All things considered, I am currently weighing out the possibility of going back out over the road driving. The thing is I have my own conditions that any company that I go to drive for must adhere to.
Remember I am 100% disabled due to the combination of my hand function and my spinal fusion, but I can drive, and in fact I do enjoy driving to an extent. I am still capable of doing many things, I just have to teach myself how to do them again.

I am not special, but I am not desperate either. Yes, there is a reward in working, and it is far beyond the wage. I just know that the need for CDL-A Drivers is self inflicted by the companies themselves. Many have hired "illegal" drivers for decades, and with recent crackdowns they blame legislators and regulators, however had they remained in compliance with state and federal law to begin with, they would not be in this position now. I will say that some number crunching legislator or aide has no clue what is safe or unsafe in a truck, for a driver or for anyone else on the road for that matter, but that is a whole different rant.

Herein lay the catch with regards to me going back Over The Road...

I will not go east of Pittsburg, if I do there is a higher rate that is mutually agreed upon, not solely company defined (call it incentive pay), I will not go west of the Rockies unless I am staying west of the Rockies for the duration of the run (again, call it incentive pay). I determine the start and stop times, and I determine my own safety factors with regards to weather. I have no problem getting in that truck and driving for the 11 hours of the 14 that the FMCSA allows, I even have no problem living in that truck again for weeks on end, but I can average 1600/week and be home in my bed every single night driving locally (Show me some incetive).

These mega corporations throw around numbers like 1600 - 2500 dollars a week like they are doing you some kind of favor. Fact of the matter is YOU are doing them a favor, but they can not let you know that because there is still someone out there that will run themselves to the grave for those table scraps the mega corporations try to sell as being a good deal.
Another fact is that they themselves have created this mess by using their size to underbid freight bills, while making sure their profit margin is protected and you get the short end of that stick. Remember, if your truck is sitting still, it is not making money.

You can call me spoiled, entitled, or what ever you want, but if I live in that truck, it will have as many comforts of home as I can have in it, at the companies expense. (Call it incentive)

Additionally, I will get a per Diem, even if I have to provide receipts to receive it. I will get free showers and the company will pay for parking where parking is required to remain in compliance with FMCSA regulations, i.e. every single night that I am required to stop. My truck will have a starlink mobile setup attached to it, it will have a TV, Refrigerator, microwave and coffee pot in it that work with an appropriate inverter.

Lacking any of this and that truck will not leave their yard. I am OK with outward facing cameras, however I am not ok with driver facing cameras. You can tell me your insurance company requires it and I will tell you that because that truck is my home for the duration of my run, you are violating my right to privacy. That camera can be operational only while I am on duty so basically if there is a driver facing camera, the truck will never move with me in it.

My truck will NOT be governed any lower than 70MPH, I do not care what company policy is. I do not have the next 30 miles to get around that truck running 62MPH. I will do all of my inspections and I will determine what is safe for me to drive and what is not... NOT THE Fleet Mechanic.
With a Heavy truck Mechanical background, I am far from stupid. I know that if that truck is sitting in the shop it is NOT making money, but I also know the corners that get cut to save a buck and get that tool back to making money.

I have kicked around the idea of buying a truck, but that then means that I need someone at home who knows how to broker freight. That also means I need HUGE insurance policies, and it will also mean that I have to run like my life depends on it because it does. There will be no sick days, no vacation days, and there will be special events that I will have to miss because that stupid truck payment says that I have to keep running. All maintenance expense falls directly to me and these are NOT nickel and dime expenses.

I am only restricted by my own terms and conditions, the false promises and deceit of mega corporations is no longer enticement. When I started driving, I started driving for Schneider National, and I can honestly say that it was not overall a bad experience. I saw more of the east coast than I ever wanted to, and I learned that in most of those companies of that size you are nothing more than a number.

As I continue running locally part time, while considering my options, and there are many of them, I am building the time in that seat that some of the better known companies are looking for. I see so many advertisements of companies looking for CDL-A drivers willing to go OTR for weeks at a time, BUT they all lack one thing. That one thing is incentive. GIVE ME A REASON to want to stay out for three weeks to a month at a time. three weeks out and 2 days home is NOT incentive...

Then you get companies like Schneider National who book your loads with three stops per day and a two hour load unload window per stop... you do the math... that is 6 hours out of your 14 hour clock that you can not stop that you are sitting in a dock waiting for $20.00 per hour when you could be out rolling for $30+.

There is so much more to this whole thing, but for now I think the point is pretty clear. OTR companies really need to up their game when smaller local companies are out paying them.