Home Just About Every Night In Atlanta?
Topic 14572 | Page 1
Richard, it's pretty difficult to find local work straight out of school because most local companies require at least some OTR experience. It's even more difficult to safely perform local work straight out of school because local work normally entails navigating through heavy traffic most of the day and making multiple stops to customers with very difficult backing situations on a tight schedule.
People who come out of school and do manage to jump into local work right away tend to get in a lot of little fender benders and back into things quite a bit. It's an incredibly stressful way to begin a career in trucking.
That being said, it can still be done. We have an excellent listing of truck driving jobs you can check out for ideas:
We always recommend that people go OTR for at least 6 - 12 months before attempting local work. In fact, we have tons of advice for helping new drivers get their career off to a great start. Go through these links and you'll learn a ton about the industry, how to choose a school, how to choose the right company to work for, how to prepare for the testing, and more:
- Truck Driver's Career Guide
- Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
- High Road Training Program
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.
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.
Thanks Brett,
I'm about 35% through the High Road Training Program for the second time, and it is even better than the first time I did it over a year ago. I strongly recommend this program for all wannabe drivers!
My home life currently does not permit the OTR job, as much as I'd prefer that. I'm open to class B work if that would make any sense.
Any thoughts or comments on that from you or anyone else on the forum would be greatly appreciated!!
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.
It shouldn't be too hard to find a local job in atlanta, there is a few ltl companies and the ports are close by. But I agree with Brett even if you can't do otr at least look at a regional position. Local trucking in my opinion is harder than working otr for a bigger company. My uncle hauled mail for about 10 or 15 years and yeah he was home every day but he got home at 2 or 3 and had to be in bed by 4 to get up at 1am to go out again. Regional with home weekends would be the best route unless there is something you have to be home every day for.
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.
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Been home from the magic kingdom of Saudi Arabia for about a year now. I've decided to go to CDL school for my newest career, but I've been traveling for most of my 64 years, so I'm looking for a gig here in the ATL where I can sleep in my own bed most nights.
Any suggestions on what type of driving, or maybe even recommendations on good companies in this area?
Thanks!
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles: