Day Cab vs OTR....thoughts?

[SueAnn]

Many of you have opinions of what's better to do. I'm tossing around the idea of changing to day cab and be home every night. I think it will be a big change but it's an area of the business I haven't experienced full time yet.

Since most of my trips have been short trips with a ton of stress, I'm looking for your thoughts on changing positions. Please include why in your answers and tell me a little of what's expected in the job. It's hauling reefers and vans. I don't do flatbeds.

 

[Mike]

If I could make the same income, I would probably do it simply to be home with the family everyday. I've looked around a couple times, and never found anything that could even get me close.

If I was single, I think I would still prefer OTR. Every local job I came across had so many hours involved that it just seemed too much like work to me.

 

[BlackBart]

Keep this in mind

Day cab drivers gotta deal with sump tin the OTR folks dont.. the commute. OTR folks can shut down and crawl in the sleeper wheresoever the hell they park.

With a day cab job tho, you gotta drag yer butt in the office and punch out, then drag yer butt to yer car and drive home, possibly fightin rush hour traffic... and the commute is part of your at least 10 hours off

That'll leave ya with just enough time to eat, hit the hay, shit shower shave and shine the next mornin, and drive to work and hit 'er again

You can make a damn good living runnin a local job, but it aint all its cracked up to be

 

[Rigjockey]

Go local.
You know at the end of the day you will be going home to a safe place to sleep in your own bed without the noise of trucks coming and going.

Nobody is paying attention if you want to run the A/C all night long.
Shower every night

Sure you may earn less but, you will also spend less.
Also you can't put a price on quality of life.

 

[SueAnn]

Keep this in mind

Day cab drivers gotta deal with sump tin the OTR folks dont.. the commute. OTR folks can shut down and crawl in the sleeper wheresoever the hell they park.

With a day cab job tho, you gotta drag yer butt in the office and punch out, then drag yer butt to yer car and drive home, possibly fightin rush hour traffic... and the commute is part of your at least 10 hours off

That'll leave ya with just enough time to eat, hit the hay, shit shower shave and shine the next mornin, and drive to work and hit 'er again

You can make a damn good living runnin a local job, but it aint all its cracked up to be

That's how I'm running now and freezing at night. That's not gonna change anytime soon.

I don't mind the traffic, I grew up in Toronto and know it well. I usually never have a problem getting in and out of it. I have a problem delivering to some of the places they send me with a sleeper. Quite often I have to jack knife it in just to get it in. Throw in a few anxious drivers and I'm pissed I'm an OTR doing a day cab job.

I'm moving 15 mins away from the yard into a beautiful new place and am going to enjoy it. No traffic jams on the way home, just a short country drive.

 

[SueAnn]

Go local.
You know at the end of the day you will be going home to a safe place to sleep in your own bed without the noise of trucks coming and going.

Nobody is paying attention if you want to run the A/C all night long.
Shower every night

Sure you may earnless but, you will also spend less.
Also you can't put a price on quality of life.

SHOWER!!!! That does it right there! There is no time for anything in the position I have now. I have a ton of paperwork, the reefer is running all night, there's no heat or a/c unless I idle the truck and we don't want that to happen.

And Diezel isn't happy. We're not stopping like we used too. I wait hours at the shipper and then have to go like hell to make the scheduled delivery that's not doable in the first place.

 

[SueAnn]

If I could make the same income, I would probably do it simply to be home with the family everyday. I've looked around a couple times, and never found anything that could even get me close.

If I was single, I think I would still prefer OTR. Every local job I came across had so many hours involved that it just seemed too much like work to me.

I can't make any where near what you do because you're an o/o. I don't and will never own my own truck.

I love OTR but winters coming and I'd like to stay around home and let some time pass between me and the accident.

 

[BlackBart]

That's how I'm running now and freezing at night. That's not gonna change anytime soon.

I don't mind the traffic, I grew up in Toronto and know it well. I usually never have a problem getting in and out of it. I have a problem delivering to some of the places they send me with a sleeper. Quite often I have to jack knife it in just to get it in. Throw in a few anxious drivers and I'm pissed I'm an OTR doing a day cab job.

I'm moving 15 mins away from the yard into a beautiful new place and am going to enjoy it. No traffic jams on the way home, just a short country drive.

15 mins from the yard?

sounds like a good deal if this job is everything else that ya need

 

[SueAnn]

15 mins from the yard?

sounds like a good deal if this job is everything else that ya need

I'm also in the "hub" of a lot of companies if it turns out not to be.

The ride home will be so great once I get moved in a couple weeks. Right now it's 2.5 to 3 hours with a lot of construction. This companies not getting a few things that's kinda pissed me off in the last few days.

I'm used to being gone for 2-3 weeks at a time. The longest with this company has been 6 days.

 

[mndriver]

You do you.

just make yourself happy

 

[SueAnn]

You do you.

just make yourself happy

I'm working on it. Thanks for that!

 

[Phantom Trucker]

Sounds to me like you need a new carrier altogether and perhaps one in a different segment of trucking with a little less stress.

No heat or A/C and you have a pet with you? Completely unreasonable.

 

[SueAnn]

Sounds to me like you need a new carrier altogether and perhaps one in a different segment of trucking with a little less stress.

No heat or A/C and you have a pet with you? Completely unreasonable.

Not unless I idle the truck. Don't worry about my little prince. He has a ton of clothes and sleeps under the covers I doubt he even knows it's chili in the bunk.

I'm thinking about changing segments but need to try and stay heree for a little while.

 

[Electric Chicken]

Day cab ain't bad but your shift is your shift. You gotta be back or get a hotel.

It's definitely easier to get hooked into a lot of these spaces and docks where sleepers struggle unless they give you a truck equally long but without a bunk. Then it's pointless. Short wheelbase bounces more than a longer sleeper though. So you won't be as comfortable.

Day cabs have a cheater window too. Makes hooking and blindside easier.

I slept better and drove more refreshed when I did regional, but my days were longer because I always ran out the clock. Local is what you can reasonably get done. If there isn't anything close enough to do in 2 hours then your day is shortened. Not always a bad thing after busting it.

Local driving you pack a lunch and take your coffee and a bag of supplies and tools. OTR/Regional you pack for longer out. Local you pack and unpack every day because your truck isn't your truck. Sleeper you keep it in there until you quit or they sell it.

15 minute commute is good for local. I am/was about 9. Some folks are the maximum 60 and it's killing them.

Everything is compromise.

 

[SueAnn]

Day cab ain't bad but your shift is your shift. You gotta be back or get a hotel.

It's definitely easier to get hooked into a lot of these spaces and docks where sleepers struggle unless they give you a truck equally long but without a bunk. Then it's pointless. Short wheelbase bounces more than a longer sleeper though. So you won't be as comfortable.

Day cabs have a cheater window too. Makes hooking and blindside easier.

I slept better and drove more refreshed when I did regional, but my days were longer because I always ran out the clock. Local is what you can reasonably get done. If there isn't anything close enough to do in 2 hours then your day is shortened. Not always a bad thing after busting it.

Local driving you pack a lunch and take your coffee and a bag of supplies and tools. OTR/Regional you pack for longer out. Local you pack and unpack every day because your truck isn't your truck. Sleeper you keep it in there until you quit or they sell it.

15 minute commute is good for local. I am/was about 9. Some folks are the maximum 60 and it's killing them.

Everything is compromise.

Thanks so much. That's a lot of really good information that I was looking for.

 

[Electric Chicken]

You're welcome. Don't know if it's ever happened to you, but it has to me. If you're feeling straight up tired and can't continue, with a sleeper you can pull over anywhere the truck will fit and be legal and take a nap. Even if you have hours.

With day cab, you can pull over but you can't take a 10 in it so any nap will have to still allow you hours on the same shift to get back. Otherwise that nap costs you a hotel.

I've never needed a hotel but have needed naps.

I run hard but conservative. If dispatch says I can do a load on the tail end I'm scrutinizing whether I can actually do it with plenty to spare. Sometimes they forget you're in a slow accelerating, governed truck. It also means no one has had to be sent out to fetch me and my truck. That happens too sometimes. They don't really want to pay for hotels.

Eg some guys will run a load that says it'll take 4 hours when they have 4 hours then wait on a driver to come get them if they run out, which can take a couple hours more. That's a 15-16 hour day by that point.

Not me. I say nope too close to call. Send me home or give me something else.

 

[SueAnn]

You're welcome. Don't know if it's ever happened to you, but it has to me. If you're feeling straight up tired and can't continue, with a sleeper you can pull over anywhere the truck will fit and be legal and take a nap. Even if you have hours.

With day cab, you can pull over but you can't take a 10 in it so any nap will have to still allow you hours on the same shift to get back. Otherwise that nap costs you a hotel.

I've never needed a hotel but have needed naps.

I run hard but conservative. If dispatch says I can do a load on the tail end I'm scrutinizing whether I can actually do it with plenty to spare. Sometimes they forget you're in a slow accelerating, governed truck. It also means no one has had to be sent out to fetch me and my truck. That happens too sometimes. They don't really want to pay for hotels.

Eg some guys will run a load that says it'll take 4 hours when they have 4 hours then wait on a driver to come get them if they run out, which can take a couple hours more. That's a 15-16 hour day by that point.

Not me. I say nope too close to call. Send me home or give me something else.

More good points. I'm not sure how far the day cabs go but I'm like you and plan it out to see how much time I have.

Last Saturday, I had to go to Toronto to pick up two loads and then on to MN. The first pick up was fast but really tight for a sleeper. The second pick up was a nightmare. I waited almost 6 hours. I barely got to a service center before I ran out of hours. In Canada we can drive up to 13 hours.

I'll start talking to the day cabbers and see what their days are like.

 

[Electric Chicken]

More good points. I'm not sure how far the day cabs go but I'm like you and plan it out to see how much time I have.

Last Saturday, I had to go to Toronto to pick up two loads and then on to MN. The first pick up was fast but really tight for a sleeper. The second pick up was a nightmare. I waited almost 6 hours. I barely got to a service center before I ran out of hours. In Canada we can drive up to 13 hours.

I'll start talking to the day cabbers and see what their days are like.

Yeah it's gonna depend on what kind of freight they get and how they plan it.

I'd rather not make that extra money than sit in a day cab waiting for a rescue.

 

[Keendriver]

Day cab!

I've done both and day cab is better.....so much better.

What? you wanna be 60 and still spending weeks away from home?

 

[GAnthony]

Many of you have opinions of what's better to do. I'm tossing around the idea of changing to day cab and be home every night. I think it will be a big change but it's an area of the business I haven't experienced full time yet.

Since most of my trips have been short trips with a ton of stress, I'm looking for your thoughts on changing positions. Please include why in your answers and tell me a little of what's expected in the job. It's hauling reefers and vans. I don't do flatbeds.

well, in my earlier years, i had a day cab job.....from RI to VA. then sometimes from VA to Louisville, then back to RI. or from RI to Richmond, VA, then down to Greensboro, then to Winston-Salem, then back to RI.

i liked it, had a motel room or bunk house (VERY clean bunk house) so it was doable.

then the dang company got us sleepers. that's when i left.