Thinkin'g about OTR trucking . Advice ??
 

Construction is slowing up here in Nj . I'm thinking about getting into OTR trucking . Can anyone give me some pro's and cons ?? I enjoy driving and don't have any ties here at home so this is one thing i'm considering . Thanks guys .

Im not a trucker, so let me qualify any statements that I make here on this topic are limited to my discussions with my brother-in-law, who is a truck driver.

This can be a great living for somebody who has limited education and likes to be out on the road. If you get in with the right company you can make some darn good money.

However. You can forget trying to plan anything. Even Doctor visits. Vacations are hard to get and when you get them you don't know what to do with yourself because you spend so much time out on the road. You need to get caught up on chores back at home when you get home.

Most trucking companies and the companies they contract with don't give two hoots about your time. You will get paid by the mile. If you are stuck in traffic not making any miles....that is your problem. If you are in between loads...................sitting.......and sitting...................and sitting......waiting on your next load or backhaul...........you are getting paid very little if anything for that time. Nobody cares. It is not costing them any money. When the clock says 5pm....they are out the door. IF you have to wait till the next day to call back in to get your next assignment....that is fine with them.

Most trucking companies offer little in the way of benefits beyond health insurance.

If you want to get your foot in the door and drive awhile....and get some experience.........then maybe you can go to work for Walmart or Shaw Industries or UPS or some large company that tends to take better care of their employees. But there is no guarantee you can get hired with one of them.

If driving OTR is what you really want to do.....I am not trying to discourage you from doing it. Just be sure you do some due diligence with whatever company you want to work for.

How about put that Cummins to work and haul some cars :cool:

From what I've looked into it, it sounds like you can fairly easily make 50K but probably have to deal with what TexasCTD talks about.

Move to where there is more construction. Driving truck should be a last resort.

move to houston, there is ALWAYS construction going on [eyecrazy]

I have many friends and family members in trucking. Right now its a terrible profession to be in. Many independent owner/operators are parking their trucks, some taking other work until fuel costs go down, and some selling their trucks and either working for someone else or changing careers. This affects people trying to get work with larger companies, because the market is becomming flooded with owner operators who are now looking to work for someone else. Too many drivers trying to get work means wages are dropping. It would be nuts to try to start a business yourself right now, and going to work for someone else means you will be up against many more experienced drivers trying to get on with the larger companies.

Of course what has been said in other posts is also true. You have to really love driving and living on the road to do this. If you are a family person, you will have a hard time. If you "have a life" which involves spending a lot of time with friends and family, you will have a hard time. Most people I know who drive over the road have a very low maintenance "home base", usually a mobile home or apartment. Basically just a place to store their stuff and receive mail while they are gone, and have a familiar place when they come home.I know a couple who just use a camper in a campground. Turn off the gas, lock the doors, and say good bye for several days or several weeks...they usually have no idea how long they will be gone, because that depends on where the paying loads are headed. Of course this can be different in other parts of the country, where you have more chance of getting a good load near your home. But up here in northern New England, coming home usually means a minimum of hundreds of miles running empty just to take a few days off.

Jim

What part of construction are you in that's slowing down? If you're on the dirt crew, take your unemployment over the winter and go back in the spring. You say you have few ties, so unemployment *might* be able to support ya for a couple three months. You'll still eat good, just won't be modding the CTD any too much. Trust me, I've been there and done that, and if I weren't in school I'd go back. I will go back this summer actually. I've thought of driving, but local, no OTR for me. I'd love to get into hauling gravel or something, but then again, I love running D7's too. I have no CDL yet, so I'm on the 7 so it looks.

Come down to UC and get a Construction Management degree. Takes 5 years, but you co-op half of it, which lets you pay for your school.