Might Leave Local For OTR

I’m considering OTR in 6-12 months. I’m divorced, my youngest is very independent and can’t wait to get his license in 6 months which means I will see him less and less. I have a house and frankly just tired of all the living expenses. I could sell it and come out with quite a bit of equity. I make good money (36 per hour) but living expenses are eating that up anyways. I’m 52 years old and need to really start saving more for retirement. I have 4 years experience LTL P&D but know nothing about OTR. I do know how to hustle though. Of course I’m wondering what it pays low to high, what the lifestyle is like, You drivers that live on the road, what do you put for your home address? Because I’m concerned if I used a P.O. Box would it affect my background check for Hazmat? I want to keep it whether I’m using it or not. please fill me in. Also not interested in being an owner operator. Thank you

Of course I’m wondering what it pays low to high

Anywhere from 60-90k plus. Many drivers are able to pull six figures OTR but if you’re new to OTR I would aim for 80s to 90s considering you already have driving experience. 60-65 cpm is pretty standard pay these days.

what the lifestyle is like

Lonely, long drives, lots of hurry up and wait, beautiful scenery, plenty of time to listen to podcasts and music, frustrating days where nothing works and you make next to nothing, great days where you hammer down 700+ miles, etc.

Personally I don’t like OTR because the long drives are boring to me and I miss home too much. Many people love the peace and solitude. Everyone is different.

You drivers that live on the road, what do you put for your home address? Because I’m concerned if I used a P.O. Box would it affect my background check for Hazmat?

You can totally use a PO Box (I did when I sold my house and went OTR) but you still need a physical address for your license and plenty of other things. Use a friend or family member’s address as a permanent address and get a PO Box as your mailing address. If that’s not an option you can get a mailbox with UPS (I think other companies offer this option too)—it’s just like a PO Box but it technically counts as a physical address.

If I may, here’s some unsolicited advice on looking for jobs and going from local to OTR:

- do not make the mistake of simply looking for highest possible cpm. Look at the entire pay package and try to find out what the annual pay is going to look like. There are many variables in OTR and cpm isn’t everything. I always ask the recruiters what the average annual pay is. I also look for what company is going to have consistent miles. Lower cpm and higher miles generally equates to higher annual pay than higher cpm and lower miles.

- keep your eye on the prize. Do not let yourself get discouraged with a few low paychecks or the feeling you aren’t being compensated fairly because you sat in a dock unpaid for several hours or sat for a couple days without pay. That is unfortunately par for the course with OTR. Mentally, it is very difficult to go from being local where you are paid for every second and/or activity, to OTR where there are a lot of activities that are “included” in your mileage pay. I’m not here to discuss if it’s ethical or not, but I still say if you want to be successful OTR, remember why you did it in the first place. The only thing that matters financially is what you bring home annually and how much you’re saving on overhead. Don’t miss the forest for the trees.

Best of luck sir. I’m sure you’ll do fantastic.

Pianoman asks politely:

If I may, here’s some unsolicited advice on looking for jobs and going from local to OTR:

I won't quote the whole thing, it's right there above this.

I'll add:

OTR trucking is a lifestyle - you are going to live in a small space, probably with out a place to call "home". So do not follow just the money. If you do keep that prize in sight, the money will follow. Those side benefits from the company will be more important than you think. Like any job, you need to start out at the lower end of the totem pole. Prove your worth and you'll get up towards the top with wings spread.

OTR encompasses a wide range of things, but assuming reefer and or dry van general freight, which is the most common, there are similarities and differences.

On one hand, there are long routes mainly interstate , but there are also a lot of shorter runs and regional type positions that are still labeled as OTR.

My company, as did the previous one, will generally keep me in regions for a week or two at a time, most of my runs are only a day or two long, usually 500 to 1000 miles at most. I will also follow somewhat of a route or pattern depending on when and where I take home time at. My freight is very predictable though because mist of it is contract with customers we've had for many years.

As was said, most otr is paid piecework, by the mile, but it's not the only determination in what you make. Some things to consider are how many miles you have access to in the form of completed jobs each week, terminals and drop lots, this is huge in metro areas that are scarce on parking and empties, ancillary pay meaning breakdown, layover and detention. Benefits and bonus structures make a huge difference too.

Managing your clocks is quite different. The main focus will shift to preserving your 70 hour, so any time you can legally be in off duty or sleeper during your daily duties yet ballanced out with recaps for the next week becomes paramount. It's one of the biggest factors in limiting how much money you can generate. You learn to strategize and think differently.

For example, you may find yourself running on recaps quite a bit, effectively limiting you to about 500 miles a day.

You have an 800 mile load on Monday, delivers Tuesday. The next load is a live load on Weds AM near your Tuesday delivery. In this case, you call the weds shipper , and find out that you can load any weekday before noon. So that you don't loose half of Tuesday, you drive almost a full clock on Monday, leaving you 150 miles to the delivery Tues, use split berth, deliver Tues early am, go over and get loaded a day early on Weds shipper, and kill off the short part of your split while in the dock. You'll have to spread the extra hours you spend on Mon out on your 70 later in the week by working a couple 7.5s but not so short that you screw yourself out of recaps the next week.

It's a lot to think about, but you're totally in control of how much money you make. Efficiency is a must.

OTR can be a very rewarding experience with a very dynamic and changing environment. I personally enjoy the self reliance of it, the control I have and never going to the same place all the time. I too get bored with repeat routes. I also enjoy the scenery and I spend well over half my time on the US highways and state highways, so I get to see a lot of America that most people don't. Doing interstate only is a grind.

Thank you for the replies. The whole clock managing topic I really need to study up on. I’m just on the short haul exception. Care to explain recaps? Split sleeper and clock management in general? Thanks

The topics you are asking for are rather complicated. You might want to just totally review the HOS rules using the High Road Training system.

Start here: Hours of Service Regulations

Eric, in my opinion, split sleeper can be a difficult concept to grasp at first, but once you understand it, it makes sense. If you do the calculations correctly, you'll know what you'll have on your 11 and 14, and can verify once the time comes that it matches what your tablet shows.