Truck Driving Job
You have decided to be a truck driver. Freedom from the office. Travel the country. Make money while being paid to drive and no boss physically looking over your should. In another blog I will discuss some of the cold hard realty of being a truck driver, but in this one I review your employment opportunities, well as far as the type of work you can be doing. This list will not be all inclusive but rather a detailed overview.
There are three major over all job classes and then within each of those are divisions based on the type of cargo or freight you will be working with. Types of cargo/freight will be covered in a future blog. Please understand that there are few hard lines in the sand when it comes to Truck Driving Jobs. Many companies work locally and long haul. Drivers may be asked to work with a variety of different freight and different types of trailers.
Your job groupings are Local (generally day work/home nightly); Over The Road (OTR) gone for a week or more at a time and Expedite. I split Expedite/Hot Shot out because it is it’s own mini world.
Local:
The most desirable work is Local because it is home night. The job resembles a normal job where y ou go to work, get your work assignments, do your job and go home to be with family. These jobs are not always day light hour jobs although many are. Many start early in the day because many times it is the driver’s responsibility to oversee the loading of the load.
Because of the home time with family, Local positions are the most desirable. Since companies always want to hire the most capable employees, and drivers with lots of experience are always applying for these positions, generally Local positions will go to the experienced drivers. Most new drivers will have to start Over the Road.
Over the Road
OTR jobs are the most often advertised as that is the greatest need. America needs a lot of freight moved and most of that often that freight needs to be moved long distance. Distances that can not be covered in one day. Since truckers are limited on the number of hours they can work, anything that requires more then about 5 driving hours will require the driver to take federal law required rest/sleep breaks.
Expedite
Hot Shot or Expedite freight is often delivered in smaller trucks, many times Straight Trucks or even Cargo Vans. While there are some big rigs used in Hot Shot – many loads are limited in size (2 to 4 pallets), so the smaller trucker are more efficient. Expedite companies generally operate in regional areas and so drivers for these companies may work a combination of Local and OTR work.
Becoming A Truck Driver: The Raw Truth About Truck Driving
Another difference is Company Driver or Owner Operator. Company drivers are just that, they hire on to work for someone else driving their truck. This is the logical starting point for most drivers as the cost to buy a truck and put it on the road is very prohibitive without a sizable cash infusion and solid credit. Plus, if you are new to trucking, you might want to make sure you want to do it before making a long term commitment of owning your own truck. Many large trucking companies also lease on trucks owned by another person or business but driven by a driver the truck owner hires. This creates a sort of hybrid situation where the driver is an employee but the truck is classified by the trucking company as a non-owned rig.
Great – Good or just another job. Your Future Truck Driving Job can be what ever you want it to be.