The Comforts and Sacrifices of the Trucking Industry

I'm the Over the Road (OTR) Type - There are several types of categories that define the roll and position of a truck driver. There are local drivers, who usually deliver within a one hundred mile radius of their company, which may take them across two or three state lines. The Regional Driver covers several states from the terminal. Many companies draw lines across the forty eight states, dividing the area into regions, such as the Northeast and South East Region, The Midwest Region, and sometimes since the Great State of Texas is so big, in square miles, it alone is called the south Region. Then there is the dividing lines called the North and South Western regions. Some companies dividing lines vary, but it is in those regions the driver typically covers. Loads crossing the regional lines are sometimes crossed by this driver, or in many cases, the driver "swaps" loads (they switch trailers) with another driver. Then there is the Over the road truck driver, are simply called the 48 states. And for those who have been watching the cable channel there are the Ice Truckers, who cross the Canadian border to Alaska...over the dividing waters, during the heart of winter. The categories go on, based on what the Company has established, but these are the typical terms, everyone hears.

All of the categories above usually supply the driver with those big trucks that have sleepers, except for the local drivers, who usually cover city driving, where a smaller tractor without the sleeper birth, can cruise the city streets and highways. The older city trucks were designed as cabovers, which means the driver was sitting all the way to the nose of the tractor, and sat on top of the engine compartment. There were many reasons for this design, and almost every driver who had the opportunity to drive them will miss them should they ever stop manufacturing that design.