Good news may be coming for truck drivers. With a rise in the hiring of truck drivers, the demand for new drivers may be growing across the board, but especially for local routes.

Experienced truck drivers know that local routes are highly-desirable. Compared to over-the-road (OTR), local routes drive within 250 miles of the home location of a given trucking company.

This means that truck drivers don’t have to worry about spending a night in the sleeper or showering at a truckstop. Local jobs means the driver can get home every night. Whether that means to spend more time with family or simply to get a fresh meal and a night in their own bed, it’s obvious why drivers tend to prefer local routes.

There’s a trade-off, however, to local routes. Long-haul, or OTR, routes do require multiple days away. Long-haul is a lifestyle as much as it is a job. Everything from meals to showers to sleeping is part of the gig.

But these long-haul jobs pay more. Usually significantly more.

For many truck drivers, long-haul is worth it. Some drivers don’t even pay for housing and live completely out of the truck. They can save a lot of money that way, and it’s one way to build for a nice life.

For many other truck drivers, though, they simply don’t want to make the sacrifices for long-haul. At Class A Drivers, many truck drivers tell us that the long periods of isolation are particularly difficult. This is one of the reasons that truck driving has such high turnover rates.

A boom of local truck driver jobs gives options to all truck drivers. Whether a driver prefers to drive local or long-haul, the option should be there for truck drivers. Fortunately, in a market with a lot of freight to move, we may be seeing more options open up.