As an OTR semi-truck driver,
living on the road becomes part of your life—it just goes without saying.
However, not all drivers get the transient lifestyle effect, just the ones
traveling outside their home-base range; long-haul OTR semi-truck drivers.
Being the case, living on the road comes together with its own set of
challenges.
A good way to summarize the challenges semi-truck drivers have to go through over the road is the challenge of keeping up their life’s balance. There are numerous things these drivers try fitting in their lives, businesswise and personally. They have to fit in their leisure activities, exercises, time with their families, and the long hours they have to spend on the road to complete the required job. In short, a semi-truck driver’s life over the road can be a huge act of balance.
A good way to summarize the challenges semi-truck drivers have to go through over the road is the challenge of keeping up their life’s balance. There are numerous things these drivers try fitting in their lives, businesswise and personally. They have to fit in their leisure activities, exercises, time with their families, and the long hours they have to spend on the road to complete the required job. In short, a semi-truck driver’s life over the road can be a huge act of balance.
With that in mind, here are a few
ways that an OTR semi-truck driver can be successful:
Considering the job can demand
close to 18-20 hours a day for an OTR driver, a big advantage brought forth by
the ELDs is promoting the driver’s quality of life over the road. If properly
used by the driver, he or she can rather enjoy a relaxed road schedule. The
semi-truck driver can attempt to match their routines closer to their home
schedule, or as close to normal as possible. He or she can keep a regular
sleeping schedule, meal, some leisure time, and exercise on every possible
occasion. While off duty, he or she can try keeping up with the regular
schedule they made.
Planning a Trip
As an OTR semi-truck driver, it
is advisable to do some planning, before embarking on any trip. Before dispatch
even allocates you with a load, you should look at the distance of the trip,
and schedule expected delivery. By so doing, you can work on some calculations
such as the time it will take you driving, sleeping time, meal and fuel stops,
as well as any other unexpected delays, to ensure that you have more than
enough time to make the expected delivery. In the case, the schedule appears to
be reasonable enough; you can then accept the load. In case it appears
unreasonable, endure that any issues with the delivery schedule are addressed
immediately given that logging in the trip legally is essential.
After reviewing the delivery
schedule and you find it satisfactory, make sure that you plan for sleep and
meal spots, and check the route’s weather as well. On addressing all these
things, you can be sure that the trip will go smoothly thus relieving you of
any stress beforehand.
Long Haul Trucking
OTR trucking has an advantage
when it comes to jobs entailing short haul driving. In such cases, the time
taken to load packages is shorter, and the incomes more since OTR semi-truck
drivers are usually paid per each mile. However, this is not the case when it
comes to long-haul trucking. However, as mentioned earlier on, it is essential
that long-haul OTR semi-truck drivers come up with a balance in their
day-to-day routines.
No comments:
Post a Comment