I run short haul and do zero drop and hook, home every Friday afternoon, and don't leave the house until Monday mid morning. I get plenty of sleep every night, maybe 10% of the time I get a shipper or receiver that takes way too long. I Put on maybe 2k miles a week and I average about 400 miles a day. Yes I'm an owner operator, my only dispatcher is myself and maybe the broker. If you get paid by the mile, especially doing short haul, you are short changing yourself unless they are paying extremely well. I average $2-3 a mile every week. Getting paid percentage is where it's at. I haven't been paid mileage for about 8 years and would never go back to milage, especially short haul. Plus, I love that I'm only a days drive at best, from my 8 year old if anything were to happen or I just needed or wanted to get home to him.
Life is Good. I’m seriously considering a career in trucking. I have been working in hospitals for years.....I’m Really tired of people. Being by myself for a while and getting paid seems like heaven from my standpoint lol
I been a carpenter for the past 24 years and im absolutely sick of it and I been talking with the people at alliance and they said that they got me a prehire . Im very excited about that but at the same time im kinda worried too. I did dumb things when I was younger and got in trouble and I got a few felonies but im 12 years clean and I pray that I'll get a truck job that im satisfied with. I lived rough , actually very rough considering that I went to prison 2 times . but I think I can do better driving trucks and I dont have any problem sleeping in a truck .
Now this was some honest shit from a driver, I been trucking for about 5 1/2 years now and man you you be surprised of how many drivers just been trucking less then a year or few years and is cocky as hell like they know everything to trucking , I always tell em I learn something new everyday
My husband used to do long haul as a company driver and he said he enjoyed it as a new driver. As time went by he said he was getting tired of long haul because you really have no life. He saved up money as a company driver doing long haul bought his own truck and got his own authority and do short haul regional and local work and he says it's the best thing he has ever done in trucking. He loves getting home to his wife on a regular basis instead of spending weeks and months on the road. He tells me now days OTR isn't worth it
I have a family wife and kids , and have been driving 10 years. I tried to make local and short haul work for years but have been doing long-haul paper logs with a small family oriented company for the past year and a half and can't be happier: everything you said is spot on.
I'm 19 and single. I'm planning on going local for the first 2 years so I get a lot of experience with backing and city driving. I'm hoping that after those 2 years I can make my way into OTR. Not having to worry about a family makes it much easier on me than it was for my grandfather when he Trucked in the 80s.
..LET Me Tell you 13 1/2 years ...''RUNNING-( O.T.R.)-2700 & 2800 miles PER/Week i made better $$$ money (RUNNING-3-Log-Books) don't tell anyOne ...I.R.S'' may be LISTENING''' ...
I run short haul delivering aggregate. Work for a ready mix company and get paid by the hour key to key. Start early and finished by 2 to 3 pm. Pay is good . 5 days a week 10-11 hours a day. Overtime after 8 hours everyday. Weekends off. Paid holidays off. Plenty of time to have a life with family and friends. Could not imagine going over the road EVER ! Sleep in my own bed in my own house every night.
First off, after watching a few of your videos, I decided to become a longhaul driver. I turned 52 last August and have been married 30 years.. I upgraded from a class 3 to a 1- 4 months ago. did 3 months at a place that gave me a shot running long haul, single with a dedicated truck. I quit and upgraded to a better run company with more stability, newer equip, better equipped and better rep etc... Solo dedicated truck and running flat deck super-b's. The 401 in Toronto was an eye opener for this prairie boy. , LOL.. My point is, its not just for single. Great pay, like you said, seeing the country. My wife doesn't mind the break, LOL.. Sometimes its a good chance to re invent yourself. Cheers and keep it shiny side up
Jimmie Z Sounds like trucking worked out for you. I'm 46, stuck in the same career for the past 30 years, time for a change, been seriously thinking about getting my CDL, and giving driving a shot. Always loved driving, and besides, I still have about 20 more years before I even consider retirement.
Yeah shorthaul is exhausting especially in a heavily populated city. I got more rest doing otr than short. Percentage is best for short haul thats for sure. Traffic and bumping docks will kill your day in and around the big city. Although i have to say Atlanta is the worst I've been in! I was living in New Orleans up until Katrina and even though its not as big as Atlanta, people actually went to work or just stayed out the way during work hours. Not in Atlanta! Ohhh my goodness its traffic 24-7 around this crash derby. And a poorly built infrastructure? Its like a bad nightclub, One way in and one way out in either direction....geesh! Cant wait to move to North Dallas, Texas. Yeah there's traffic there too but Texas is huge and has waaay more that one darn interstate...lol. Good stuff as always Dave👍
I absolutely HATE short haul, total waste of time, I live like a king on long haul, just me, the moon and the highway, can't wait to get back in my own drivers seat
I did short haul for 3 years and i was in hurry and on the gun for all day I was delivering 15 to 28 stop a day and I lost 4 points of 12 from my drive license ( France ) now am doing long haul one stop after 780 km sleeping 11 hours in a motel and 2 stops on my way back ....so easy and relaxing
I run northeast regional mostly between Boston and buffalo on I-90 and I can tell you with 100% certainty that you are absolutely correct in your assessment of short-haul trucking. It's always one extreme or the other it's either a grind or a hurry-up-and-wait situation. You are also correct about the advantage of drop and hook on short-haul although I have to be honest sometimes I run myself so ragged that I welcome a bit of a delay at the shipper it's a good time for me to catch up on some rest. And if someone out there can find me a store haul company they get you home at a decent hour every Friday let me know cuz normally I'm home late Saturday morning early afternoon just could be back out Before Dawn on Monday. When I get home Saturday I've left with just enough energy to make it through the front door to plop on the couch and slip into a coma for the next 12 hours then on Sunday evening when I need to turn in early to get an early start in the morning I can't sleep cuz I have just spent the last 12 hours dead to the world so rather than coming off of Hometime rested and rejuvenated ready to rock and roll like I'm supposed to, I come in dragging my feet exhausted having barely slept the night before.
I just made the switch from long haul to short haul. I am making 10 more cpm now and I see what you are saying about the lack of rest. I am with a small fleet and with a good dispatcher who sets up how many miles a day I want. If I want 500 He will give 500 if I want 700 he will set it up to give me 700. I got lucky with the small company I work for but I'm sure the bigger companies are just sucking the life out of their drivers. L
I do mostly short haul and regional/dedicated runs. It is more tiresome but most evenings are spent at home with the wife and kids. Also pays better than long haul. I do miss long haul though, but it is nice to work close to home.
I’m a short haul/regional driver hauling heavy equipment. I made $85,000 last year in the D.C. mid Atlantic region. I’m paid by the hour. Is that yearly income good for a 20yr+ veteran driver? I also haul tanker/hazmat. Just curious. Thanks.
Local is better for me. 630am thru 430-600pm mondy thru friday 750 miles a week $300 on fuel almost nothing on maintenace running empty 70% of the time. I got plenty of family time Eat and shower at home weekly check every friday. Not bragging 😎
LTL carriers are the way to go. When people ask me about getting into trucking. I advise them to use OTR as a stepping stone to a LTL carrier. Making multiple stops for an OTR carrier isn't real LTL work.
trucking CAN be for people with families..... im pretty happy with everything right now...... but local trucking jobs are for family people. i work 9-12 hours per day. i see my son every.....single.....day, and i thank myself everyday for walking away from OTR driving. i still consider myself to be a trucker, if you drive a CMV your a trucker. if you value your marriage or relationship with the kids, you will stay away from OTR..... get a local driving job or leave the industry. i would not make the $$ i am making if i left the industry. i make a pretty good $$. $900-$1,200 on average weekly driving a dump truck
I also found local hauling tougher. Leaving at three or four A.M. and trying to get everything done in a small window. Any hiccup or glitch at all would upset the balance of trying to make the last stop by the close of business,and if that was missed, it was backlogged on until the next day making things worse. Driving through lunch,hoping the light didn't turn red, no rest break etc. . Every second lost was frustrating. Some drivers were home every night, but hell it was just for a few hours. I found on a good day, operating OTR, with proper planning provided more balance as far as rest, food etc than going full throttle with my fingers crossed I didn't encounter a slight traffic jam. But different stroke for different folks. Find whatever fits you best. Being miserable in either one isn't worth it.
For the person who seems to have irregular sleeping patterns, even before stepping into a truck (i.e. they sleep when they need it and don't when they don't, rather than the same hours each day, day after day), aren't the govt regs which dictate how many hours you can drive, plus mandatory breaks and days off, force you to sleep when THEY say you need it rather than when you actually do? For example, if I reach my daily limit but I'm not tired yet, so I'm sitting somewhere wide awake, then after my forced break time is up and I'm able to legally drive again, that's when I get sleepy, then my sleep cycle isn't matching the govt regs on when I can drive. I don't see how such a person can maximize their income when their need to sleep doesn't align with the forced breaks, at no fault of their own. My hours constantly get moved forward, where I'm staying up later and getting up later. As a night owl, I would eventually get back on day hours again, then be back on night hours - rinse and repeat. If I tried to sleep and couldn't fall asleep for say, 5 hours, then were allowed to drive again, so I start up and three hours later I need 5 hours of sleep, that could throw off my schedule not only for myself but for the company and their promised pickup or delivery time of their customers. How do you get around this? Should such a person not even consider trucking as a profession if they want to maximize their income? It might be easier to get a standard 8-5 day job and just drink coffee to try and wake up in the morning after I laid awake until 3 or 4 am. At least I won't be driving without being rested, or sitting around unable to work when I'm wide awake.
It's a huge problem in our industry. I suggest picking a good starting time and a good quitting time for you personally, same time of day, every day and stick to that until your body adjusts and then stay with it. Proper rest is more important than the schedules some carriers may try to force upon you. It will probably take you a few carriers until you find one that accepts this. Dave
I always enjoy your videos. I agree on the shorthaul being tight scheduled. Doing shorthaul Ltl is tough to get anywhere. Specially when they give 10-12 drops.
Flatbedding has a lot of extra pay and you can get in and out pretty fast if you have good customers....plus you can always be close to home. A combination is best....taking a medium-long haul (600 miles) ,coming back ,then finishing around home. Working for a smaller company and having a good relationship with your dispatcher means a lot.
Ive been driving since 2013. And i just now got a local gig. I get paid by the hour. Make my own schedual. They never bother me. They just flip me the keys and paperwork and never call me. I call them when im done. Turn in my papers and go home. Couldnt be happier. Now im saving to buy a truck
I use to run nights between Winnipeg mb to Fargo nd and back mon to friday. Sounded good on paper but with 2 border crossings a day and delays as well as driving at night when sometimes i got no sleep during the day it was not a lot of fun.
Short Haul in the Chicago Area is paying either percentage or hourly or else drivers will just balk at it. Chicago traffic y'all-need I say more? Also, in my OTR experience, I found that the so called "open road" is one of the biggest myths purported since I obtain my CDL 5-years ago and is surely a thing of the past. I have been stuck in parking lots in the middle of nowhere because of accidents whether Kentucky or Colorado or Georgia or Washington State. I just came back from Detroit Friday and I-94 was like a rush hour at 1:30 P.M. in Leslie, MI!!! Also, long-hauls are in more demand: hence, why such loads pay less per mile: carriers bid them down. The secret to trucking in Northeastern Illinois is to be an O/O with a cheap pre-emissions day-cab tractor going out 50-175 miles. I was a driver paid on percentage and the following was a typical run: Bensenville, IL, to the Amazon Warehouse in Effingham, IL, pays $800.00. Scoot over to Sullivan, MO, bring some product to 3M in De Kalb, IL, for $650.00. DH back to the yard; 11 hour day. The above typical run grosses 2/3rds as much as the rates going Chicago to Atlanta yet burns 1/3 the fuel! At $3.15 Diesel, this is real money! Also, the perk that one gets to sleep in one's own bed. I don't spend $25.00 in "per diem" at a truck stop either. If the cheap tractor breaks down, you are no more than 175 miles out and can tow it to your own mechanic; or just throw it away and get another cheap tractor. There is no way the margins in trucking as I have been investigating, at least for dry-van and inter-modal work, can support a $550.00+ weekly payment for a tractor let alone $750.00+ required by late model tractor's financing. Cheap tractor should be $200.00- weekly payment, if not purchased outright. If I had the the funds, this is what I would do.
Out here in the oilfield it's basically a short-haul type situation. But most drivers in the oilfield get paid hourly. Which has a huge appeal sitting on loading for a while or spending time fueling or spending time chaining up and unchaining. I get out of bed Drive 5 miles to our shop, and start getting paid in the morning. When I get in in the evening park the truck and get in my car, I stop getting paid. When something goes wrong with the load the driver isn't the one in eats it and takes the hit.
I did OTR and it was fun at first but the damn DOT's are like dogs and will give you a ticket for damn near everything they can think of, I got into an accident in which I rear ended a hydroplaning car, nearly killed me, I filed a lawsuit, quit my previous job and got to work for the citys sanitation department being a HEO III making over 20$ hr starting, home every night and the job is pretty simple, in a machine with a stereo and AC all day.
But that is why there is a rate variation generally. Short haul generally has a higher rate and the ability to make a second or even third load delivery per day. Not always but often. The trucker himself also plays a part in the amount of money he makes,long and short haul. It depends on how energetic you feel and how driven you are.Then you have line haul which is another area of trucking.Then throw in multiple stops with extra pay for bumping the dock,drop and hook,LTL's. I did long haul,short haul,line haul and I averaged better net pay in line haul.But your video is very informative and accurate. You are right about who does or does not belong in trucking. Generally speaking to succeed in this profession you are married to the business and your truck is your home.It is a tough career being a professional trucker, but in my experience there is one job tougher than driver in the trucking industry, that is being a truck driver's wife. That job calls for a tough woman. Being a successful career oriented,professional truck driver is not for the faint of heart. It is often a lonely life without many thank you's. And by the way,many THANKS to all of you men and women in the industry.God Speed and Blessings.
It's nice to actually have a Man with decades of experience sharing such vast knowledge even if he's Canadian! Haha. Just kidding. Seriously, thank you Sir..
Thanks Scotty! You know, I tried when I was young to become an American, have family there and everything, but U.S. Immigration told me they didn't want Canadians, only Europeans. I never did understand that. True story. Dave
1:20 Jeez, this one hits really close to home with me. My company will sometimes force my sleep schedule to flip from early morning/day driving to night driving, sometimes in just one day all because I manage to get a 10-hour break in while waiting to get loaded. Then they get upset when I'm an hour late because I stopped to get some sleep because I wasn't accustomed to that schedule yet.
Long haul by a long shot.pay is better I get paid 30 percent gross.also the employer reimburses us for tools we buy for the truck.bring your own groceries it will save you money.if you have to there are always those fuel points to buy food at pilot or flying j.
I’m a company driver home every night and off 2 days a week work 6-8 hours a night $1500 plus a week I deliver to and pick up from the same place every night dedicated to the same customer best deal I’ve found in 20 years
@@SmartTrucking yup this is my 3rd year doing it and I’m going to ride this horse as long as I can. but you know as well as I do all great things come to and end eventually that’s truckin.
I'm working for a large food delivery company. Paid by the hour, home every night, work 3-4 days a week with weekends off making about 50k a year. I'm also right out of trucking school so I'd say I'm doing pretty good.
I run short haul hauling grain around southern Ontario, it's definitely a hurry up and wait type of job but it's really nice being able to swing by home a couple nights a week if I get a load delivering close to home!
I started my driving career in the city of Hamilton working for a company that had a fleet of old R model Internationals they pair $500. a copy for. The year was 1964 and my first week I worked 98 hours. Good money but no social life. My last driving job was in 2008 doing short haul with a nice blue Pete. That was a good job until some goober ran a red light at a high rate fo speed and I T boned him. I had a whiplash injury but I was determined to keep working. I made it almost two months but when I hurt too much to be able to pull the pin to drop a trailer I knew I was done. It took 5 and a half years to get a settlement from the insurance company and when I did I got lots less than I thought I should. Oh well.
Short-haul trucking = you get paid by the HOUR, so you know where you stand. Never accept short-haul jobs that pay by the mile, just walk away from them and don't look back. Long-haul trucking = you get paid by the mile, and with so many variables involved you often earn less than minimum wage, making the job not even worth doing in the first place. Plus automation will be eliminating long-haul, so short-haul trucking will soon be the ONLY jobs available for anyone doing trucking. ONLY accept jobs that are short-haul and pay BY-THE-HOUR, and you get to come home to sleep in your own bed every night. If the job does not have those conditions then walk away from that work and find another career to work in, perhaps bricklaying, HVAC, or plumbing.
I live in Niagara falls Canada im home 3 days a week, I run from here to NYS, PA, DE, NJ and MD. I go out monday usually in the afternoon run down to my delivery, sleep at the receiver, get unloaded there. Head from wherever i deliver to The port in Wilmington DE, hook to a load of Bananas and come home. I get home around 1-5am wednesday, take the day off go back out thursday and do it again, home around 1-5am Satarday. Its pretty good, i average 2000 miles a week and am home 3 days of that week.
aha! ur on the ball Dave, Ya i work for Zavcor out of stevensville, we pull 53ft reefers too. Depends on the load, some times i pull nothing but reefers for weeks, then im pulling cans, aha its a good place to work so far.
You make better short haul but you’re right I’m always running.I absolutely love being my own boss I’m an owner operator and I love running my business and you and your videos help me a ton!!!!Dont ever stop and I’ll see you on the backhaul.👍👍👍✅✅✅👌👌💪💪
I was a driver and now dispatch short haul drivers. From my experience the short haul destroys trucks faster than long haul. So not only does it destroy the driv e r, it destroys the truck. Because trucks, even day cabs are not built for constant short hajl.
If the money was out there for the road drivers. I would prefer to run 4 weeks then take one week off. Right now I'm doing something like linehaul but that's maxing out my clock everyday 5 days a week. I'm getting paid a flat rate or salary whatever you want to call it. The money is not too bad but the hours are crazy
i work for a construction company driving dump truck. i get allot of rate work, last week for 34 hours i made $21.69 per hour, and for the balance of hours it was $16 PLUS overtime after 40, so i made close to $1,000 gross on 44 hours. i cant complain. hourly is best, CPM is a joke...... especially when you dont get paid to sit..... if the truck doesnt move those guys dont make any money..... lol the real kicker with my job, often times i wait an hour for them to load me with broken concrete, an hour for them to jack hammer the sidewalk pieces. i did 2 loads today and made 9 hours at $21.69 per hour. i probably sat in the truck for 4 hours not moving in total, yet i still made more then allot of CPM guys. $21.69x9=$195 to drive 70 miles lol. class B lol
andrew donohue Class B does have its benefits I was offered 22.48 at an airport, and I had a class A, most trucking company want 2 years of tractor trailer experience but pays 18 dollar starting. WTF?
They also have tractor trailers, they have many more dump trucks but have both. If she asks me to drive a tractor trailer I won't refuse. Likely she would pay more too. They have flowboys, loboys, and dump trailers
andrew donohue otr is good if you dont have a life or something. I have been otr (in training) for a month now. After a year, im just going to buy my own truck so i can make a lot more money and i can be able to go home whenever i want. I might as well by my own boss about this
andrew donohue Oil field. Kill truck or hot oiler 23-27 an hour. You have a "dedicated" lease. X amount of oil wells that need treatment or testing. I would go out to a location. Tie in to the back side or tubing. That job may take 45 minutes. We charged that oil company 4 - 5 hrs ticket time. Knock out 6 - 7 of those jobs- wendsday morning through Saturday your on overtime. Time and a half . Do the math Go in at 5 and be home between 3-6 in the afternoon. Maybe 50 miles in a day Class A .. lol MIKE DROP
Also in the oilfield though, you put in a lot of hours. In the oilfield a typical driver will probably work as many hours if not more than a driver over the road. But if you've moved to where you work like I did, your home every night sleeping in your own bed. Working hard though, you get rewarded well. I get paid more than double what I made over the road running hard.
Smart-Trucking.com It helps a lot if you're willing to move to the area where you're working period for me I was lucky enough to find a job in the area I wanted to move to anyhow. So it made for a perfect situation.
I'm sorry but I make more money doing short hauls. Plus I getting paid for every stop. Driving back and forth fromTampa to Fort Pierce is 100 times better then driving otr. I make more money driving 100-150 miles a day with 3 to 5 stops then otr pays me
@Smart-Trucking.com I started out driving long haul. It has a way of getting into your blood, one day here and the next day gone, always a new exciting place. It was hard on my family though. When things came back around I resorted to hauling water in the oilfield. It's tiring. Haha. Very good money once you have some experience. About 3 times the amount of money every month. But there are long days sometimes, 20+ hour days. And and on your days on your pretty well on call all the time, drilling rigs and frac operations are 24/7 and it seems like they wait until the last second to call and when they do call they want water this instant, and if the rig looses circulation you never know how long you'll be there, running just as hard as you can around and around. Most of the time your home in the evening though. So it's not horrible. Production water is what I like. It's more predictable, you haul those wells and call it a day. But the job itself usually pays by the hour, there are few companies who pay a percentage of what the truck makes and usually those drivers get screwed. Some only average out to 10 or 15 dollars an hour doing it that way. But there are other companies getting busy enough to offer up to $25 an hour, which is good money for the job. Winter and mud season are a pain though, sometimes chaining up and down 10 or 15 times a day. And it's usually dirt roads, some not very friendly, even in dry conditions. All in all, despite all the negatives, I like hauling water here locally much better. At least I am compensated for all the time I put in instead of just when I'm moving. Thanks for all your videos I really enjoy them.
It was my desire to be a family man that was the main factor in my giving up my short career in trucking. Been almost 28 years since I left the industry but I still love watching these videos.
Years ago I was in a truck stop and told a trucker I was a night person. He said "You'd make a good truck driver." Wouldn't you earn more money driving at night if there's less traffic on the Interstates to slow you down around urban areas, (not to mention easier driving due to fewer cars everywhere at night), or is it not enough of a slow down to affect your income that much?
Thank you Steve for your advices. Thank GOD here in NJ there is a lot of local work hourly pay for drivers. I’ve never had the necessity to go OTR, so I sleep at home every night and make decent money. And If you don’t like the company you are in, you can always move. There are also bad ones out there who try to trick you with short haul payed by mile. It happened to me with our best friend swift. I was putting over 70 hours a week and sometimes taking home not even 500 bucks. Thank god I didn’t last long there. Now I work from 5 to 3 on average and take home 900 to 1000 and weekends off. I’m with a good carrier now, finally after 3 years of looking around and being fooled.
My last job was short haul. I haul'ed sugar beats in Hillsboro,ND. 12 hours on 12 off 3 days on two off. Full benefits and lots of perks. Three mouths off a year and then collect lay off pay with no bs about it. This after long hauling for many years . My health let me down or I would still be there today I loved that job. They were a no BS treat you well company. You did have to dive in the snow and drive ice with supper singles . I did this in a double and you need to know what your doing to do this or its off the road. But I must say I love it and miss that job. Tell you this do not retire zzzz Keep on trucking ;-)
I've ran regional(short haul) local home daily and otr. I prefer the otr. Local pay sucks! No miles at all. Short haul wasn't much better and 34 hours at home just isn't enough. I am a family man with teenagers. But I'm fortunate enough to be with a good company making pretty descent money and I'm home 3 days every 2 weeks. I've never missed a birthday or anniversary or holiday I wanted home. And for that I'm thankful!
Excellent video very informative on just about every aspect of trucking and its pros and cons. Thanks, you are one the most experienced and knowledgable persons on this subject, and give great pointers to both experienced and beginning truck drivers..
Mega company's pay the driver's 40 cents per mile. They can run the 1000 mile loads. The 40 cents per mile driver doesn't want the 100 mile load that is paying $500
I know lol that's what miss lol with long haul or otr last I was doing was otr hopper bottom I like them yeah family guy but I'm divorced my kids are grow up
Get some end dump, bellys or doubles experience or other construction type trucking if you own your truck you can lease you and the rig to larger outfits as well .Paying $85 to 150 an hour for hauling for federal projects like interstates. Around here theres a lot of Las Vegas to Phoenix runs ,flat beads with drywall mostly but its steady and easy work j
