Want to be an Over the Road Trucker?
There are numerous kinds of trucking jobs. In this blog I am going to focus on long-haul truck driving opportunities. Talking about the lifestyle of an OTR-Over the Road driver and all of the many distinctive features associated with the position are far too comprehensive for one article. For this reason we intend to examine three features associated with this position for starters. We will take a look at the schedule, compensation, and the advantages and disadvantages pertaining to over the road truckers. For this article, when I make reference to OTR drivers, I am talking about company drivers.
Schedule
Over the road careers are the most frequent kind of truck driving position. Most new truck drivers start in one of these jobs. To become a profitable over the road trucker it requires a willingness to be absent from home. Schedules will vary by company, but nonetheless , in the majority of over the road positions, a trucker can expect to be absent from home for several weeks and home for a few days and back to work once more. Generally, long haul drivers average one day home for each week worked. While on the road a driver may spend 18-23 hours daily inside the truck. The routine can be a boring routine of driving, getting loaded / unloaded, waiting around on a load, and occasionally stopping at a truck stop. Not everyone can get used to a lifestyle such as this and for somebody planning on becoming a truck driver this ought to be considered.
Pay
Wages for long-haul truckers contrast by company. Over the road truckers tend to be compensated by the mile. Average compensation for an seasoned driver is approximately 35 cents per mile with new truck drivers making less. But the amount of pay per mile is merely part of the story. Hours of service regulations are released by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/topics/hos/index.htm. There are many rules but drivers can get about 70hrs driving per week (actually in 8 days). In a perfect world a driver could conservatively average 50 miles per hr for 70 hours, they could get 3500 miles a week. 3500 miles times 35 cents would be $1225 a week before taxes. But we know that life on the road is far from being perfect. Time spent getting through traffic, getting loaded / unloaded, and awaiting a load certainly slashes into the amount of income a trucker can make. One of the unpleasant facts of driving over the road is the fact that drivers do not get paid for time spent on the road when they are not driving. By rule, drivers may drive for 11hrs in one day. If the truck driver gets delayed for 6 hours, he or she merely gets paid for 5 hrs. As you can understand there are several other variables linked to the actual pay of an OTR driver. It is important to do some investigation when looking at starting a new job. In a forth-coming article, we are going to look at the best approach to do groundwork on a specific company, but for now we shall examine a few of the advantages & disadvantages of long-haul truck driving.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Plenty of Job Opportunities
Get to check out the Great outdoors
Independence
Good Salary without a College degree
Cons
Being Absent from Home
Coping with Dangerous Drivers
Navigating an Tractor-Trailer in Traffic
Poor Weather
Solitude / Loneliness
Driving Related Activities in which the Driver is Not Paid
Truck Failures
Staying Fit / Weight Management
It has been said of careers, find a job that you enjoy and you will never work a day in your life. Many of the drivers that make their living with long-haul trucking, love their jobs and get addicted to the road. But because of the requirements of this job, it takes a particular type of person to be successful. Are you one of those people?
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