{"id":4230,"date":"2019-09-23T11:58:33","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T15:58:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alltruckjobs.com\/blog\/?p=4230"},"modified":"2019-10-02T13:13:19","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T17:13:19","slug":"local-truck-driving-vs-otr-the-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alltruckjobs.com\/blog\/local-truck-driving-vs-otr-the-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Truck Driving VS OTR: The Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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You can picture the situation. You\u2019ve made your way through trucking school, finished your training hours, and now you\u2019re faced with an important decision. Do you want to take a local truck driving job? Or, would you rather travel a little further and take an OTR truck driving job. This is an important decision with a ton of factors<\/a> so it\u2019s important that you consider your options. Below we\u2019ll take a look and compare local truck driving vs OTR. Let\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n

Local Truck Driving VS OTR<\/h2>\n

Before we jump into specifics, let\u2019s go over the difference between the two<\/a>. Local truck driving is exactly what it sounds like. Drivers will transport goods between local locations. There\u2019s no set distance when it comes to local driving, but you can expect to stay within your state, and most times within your county or neighboring counties. OTR or \u201cover the road\u201d will have you crossing state lines as a trucker. Regional driving is a third option, which will often have you traveling within a specific region like the Midwest or New England area. These job options differ so we\u2019re going to go into more detail when it comes to Local Truck Driving vs OTR.<\/p>\n

The Distance<\/h3>\n

One of the biggest factors in comparing local truck driving VS OTR is the distance that you\u2019ll be driving. Local trucking focuses on the surrounding area and is often less stress and time while on the road. The routes are local, typically within a 200-mile radius and consist of an 8-10 hour workday. You\u2019ll also have more time to take breaks because you will not be crunched for time.<\/p>\n

\"local<\/p>\n

Over the road driving jobs will entail much more travel and time on the road. OTR drivers will often spend three or four weeks on the road at a time, and will often crisscross the country delivering a variety of different freight. You\u2019ll often need to hit deadlines that can be days away, so you\u2019ll need to manage your sleep schedule as well as the number of times to take breaks. This will all be managed by an ELD (electronic logging device) that ensures that you\u2019re following the DOT mandated rules.<\/p>\n

Flexibility<\/h3>\n

One big factor in the local truck driving VS OTR debate is flexibility. Local truck drivers are able to have a set schedule that gives them the ability to have a solid work\/life balance. Drivers are often off on weekends and holidays so you\u2019ll be able to catch your child\u2019s sports game or plan a stellar vacation.<\/p>\n

OTR truck driving jobs give you flexibility in a different way. Since you\u2019ll often have deadlines that take a few days to get to, you\u2019ll be able to drive when you want. If you\u2019re a night owl like some people. You can opt to drive at night and sleep during the day. You won\u2019t have a set schedule so you can manage your time how you want.<\/p>\n

The Salary<\/h3>\n

We know that out of all the various comparisons between local and OTR truck driving jobs, what you really want to know is how the money stacks up against one another<\/a>. For local truck driving jobs, you\u2019ll almost always be making less. However, it will be a steady salary that won\u2019t fluctuate. You\u2019ll know exactly what you\u2019re making week to week and it will be easy to budget.<\/p>\n

OTR jobs, on the other hand, offer a larger salary, however, it will often be based on the amount your drive. If you find yourself breaking down or just being lazy when it comes to hitting your deadlines, you might find yourself losing money and in many cases, your job.<\/p>\n

It can be a stressful time debating local truck driving vs OTR, but we truly believe there\u2019s a perfect job out there for every trucker. If you need some guidance when it comes to finding a job<\/a>, we\u2019re here to help! Also, if you prefer on or the other, feel free to comment below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You can picture the situation. You\u2019ve made your way through trucking school, finished your training hours, and now you\u2019re faced with an important decision. Do you want to take a local truck driving job? Or, would you rather travel a little further and take an OTR truck driving job. This is an important decision with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[628,27],"tags":[958,956,957,4],"class_list":["post-4230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-driver-type","category-trucker-pov","tag-local-truck-driving","tag-local-truck-driving-vs-otr","tag-otr","tag-trucking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alltruckjobs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alltruckjobs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alltruckjobs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alltruckjobs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alltruckjobs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4230"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.alltruckjobs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4240,"href":"https:\/\/www.alltruckjobs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4230\/revisions\/4240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alltruckjobs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alltruckjobs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alltruckjobs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alltruckjobs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}