[Alberta's Child]

I was always under the impression that driving for an LTL carrier was better than driving for conventional common carrier fleets. In a terminal-to-terminal operation you don't spend your nights away from home, as you are always returning to your home terminal on the return leg of your first trip of the day.

That's why you hardly see any sleeper cabs pulling these trailers for Yellow, YRC, UPS, etc.

[qaz123]

That’s true.

But the LTL carriers do some OTR, usually team drivers so the truck never stops except for fuel and bathroom breaks. Barring weather, traffic or an accident, a load can be across the country in about 30-35 hours.

For the veteran drivers, with dedicated routes and times, it’s eazy-peazy. For the new guys, it isn’t that way. Sometimes you don’t get a run at all. No driving, no pay.

I started with a company. I was a standby driver. Took whatever was left over or if someone called in sick. Sometimes I worked, sometimes I didn’t. I was one of those guys that would sometimes wait around for hours and hours, waiting on a call. Then you get one, after you’ve been up, idling around the house for 8+ hours and they want you to do a 12hr(total time-prepping & driving). Not a healthy lifestyle and a rather dangerous one if you fall asleep. I had a few, very close calls.