LTL Trucking - My Linehaul Job
Topic 4501 | Page 16
I'm following you 6 String. I'm taking a look at linehaul . You guys are really getting the bills paid. My father n law work for OD and he's been trying to talk me out of doing tankers, so I told him I would at least take a look and then I pull up TT and see your profile picture!!!,,, So what do you think about OD and do you think its possible to get on a ltl dayshift?
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
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.OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
Hey D-Wash. OD is an AWESOME company to work for. They really take care of their drivers and perform scheduled maintenance on all their equipment every 30 days. Lots of perks from a very profitable company.
Getting a day shift driving job as a new hire is not the norm, unless you're a city driver. Your wait time to land a day run in linehaul will vary for each terminal. It could take a few years. I won't sugar coat it and say night shift is easy.
I'm happy to try and answer any questions.
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.
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.
Cool man, but they will hire a new driver straight out of school right or do i need to get a few months OTR experience first?
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.
No OTR experience necessary. They hire student drivers, and also have their own in-house CDL program when hiring potential drivers off the street, if your local terminal has that available. The in-house CDL program isn't offered at every terminal. If you're interested, you should definitely make a phone call to the OD terminal near your location. Each terminal has its own specific needs, so it's best to contact your local terminal to see what kind of opportunities you could have. Just tell them you're a prospective driver.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
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.
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.
Good Stuff 6 String,, Good Stuff!!!! Hey man Thanks for information and Thanks for your time I really appreciate it!!!! Stay Safe My Friend!!!
Yes great thread 6 String! I've read the whole thing, awesome read. Ton of info. I am very interested in LTL after reading all this. The closest LTL company to my current residence is 1.5 hours away in Rocky Mount, NC and they want 1 year of OTR experience. But I'm from south east PA and have family in Lancaster so depending how life goes I might find my way back up to your neck of the woods! Sounds like there are some great opportunities in that area.
Thanks for sharing all the info you've spent time researching over the years. You're a solid contributer to this site. I look forward to reading about your adventures in the future!
Happy Holidays and I wish you and your family a Happy New Year!
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
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.
Hey 6 String,
I saw, in another thread, that you initially decided to go with Crete right out of school, even with an LTL offer on the table, but then, obviously, changed your mind. You had cited quality of home time as your reason for preferring to go OTR over LTL. I won't restate all of your reasoning... but it seemed sound to me. I'm just wondering if you think your original assessment was correct regarding the quality of your hometime driving linehaul at night vs. what it might have been driving otr. The reason I ask... I also have a family and hometime is very important to me, too.
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
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.
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.
Yes great thread 6 String! I've read the whole thing, awesome read. Ton of info. I am very interested in LTL after reading all this. The closest LTL company to my current residence is 1.5 hours away in Rocky Mount, NC and they want 1 year of OTR experience. But I'm from south east PA and have family in Lancaster so depending how life goes I might find my way back up to your neck of the woods! Sounds like there are some great opportunities in that area.
Thanks for sharing all the info you've spent time researching over the years. You're a solid contributer to this site. I look forward to reading about your adventures in the future!
Happy Holidays and I wish you and your family a Happy New Year!
Hi Sean.
Glad you've gained something from the thread. I'll say this much, there are plenty of opportunities in Southeastern PA for truck driving. All kinds. Many LTL companies to choose from, if that's your interest. You'd be closer to York, PA - and York has just as many opportunities as Carlisle, PA. For LTL in York, you've got Conway-Freight and Estes, to just name two big players. Plenty of other OTR and regional jobs.
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
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
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.
OOS:
When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.
Good Stuff 6 String,, Good Stuff!!!! Hey man Thanks for information and Thanks for your time I really appreciate it!!!! Stay Safe My Friend!!!
Glad to help - you should talk more to your father-in-law about OD. I'm sure he'll echo my sentiments.
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Just updating the thread in regard to my new schedule run. I have a 2100 departure time for my 5 day work week - yep, back on nights. My actual run is only 360 miles if I don't grab any extra miles. I have the option / possibility of being dispatched to a few other terminals before finishing up for the night. I'm used to running 530 mile runs on average, so this is quite a relaxing change of pace. Running just the 360 miles, I can actually finish my night without even having to take my 30 minute break! But, depending on the freight available, I could have a 500+ mile night, if I get those extra loads.
I currently am getting paid .58 cpm. Running just my 360 mile run, with all my drop and hook accessory pay, I can gross $1141.50 every week. That's what I can make for working around 8 hours a night. The potential is there for me to gross over $1700 a week if I can get dispatched consistently to a specific, additional terminal in addition to my first destination. That type of night would be using about 12-13 hours of my 14 hour on duty time, and close to 10 of my 11 hour drive time. It would be a hustle, hooking and breaking 3 sets of doubles a night. Technically, I would only break 2 of those sets in their entirety, since my home terminal only requires us to drop the entire set when incoming.
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.
Doubles:
Refers to pulling two trailers at the same time, otherwise known as "pups" or "pup trailers" because they're only about 28 feet long. However there are some states that allow doubles that are each 48 feet in length.
CPM:
Cents Per Mile
Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.
Drop And Hook:
Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.
In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.