Do you crave the freedom of an open road? Does the idea of hopping in a big rig each day and hauling important freight excite you?
As a truck driver, you are an important part of the economy and keep the supply chain running. Truck drivers are essential workers and without you, important goods like food, water, gasoline and raw materials would not be delivered to the people who need them most.
If it’s time to take the leap and pursue truck driving as a career like your grandfather or dad before you, you need to do some research and soul-searching to find out which type of driving is the best fit for you. Or perhaps you’re a local or regional truck driver and you’re trying to decide if over-the-road (OTR) trucking is the right option for you.
Making the wrong decision can lead to a lot of stress and unhappiness and it can even take a toll on your health.
Individuals with young families may require additional support on the home front, and they may want to consider local or regional driving. On the other hand, an individual who is happy to spend most of their time on the road seeing the beautiful countryside would benefit from pursuing OTR trucking instead (often referred to as long-haul trucking).
As an operations manager at Anderson Trucking Service who has worked with drivers like you for over 10 years, I know that the lifestyle of an OTR driver isn’t always an easy one. It can be hard on even the toughest drivers and their families.
By the time you finish reading, you’ll have a strong understanding of whether or not the OTR lifestyle is for you. I’ll break down some important questions you should ask yourself before you decide to start driving over the road.
Types of Truck Driving
There are several types of truck driving you can choose from, including local, regional and OTR.
Let’s talk a little more about each type so you understand the expectations of each and the difference between short-distance and long-distance trucking.
Local Trucking
Local trucking consists of driving a local route each day and coming home to your family each night. The days typically last about eight to 10 hours depending on what time you get started in the morning, and you’ll stick to a local route that is usually about a 200-mile radius.
Local routes may require you to drive on smaller backroads and drop loads off into loading docks several times per day.
Local drivers often have a set hourly routine, which allows you to plan family events more easily and have weekends off.
Regional Trucking
As a regional driver, you will drive in a specific part of the country (referred to as a “region”). For instance, you may have a route set in the Midwest or the Southwest.
Unlike local drivers who are able to go home each night, regional drivers typically have a set number of days on the road and are able to come home on the weekends.
Regional driving is most similar to OTR driving, but their trips are typically shorter compared to OTR trips.
OTR Trucking
OTR trucking is long-distance trucking that keeps drivers on the road for weeks at a time. Drivers typically spend two to three weeks on the road, but some drivers, like independent contractors, often stay on the road much longer — sometimes a few months at a time. There are even some OTR drivers who live in their trucks year-round and treat the truck as their home.
OTR truckers haul freight across the country. They drive sleepers (a truck with a bed in it) so they’re able to sleep right in their trucks at rest areas or truck stops.
Drivers will make significantly more money with OTR trucking than they will with local or regional trucking. More miles means more money.
8 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Pursuing OTR Driving
Before you make the leap into driving OTR, you need to do some serious thinking. OTR driving is not a career you should just jump into for the money or because you need a job. You first need to consider if you can handle some of the tough realities of the job.
Is the pay right for me?
Money is often the top reason truckers choose OTR trucking. OTR drivers typically have the highest salary when compared to local and regional truck drivers. Depending on the freight drivers are hauling and where, as well as the company they’re working with, some OTR drivers can make upwards of several thousand dollars per week.
However, unlike a nine-to-five office job, or even a local or regional trucking job, the pay for an OTR trucker can be irregular.
You have the opportunity to make a lot of money — a lot more than you can make on a local or regional route — but because you aren’t driving the same route or hauling the same freight day in and day out, the pay will not be as consistent.
If you’re looking to make the exact same amount each week, OTR driving might not be right for you. If you do better with a consistent paycheck, you may want to pursue local or regional truck driving.
OTR drivers also need to consider how freight rates and freight availability impact income. For instance, freight slows down in the winter due to demand. Agriculture and construction equipment are two examples where you’d see a decrease in shipments during the winter.
You might be working twice as hard as you do in the summer but making the same or less money because freight rates are down. You might not be getting as many loads, either.
If you plan for this, it doesn’t have to be a downside. Many drivers will take advantage of strong summer markets by picking up and delivering as many loads as they safely can and then setting extra money aside. A business decision like this protects them from the potential financial stress or anxiety a slow winter market can have on a starving driver.
However, keep in mind that there is always a high demand for OTR truck drivers, which makes OTR trucking a stable career path. It’s all about how you manage it. We will always need truck drivers to move freight across the country, so as long as you enjoy driving long distances, there will be a job for you.
While other industries may experience layoffs, you can take comfort in the security of knowing that the economy doesn’t stop unless you do!
Am I ready for the independent lifestyle?
Individuals that crave independence and solitude love the OTR trucking lifestyle. While there are specific regulations to follow, like Hours of Service (HOS) regulations, and customers do expect the service they’re paying for, there is no boss hovering over your shoulder as an OTR driver.
Loading and offloading most commonly occur during normal business hours and they may require appointments, but for the most part, there is no set nine-to-five schedule to follow or regular meetings to attend like you would if you were working in an office setting. You just need to be able to manage your time to meet the needs of paying customers.
OTR driving, for many truck drivers, feels like the opposite of a “stuffy” nine-to-five desk job. OTR drivers can live their lives as a “cowboy of the highway.”
This can either be a downside or an upside for you. If you like more structure in your day and prefer to be managed or work closely with someone, you might not like the independence of the road. Or, you’ll need to talk to your dispatcher about a structure that works for you.
Am I passionate about driving and seeing the country?
Do you want to see the Atlantic Ocean? The snow-covered tips of the Rockies? The rolling hills and the flatlands of the United States?
If the open road calls to you and driving long distances relaxes you, OTR trucking is the perfect career path. With OTR trucking, you’re basically being paid to see the beautiful scenery across the country — something that would otherwise be quite expensive to do on your own.
Many individuals pursue trucking simply because they love big trucks and the challenge of transporting large equipment. For others, truck driving is in their blood, and as a kid they watched their grandfather or a parent do it. Maybe they even rode along with them.
Some truck drivers feel the pull of the road and the adventure it promises, which is why they choose OTR trucking. OTR trucking provides a certain lifestyle that many drivers fully embrace and crave if they switch to local or regional driving.
But if you don’t absolutely love spending the majority of your days in the confines of your truck for weeks at a time — both driving eight-plus hours and sleeping in the truck — then the OTR lifestyle will be very difficult for you. You have to eat, sleep and breathe trucking.
Do I have a support system in place for when it gets lonely on the road?
While many OTR truck drivers describe themselves as lone wolves, the long-haul trucking lifestyle can be a challenging one. It can get lonely on the road with no one else to talk to. Some drivers appreciate peace and solitude, but some individuals really struggle with it.
This can take a toll on your mental health, but it doesn’t have to be a setback for you. Make sure you have a support system in place that you can talk to when you need help. Being aware of the state of your mental health and being open about it can help you overcome challenges.
Many OTR Drivers will bring on a passenger periodically throughout the year and others always have a pet on board. Check with your carrier on their pet and passenger policies.
Can I handle the time away from home? Can my spouse and children?
OTR trucking can be extremely tough on drivers, especially if you have a spouse or young kids at home.
As a driver, you will spend a lot of time away from your family. You’re gone for weeks at a time, and while most carriers will do their best to get you home when you want to be there, you have to consider that you may miss birthdays, anniversaries and holidays. Is that something you are able to work through?
If you’re a person who is used to spending many nights and weekends with friends and families enjoying parties, barbecues, movie nights and more, suddenly missing all of these events can be hard.
While you’re out on the road, they’ll keep on enjoying these activities. It can be tough to miss out, especially if you’re hearing about the fun times or seeing posts about it on social media.
The OTR trucker doesn’t just experience this loneliness; the spouses and kids can, too, and this can be hard to witness as an OTR trucker.
You really have to consider not only if you can handle the separation, but if your spouse and kids can. If you are ready to be away from home for weeks at a time but they are not, you will encounter challenges. And let’s be real: Family comes first.
There are some things you can do to overcome this issue. You can have a passenger ride with you, video chat frequently or you can work with your dispatcher to arrange for regular home time.
Keep in mind that there is a trade-off between family time and money. It’s not necessarily about how often you go home, it’s how long you stay there.
If you’re a driver with higher home time expectations, consider going home more frequently but for shorter durations. It’s important for all drivers to always take a load through or to the house. This helps ensure expenses are covered. Managing the frequency and duration of home time protects your financial well-being.
Can I overcome the unhealthy lifestyle?
Living out of a truck can wreak havoc not only on a driver’s mental health but their physical health as well.
Living off unhealthy fast food, not exercising enough and not getting the chance to focus on your mental health can cause heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses. Certain illnesses can lead to the suspension or revocation of your commercial driver’s license (CDL).
It’s hard to make healthy choices on the road when you have limited access to healthy food. Not only do truck stops struggle to provide many healthy options for drivers, but the healthy options they do have are costly. The cost of food on the road can really add up and take a cut out of your earnings.
Be prepared to set your truck up like a studio apartment. A griddle, pots and pans, coolers and a refrigerator are a great way to combat the challenges of eating healthy on the road. Not only that, but you’ll save yourself a lot of money by cooking rather than eating at the truck stop every night.
It can be hard to establish an exercise regimen when you’re in a truck all day. Being mindful of getting out of the truck after a day of driving is crucial. Take the dog out for a walk or keep weights or a bike out on the road with you. Even getting in 30 minutes of exercise three to five times per week can do you a world of good.
Am I comfortable driving in unfamiliar states?
If you’re from a small town and have never driven a commercial motor vehicle in a big city or you’re from a southern state and have never seen snow, you may be in for a big surprise.
Gain the necessary experience before diving in. It can be scary and downright catastrophic if you're not prepared for what the roads and weather can bring.
Am I a strong communicator?
You might not be in the office with someone standing over your shoulder, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to talk to anyone when you’re an OTR driver.
In fact, you may need to be a stronger communicator than in other industries. Because you’re rarely face-to-face with your dispatcher, it’s important that you are transparent about your needs and wants.
You must be diligent about communicating workday updates. Be open and honest in the partnership you have with your dispatcher and expect the very same out of them! Not every day will be puppy dogs and rainbows, but a good relationship will help you both ride out the storms.
Is OTR Trucking Right for You?
Pursuing OTR trucking isn’t a decision you should take lightly. It can take a toll on your mental health and your family life, so you need to ensure it’s the right career move for you, your family and your wallet.
While training essentially looks the same for local, regional and OTR truck drivers, OTR truck drivers will typically require more experience. This additional required experience can be seen as a con for some drivers.
Many trucking companies want to see if a driver can handle the OTR trucking lifestyle before they will let you drive for them. They want to ensure drivers like you know what they are signing up for. Committing to the long-haul driving lifestyle can be a tough lifestyle to adapt to.
If you’re ready to jump into the OTR lifestyle after reading this article, take a look at our OTR hiring areas and fill out a quick application today.
If you’re still new to the trucking industry and you’re pursuing your options, consider the best trucking carriers for new drivers.