Does OTR Actually Mean OTR

Hello Everyone!

My fiance and I are new to the truck driving industry. He is the driver and I am the passenger. We put all of our belongings into storage and hit the road in hopes of seeing the country; however, it hasn't really worked out that way. Dispatch seems to keep us going through the same couple of states that surround our home state. Is it possible that we just have bad luck and those are the only loads available at the time that he is on board? Is there anything we can do to increase his chances of getting more of a variety of locations? Is it possible they have him mistaken for a regional driver? He hasn't mentioned anything to dispatch because he doesn't want to seem ungrateful or picky. Obviously if the wheels aren't turning he's not earning, so we'll take what's given, but this is not what we had in mind when he decided to become an OTR truck driver. It certainly isn't what I had in mind either when I quit my job and decided to come with him. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Lindsay, welcome to the forum!

You say you are new to the industry, so it's safe to assume you're new to the company as well. Most companies will start you off slow until you prove your dependability. They aren't likely to send you to the other end of the country until they know you can handle it.

Give it some time, take anything they give you and knock it out of the park. Be efficient, trustworthy, and safe. The good runs will come.

What company does he drive for? We have a member, Jamie, that when he drove for schneider would get stuck in the northeast all the time despite being OTR.

Communicate with dispatch. A simple hey do you have any freight going somewhere different?

I just spent a month running CA,UT,ID, and OR. It started because I had oral surgery and needed to stay close to home, but continued afterwards. I asked my dispatcher for a load east and she sent me to NY.

Hello,

One thing you can try to do is to ask for home time in a region where you want to go to and explore and is far away from where you are now.

Hello,

One thing you can try to do is to ask for home time in a region where you want to go to and explore and is far away from where you are now.

That's a great point by Sid V.

I've actually been trying to get through Little Rock for more than a week since I started pinging on dispatch. No luck headed that way, so I finally asked for home time there next weekend.

Dispatch says, "Approved".

Sounds to me like you had unrealistic expectations that this job would be a cross country site seeing tour. it isnt. give it time. your man needs to improve his skills anyway and some places are much harder than others.

Hello Everyone!

My fiance and I are new to the truck driving industry. He is the driver and I am the passenger. We put all of our belongings into storage and hit the road in hopes of seeing the country; however, it hasn't really worked out that way. Dispatch seems to keep us going through the same couple of states that surround our home state. Is it possible that we just have bad luck and those are the only loads available at the time that he is on board? Is there anything we can do to increase his chances of getting more of a variety of locations? Is it possible they have him mistaken for a regional driver? He hasn't mentioned anything to dispatch because he doesn't want to seem ungrateful or picky. Obviously if the wheels aren't turning he's not earning, so we'll take what's given, but this is not what we had in mind when he decided to become an OTR truck driver. It certainly isn't what I had in mind either when I quit my job and decided to come with him. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

I would follow the advice of others who stated to ask dispatch for a load going to where ever you guys are trying to get to. I was OTR for Swift Refrigerated and sometimes they do keep keep you in a comfort zone (region closest to your home). I live in california so I ran CA,ID,UT,WA,OR alot but trust me once I went team and told my dm I was ok with going a lil further east, I hardly ever seen the west coast again until I came home. Anyways best of luck to you guys and safe travels.

I guess I'm one of those weirdos that actually prefers the eastern 1/3 of the country. So many places to park I never have an issue finding a place to park. I dont even preplanning my stop during trip planning I just drive till I'm ready to stop, night or day I always find a proper spot. (no on/off ramps or highway parking). The other 2/3s have to plan based on a available places to park.