Local Driving Vs Over The Road Driving

Hello all what do you like better driving a big rig locally or over the road and why?

I drive what you could consider locally and I think the Best perk if you ask most people is the home time. I'm home most every day and all weekends and holidays. I get to drive a big truck and be home with my family! How can you beat it.

Another plus to local is the majority of local jobs pay hourly which I'd another big bonus. No need to worry if you're going to get your mileage every week.

Biggest drawback I would say is I don't get too see as much of the country as I would like. I drive the northeast corridor so I haven't seen anything west of PA and nothing south of Maryland. But the way I see it I'd when my kids grow up I can always transition to otr if I so wish. That's my two cents

I drive what you could consider locally and I think the Best perk if you ask most people is the home time. I'm home most every day and all weekends and holidays. I get to drive a big truck and be home with my family! How can you beat it.

Another plus to local is the majority of local jobs pay hourly which I'd another big bonus. No need to worry if you're going to get your mileage every week.

Biggest drawback I would say is I don't get too see as much of the country as I would like. I drive the northeast corridor so I haven't seen anything west of PA and nothing south of Maryland. But the way I see it I'd when my kids grow up I can always transition to otr if I so wish. That's my two cents

Yeah it's good to be home every night.

I'm in the process of getting my permit and paying my own way thru training to get my cdl and ideally would like to work local and be home every or most nights Is this possible for rookie drivers . Or will I need to do o t r first in order to get experience.

Asking because as I've read in other post this industry is never what you planned and expected , but I do have a certain goal and plan .

Is this realistic to drive local as a rookie???

Josh it is certainly possible to get a more local job depending on where your located in the country. There are LTL and regional positions located around the U.S.. Most of the jobs are located in the NE and more metropolitan areas. These jobs get filled usually by more seasoned drivers, but with the high demand they have been taking more and more rookies.

Josh I'm proof that you absolutely can go local with no experience. However there are a few things you need to remember.

First. Not every area is created equal. Depending on what the area near and around you looks like for trucking, jobs may be plentiful or may be scarce. First thing you need to do is research your area. Scour the local job boards to see who's actually hiring. I like indeed.com for this. Second would be to talk with the school to find out what local companies have hired from them. They'll usually be able to give you at least a couple of they are a good program and the company has had good luck with their recruits. Third is all about making phone calls. Call some of the places that have jobs listed or that your school referred you too and find out directly from them whether they would hire you right out of school. Forth. When you finally get your license apply anywhere and everywhere. It doesn't matter what kind of experience they say they're looking for apply anyway. Then be sure to follow up with the hiring manager directly within a week so they don't shuffle you to the bottom.

The second thing to remember about local is this. Most local jobs involve making deliveries. You will be getting out of the truck and moving boxes of product to customers. Of course not all jobs are like this but a lot of them are. So if hard work doesn't bother you then you'll be ok. If you're looking for no touch freight you're pretty much out of luck.

Now yes there is other options like getting in with an ltl company like Conway or old dominion. While it is possible it can be difficult. I know 6string will definitely recommend that route.

The biggest thing you must remember though is have a back up plan. The biggest mistake you can make is sitting around idle not using your license waiting for something local. If you wait to long most companies will make you take a refresher course which takes time and money. You need to be ready with prehire letters to jump on with an otr company to get your career started.

Good luck

Thanks heavy

I don't have a problem with hard work and no touch freight is not mandatory at all for me .

The company ( dootson ) does help you find employment after graduation.

And from all the truck drivers I've just walked up to and struck up a conversation with and various locations , ( gas stations, donut shops etc) they say they were impressed with anyone they worked with whom was a dootsen grad .

And I happened to live very close to irwindale and city of industry. Which judgeing by the huge amount of trucks I see on the street I assume there are plenty of trucking jobs y be had .

Thanks for the help ...

Josh