Use this forum to discuss your OTR expediting adventures, recommend tools or equipment, show others your DYI projects, talk about vehicle service and maintenance, and anything else related to the expediting business.

What does OTR Mean?

OTR stands for over-the-road trucking, also known as long-haul trucking. OTR folks run coast to coast; most have visited all 48 contiguous states. OTR drivers differ from their regional and local counterparts in several key areas, which we will discuss below.

What is Expediting or Expedited Shipping?

Expedited shipping is a method of shipping freight that ensures goods arrive faster than regular transit times. To fast-track the process, trucks carrying expedited goods rarely stop. Expedited shipments move directly from pickup to delivery.

Expediter vs. Courier:

A courier is typically a local P/U delivery service with scheduled, reliable deliveries or on-call to take one or more items to or from one or more customers.

The most significant difference between expediter and courier is the door-to-door and exclusive use—if not, you are a truckload or less than a truckload (LTL) carrier.

Thank you for visiting OTR Van’s Expediting forum! Click here to create a topic!

General Communication

1. Respectful interaction with each other.Behind every virtual discussion partner is a real person who always deserves respect regardless of circumstances. This is especially true whenever opinions and views diverge. Insults or other statements that disparage the other person or their views are inappropriate without exceptions.
2. Stand by your written word.Everyone has their ideas about how something should look or work. They also have the right to express their own opinion, but this works both ways; you’ll have to accept that not everybody will agree to anything you wrote.
3. Friendly attitude towards others.You may or may not know every participant of the forums. However, we strongly encourage everyone to keep the atmosphere friendly and informal.
4. Properly written texts are important.We regard appropriate spelling and grammar as a minimum level of respect, enabling others to understand your thoughts quickly and easily. Formatting, especially text colors, should be used sparingly, and paragraphs are strongly recommended to make it easier for readers to follow along. There are more than enough freely available tools to have your texts corrected. Being in a hurry or “typing fast” is never a valid argument for illegible texts! Remember that others also take some of their valuable time to read your text.
5. Written words are easy to misinterpret.When communicating with a person, gestures and facial expressions are usually used to clarify the intended meaning of potentially ambiguous statements. Getting written words wrong is straightforward, especially if statements can be interpreted differently depending on the context. Smileys are barely a substitute because even these can easily be misunderstood. This applies even more to irony or sarcasm; it is difficult for a discussion partner to classify them correctly, and it can also alienate third parties. A statement like “You’re a moron.” can range between a “friendly insult” and a straight verbal assault, making it very easy to irritate others.
6. Abbreviations are often anything but helpful.The use of abbreviations in typical expressions such as “e.g.,” can save time for both the writer and the reader. Nevertheless, they should be used sparingly, especially if it can be assumed that not everyone is familiar with this abbreviation. Contributions in the forum are likely to be read by third parties many years later and should then still be understandable.
7. Accept that others will disagree.The guiding principle “Opinions are like noses – everyone has one” precisely describes a fundamental problem: regardless of the topic, there will always be someone with an opposing view. In some cases, discussions may reach a point where any attempt to find common ground becomes futile. If this happens, agreeing to disagree and moving on is highly recommended; there is nothing to gain from fighting this over. Repeating the same arguments over and over often leads to avoidable conflicts in which neither side can win anything. Don’t try to have the last word at all costs; call it a day and move on.

Unwanted Contents

Our forum deals primarily with the operation of our products, and the more general focus is very much on the technology and its handling. We want all users to exchange ideas and opinions in our forums, including but not limited to contrary views.

Unfortunately, the proper moderation of content apart from the core topic can become quite challenging for us. Therefore we exercise our right as operators of this forum to remove excessively controversial contributions, or those that fall under the following listed characteristics, from the discussion flow.

1. No marketplace offers (search/offer) or exchange requests.Marketplace offers of any kind are undesirable on this platform; this expressly includes trading of licenses and user accounts.
2. No advertising.This regulation includes advertising websites, forums, services, or other products. “Referral” links are also considered advertising. Exception: A link to the own website within the signature is permitted, if this is either powered by our software products or is heavily focused around these.
3. No content or links to sites that infringe copyrights.Including statements intended to mislead others into infringing copyright laws.
4. No discussions on political or religious topics.There are suitable platforms (on the Internet) to discuss one’s views and beliefs with others; our forum is not the appropriate place for this.

Signatures, avatars and profiles

The following conditions apply to the signature:

1. The signature should not disrupt the reading flow excessively; formatting should be used extremely sparingly.
2. Website links, including plain text, are prohibited. Exceptions apply to websites that are either powered by our software products or are heavily focused around these.
3. The signature should not exceed five lines of text in regular font size.

Avatars and profile pictures exist for self-expression, allowing other discussion participants to recognize a user more quickly. Some basic rules apply:

1. Trademark or image rights of third parties may not be infringed; the use of third-party content requires the express consent of the rights holder.
2. Pictures of strangers may not be used as avatars or profile pictures, including but not limited to relatives or friends.
3. Photographs of one’s persons should be appropriate for all age groups; nude or too lightly dressed photographs are not permitted.

Have you introduced yourself to the community?
Click here to do so or to welcome others into the OTR Van forums.

Thank you so much, and welcome to the OTR Community!

Creating a space to share more about who you are and all the cool things you are working on is essential. OTR Van believes that everyone who joins our community should start by introducing themselves. Once that is accomplished, we encourage everyone to welcome others into our welcoming community.

Below are some questions you may answer to get your thoughts flowing:

• Who are you?
• What is your industry and profession?
• How long have you been in the industry and trade?

Are you ready to introduce yourself?
Here are a few things to know:

• Please review our updated Community Guidelines.
• Please do not post any personal information on this forum. You share your “personal data” here at your own risk.

Again, welcome to the OTR Van Community!

Related topic:

https://otrvan.com/topic/welcome-to-the-otr-van-community/

Our Feedback forum is a discussion forum specifically for communicating and collaborating with members and customers.

Thank you for being so willing to report an issue or bug, request an improvement, or propose a solution to a problem regarding OTR Van. We appreciate your feedback!

We encourage all community members to help others in need of support. All we ask from you is to be sincere and kind, not imply that you’re smarter or better than the person you’re helping. In other words, don’t be condescending.

Thank you so much for your support. We appreciate your help!

Our forums are a friendly place for conversations. Discuss anything related to OTR Van, such as our company, website, services, or anything else about us. For off-topic discussions, we recommend you visit our Random forum. That’s our dedicated chit-chat forum.

Ready to start contributing to the OTR Van Community? Start by introducing yourself!

Related blog post:

https://otrvan.com/1/hello/