Considering A Career But Have A Family
Topic 11764 | Page 1
hi, I'm thinking about a career change and getting into trucking. I've always liked travel and would prefer a road trip to a flight every time. my only concerns are that I'm married and have young kids. I know there are regional and local jobs that get me home fairly often, but it seems like I'd have to put in a year or two otr first. I'm in car sales now, just ready for a change.
It's tough, at least for me it is. I have an 8 and 4 yr old, whom I am very close to. It's been rough so far, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Once I get my experience,I am definitely finding something local. If you're lucky, you might find something local right away
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.
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.
Jason,
Keep thinking about driving 18 wheels and 20 tons of freight across country. It's a good dream.
You will most probably start out OTR , but if you keep at it in a few months you could look around in the company for other opportunities.
The being away part is no fun. But it's something many of us have learned to deal with.
Have you read Brett's Book about his truck driving career, or the Truck Driver's Career Guide?
The next step is to start studying the High Road Training Program so you'll ace thought CDL permit test.
There's more, but that will get you started.
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.
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.
Yes, I've read bretts book. it helped me a lot with the insights and what to really expect.
Jason,
Keep thinking about driving 18 wheels and 20 tons of freight across country. It's a good dream.You will most probably start out OTR , but if you keep at it in a few months you could look around in the company for other opportunities.
The being away part is no fun. But it's something many of us have learned to deal with.
Have you read Brett's Book about his truck driving career, or the Truck Driver's Career Guide?
The next step is to start studying the High Road Training Program so you'll ace thought CDL permit test.
There's more, but that will get you started.
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.
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.
There are some companies, like Schneider, that can start you out on a regional , or local route, and other's that are strictly regional, and have guaranteed home weekends.
Local routes can be nerve wracking for a new driver though, since it is a lot of P&D , usually in city environment. It is usually best to start out regional, or otr , to get your feet wet,and then transition to the local routes. Keep in mind though, that although you may get home daily on a local route, you will not have much time to enjoy your family, between driving, and sleeping from exhaustion.
There are a lot of great companies out there, that can fill your needs, and many of them are represented on this site. Hope you find what you are looking for.
Stay safe
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.
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.
P&D:
Pickup & Delivery
Local drivers that stay around their area, usually within 100 mile radius of a terminal, picking up and delivering loads.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers for instance will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.
^ Dan ^ wrote:
Local routes can be nerve wracking for a new driver though, since it is a lot of P&D , usually in city environment. It is usually best to start out regional , or otr , to get your feet wet,and then transition to the local routes. Keep in mind though, that although you may get home daily on a local route, you will not have much time to enjoy your family, between driving, and sleeping from exhaustion.
I actually want to touch on this a bit JASON. This is something to very much consider. At the end of the day you'll be exhausted, than trying to spend more energy than you have with your family. It won't be long before it catches up to you and you may either 1) have an accident and lose your job because you were too sleepy to focus, or 2) end up blowing up on your family due to exhausted crankyness. Lots of stress combined with a real lack of sleep will shorten even the longest of tempers at times.
I would honestly suggest finding a regional route. More often than not they offer home most weekends. I/They say most because stuff happens sometimes and you may have to spend a weekend out on the road. This will also give you experience that you can use to make that local route much less stressful when you do get it. You can probably find a list of companies hiring regional in a job booklet that you can find in any truck stop.
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.
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.
P&D:
Pickup & Delivery
Local drivers that stay around their area, usually within 100 mile radius of a terminal, picking up and delivering loads.
LTL (Less Than Truckload) carriers for instance will have Linehaul drivers and P&D drivers. The P&D drivers will deliver loads locally from the terminal and pick up loads returning to the terminal. Linehaul drivers will then run truckloads from terminal to terminal.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated
Look up dale clay on you tube he is with maveric he gets home nearly every weekend.
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hi, I'm thinking about a career change and getting into trucking. I've always liked travel and would prefer a road trip to a flight every time. my only concerns are that I'm married and have young kids. I know there are regional and local jobs that get me home fairly often, but it seems like I'd have to put in a year or two otr first. I'm in car sales now, just ready for a change.
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.
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.