the state. Some just run local in Tucson.
OTR is for "special" people. People who have no home life and don't want one. People who are happy with the gypsy life.
I make as much in five days now as I did for Werner or McKelvey (out of Phoenix) working 7 days a week with maybe 3-4 days off a month. Full benefits. Time off whenever I put in a request (that's besides weekends off--say for a doctors appt or whatever.
OTR is about as romantic as getting drunk, going home with a "10" and waking up with a "2."
May you be well and happy!