Will I Be Able To Get A Local Job?
Topic 25038 | Page 1
Jeff, the answer is "probably". You have to be willing to start at the entry level and work your way up, but if you work hard enough and look hard enough you should be able to find something to get you started. Good luck and keep asking questions.
Are you near Toledo, Detroit, or Ann Arbor? If so try applying at Old Dominion or another LTL company like Estes, Saia or XPO.
At OLD Dominion you would start at $25 a hour and have 6, 12 and 24 month raises and top out at almost $30 a hour. The P&D guys ar my terminal only work 50-55 hours a week usually sometimes less.
Or you can try linehaul and work over night going from one terminal to another, we start at 55 cpm and in 2 years you will be at 70ish cpm.
Terminal:
A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.
LTL:
Less Than Truckload
Refers to carriers that make a lot of smaller pickups and deliveries for multiple customers as opposed to hauling one big load of freight for one customer. This type of hauling is normally done by companies with terminals scattered throughout the country where freight is sorted before being moved on to its destination.
LTL carriers include:
- FedEx Freight
- Con-way
- YRC Freight
- UPS
- Old Dominion
- Estes
- Yellow-Roadway
- ABF Freight
- R+L Carrier
P&D:
Pickup & Delivery
Local drivers that stay around their area, usually within 100 mile radius of a terminal, picking up and delivering loads.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers for instance will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.
Linehaul:
Linehaul drivers will normally run loads from terminal to terminal for LTL (Less than Truckload) companies.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning them to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.CPM:
Cents Per Mile
Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.
Hey Jeff, the lessons learned from one year of OTR driving are extremely valuable. That is why it is the industry standard for experience. Local jobs are very demanding of a new driver's skills. They require a lot of tight backing situations and dealing with crazy traffic scenarios. Typically a new driver in a local position will have a few accidents and end up losing their job. It is really tough to go out and find another trucking job when you got fired for accidents, and most insurance companies don't want to insure a new class A driver who doesn't have OTR experience. So, it's sort of a catch 22. It's hard to land a local job as a new class A driver, it's hard to keep a local job as a new accident prone driver, and then you can't hit the reset button and go OTR after having those accidents on your record.
We always recommend that you make a commitment to OTR for one year first, then try to land a local job. We've got a few members in here who managed going local first, but we've seen a lot of people come and go who tried it and found out exactly what we were saying proved to be prophetic for their circumstances. They probably could have become very successful drivers, but their careers got cut short because they insisted on a local job, had a minor accident, got fired, and then nobody would touch them.
Here's an article worth looking at on this very subject.
Why You Should Not Start Your Trucking Career As A Local Driver
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Take it from me bro. I drove locally first for a year. LOOOONG hours, little pay, and high risk. Had SEVERAL close calls.
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Hey TT, Im thinking of going to truck driving school to get my cdl because I want to start a career in trucking. I have heard its hard to get local jobs without having OTR experience, but people here seem to be generally mixes on this. I live in southeast Michigan and have experience driving class B trucks such as cherry pickers and box dumps, as well as equipment trailers. I also obtained in associates degree while working full time so maybe an employer will see my work ethic in that as well. I'm just wondering if decent companies really do hire without OTR experience in my are and if anybody could give me some details about the job like hours, pay, etc. Thanks in advance for any replies ✌
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.