Driving Jobs Other Than OTR

Well there are other options but it depends on what your looking for . Do you want an A or B cdl . If you truly want a local job there are many B aka straight job delivery opportunities out there . They require ALOT of physical activity and run long days but they are there . You can also look into transit/bus positions as well though pay isn't as great but hours are not bad and again its local . Greyhound is always looking for A/B drivers though this is a bit more like OTR but you stay in hotels and have to bid on routes depending on seniority . Transit buses that articulate require a class A but are mostly city jobs. If you look into paving construction or highway depts they have many jobs that need cdl drivers but you'll be doing more than driving so be forewarned . I'm aware of Schnider having a "Final Mile" department which requires a B class cdl but this is a local job where you'll operate a straight truck . You could also look into becoming a tow operator if you get any class cdl . If you get an A you could get into heavy wrecking and salvage . If you get your H X and N endorsements try your hand at residential fuel delivery . I just want to make it know these all will require more than just driving but are many options in which you can apply a cdl without needing that OTR experience which may not be an option or desire for some. I hope it helps .

This is an exceptional story but figured it might show another avenue. I knew someone who started at a concrete company as a B dump driver/laborer and was able to get trained when he got his A permit on jobs with the trailers and wound up with a local job operating 30' quadruple axle sandboxes yep 26 wheels . I see these run around my area regularly. Again this is an exception and not necessarily traditional driving but thought it noteworthy . OTR is definitely the tried and true method and the folks here have that experience but again depends on what your plan is for your CDL . As a caveat though if you start local and decide to go OTR your experience may not count even if it's Class A .

Most local companies that pay a decent salary will require at least one year of experience. The exceptions will be very few companies and those that have a high turnover due to the physicality of the job. There are many class B opportunities, but most do not pay very much. I drove OTR for almost a year and I now work for Pepsi filling vending machines. My wife had cancer and needed my support at home. I am very fortunate to have a decent paying job that does not require more physically than my 60 year old body can withstand.

If you can backup to anything and everything ect.. go for it.. seem most ward away from local stuff because newbies suck at backing up... im in school and got bored... i made myself an old serpentine back test using 8 cones instead of 3... like i said i was bored lol

It's possible, best bet to avoid really tough situations would be regional work getting you home weekly. All I got to say is avoid dollar store accounts. If there is a will there is a way.

If you can backup to anything and everything ect.. go for it.. seem most ward away from local stuff because newbies suck at backing up... im in school and got bored... i made myself an old serpentine back test using 8 cones instead of 3... like i said i was bored lol

Backing is easy when it's cones. Wait till you got to blindside back into a business on a busy street with cars on both side of the road. Don't get too overconfident that will lead to accidents.

If you can backup to anything and everything ect.. go for it.. seem most ward away from local stuff because newbies suck at backing up

Scott, we're proud to have you in here, and glad to hear you're doing so well going backwards. But... you need to be careful giving out advice like this. People get their whole careers cut short by going local first. We see it often. There's always a few exceptions, and we've got a few of those exceptions in here. Most of them readily admit that they got lucky. There's a lot more issues involved than just backing.

We teach best practices in here. We do that because they produce the best results. There are a lot of reasons why most local jobs require one year of OTR experience. So, we don't just encourage newbies to avoid local jobs because they might not be good at backing the truck. Sure, that is one part of the problem, but there are plenty of other issues involved.

Any job that is safety sensitive like trucking should be a approached with incremental steps into the learning process. Taking a local job first bypasses many of the opportunities for learning how to handle a rig in all sorts of situations. It's not recommended here.

If you can backup to anything and everything ect.. go for it.. seem most ward away from local stuff because newbies suck at backing up

Scott, we're proud to have you in here, and glad to hear you're doing so well going backwards. But... you need to be careful giving out advice like this. People get their whole careers cut short by going local first. We see it often. There's always a few exceptions, and we've got a few of those exceptions in here. Most of them readily admit that they got lucky. There's a lot more issues involved than just backing.

We teach best practices in here. We do that because they produce the best results. There are a lot of reasons why most local jobs require one year of OTR experience. So, we don't just encourage newbies to avoid local jobs because they might not be good at backing the truck. Sure, that is one part of the problem, but there are plenty of other issues involved.

Any job that is safety sensitive like trucking should be a approached with incremental steps into the learning process. Taking a local job first bypasses many of the opportunities for learning how to handle a rig in all sorts of situations. It's not recommended here.

yes i almost fell into the dollar account trap until this page forced me to do more research on it... prob spent 15 hours or so on google and you tube.... told them to shove that one you know where lol.

It's possible, best bet to avoid really tough situations would be regional work getting you home weekly. All I got to say is avoid dollar store accounts. If there is a will there is a way.

If you can backup to anything and everything ect.. go for it.. seem most ward away from local stuff because newbies suck at backing up... im in school and got bored... i made myself an old serpentine back test using 8 cones instead of 3... like i said i was bored lol

Backing is easy when it's cones. Wait till you got to blindside back into a business on a busy street with cars on both side of the road. Don't get too overconfident that will lead to accidents.

ill quote the russian bad guy from goldeneye (james bond) "use the bumpers, thats what they are for".

but in all serious yes its cones and every situation will be different. but when i im watching people here on the cone range take over 10 min on the strait back cone course and they still kill half of them after 25 hours of practice... i start to worry

It's possible, best bet to avoid really tough situations would be regional work getting you home weekly. All I got to say is avoid dollar store accounts. If there is a will there is a way.

If you can backup to anything and everything ect.. go for it.. seem most ward away from local stuff because newbies suck at backing up... im in school and got bored... i made myself an old serpentine back test using 8 cones instead of 3... like i said i was bored lol

Backing is easy when it's cones. Wait till you got to blindside back into a business on a busy street with cars on both side of the road. Don't get too overconfident that will lead to accidents.

ill quote the russian bad guy from goldeneye (james bond) "use the bumpers, thats what they are for".

but in all serious yes its cones and every situation will be different. but when i im watching people here on the cone range take over 10 min on the strait back cone course and they still kill half of them after 25 hours of practice... i start to worry

Since you're still researching, the thread I'll link is a long read but very thorough & worth the time if your interested in other than OTR. Huge word of caution though. Read the warnings throughout that thread & heed the experienced drivers warnings in this thread also. LTL & P&D have unique hazards & dangers. For LTL: Seeing the second trailer take out a box truck while the tractor & 1st trailer were straight in their lanes is nothing to take lightly. For P&D: very physically demanding with bumping 10 or more docks per day & all the loading & unloading on top of that.

Here's the link to LTL Training Diary

Solo wrote in reference to his friend delivering beer locally:

What he has found is that everyone may say they want experience, but they really want somebody with a current/clean CDL.

...that is what your friend found to be true? How many places.

Perhaps for the company he is working for, but not so for the majority of local CDL A work being advertised.

To reiterate: local work is best performed by a more experienced hand and NOT by an entry-level driver.

Solo we have seen countless examples of newbies taking-on local work an quickly failing. Your friend is the exception to the rule.

I wasn't stating that it's not best performed by experienced drivers, but merely pointing out that getting a local job right out of CDL school is not impossible. Il-advised? Sure...an argument based upon location/route, etc could be made. Impossible? No.