I'm in a sleeper team operation and I used to use ear plugs, but with the change of elevation I kept waking up because my ears would not pop.(had to take out the ear plugs in order to do so)

I'm used to the sounds and the movement, all except for stopping. Every time the truck stops I awake. It's still real good money, I think it's worth the risk. You do have to have trust in your partner.

not at all, at least not for me. when i close the curtain, it does a very good job of deadening the noise that comes in from the cab. as for the rest of the sleeper, it does seem to be quiet enough that i don't ever get to here the tralers being hooked up on either side of me. i only occassionally sleep (nap) when i'm waiting to be reloaded, and that's only about an hour or two at the most.

This is, for me personally, one question I had about taking care of myself. I think I could deal with the life of a trucker. I do need my sleep, though. I become very mad and agitated otherwise. I've heard about lot lizards from those whom I've taken in my cab. Is their presence, along with the noise of other trucks, a HUGE factor?

I hate to admit it, but I've pretty much resigned myself to having to drive and sleep. And that's fine by me. That's to what I'm looking forward. I'm an ex-English teacher, so I'll read in my spare time. Every once in a while, I'll eat or use the bathroom. When I'm tired, I'll crash and be dead to the world; so I'll be able to sleep, I think, if left to my own devices. When I toured last year, I slept in some roadside rest stops for trucks, and I heard nothing. The lot would be empty when I got there, and I could barely get out when I woke up it would be packed (in WY).

I know that shipping schedules are tight. They aren't going to be tight enough, though, to keep you from sleeping if need be, will they?

I could have sworn the guy at Crete told me they figure on 60 mph to compute your time in transit. Do they take into account traffic, weather fronts, sleeping, and all that other good stuff? Do carriers also give you some hours in reserve (1 or 2) in case something goes bad or you get turned around? For example, L.A. is 180 miles south of where I grew up; but 15 years ago, you needed 3.5 hours to get there in heavy but flowing traffic. Now I hear it's closer to 4 hours, regardless of what time of day or night. Do they take into account stuff like that when driving? (I know that question is off topic. It just kinda came up in the process.)

Well most driver who are non reefer units hate us but we have to park somewhere. I'm part of a team, actually like the movement in the bunk when I'm sleeping, the hum of the road, guess it's what you get use too. Been teaming way too long now to quit. Us stopping is breakfast & a shower when we switch drivers in the morning.

The hardest part about teaming is trusting the other person behind the wheel. Once you find someone you can trust sleep is quite easy to get.

As far as noise in the truckstops? You get use to it, the only thing I can't get use to is the smell of a bull hauler. We never say a word we just move to another location.

Socal- good luck with the new endeavor! As far as time to deliver goes, that will vary with each load. The most important thing to remember is COMMUNICATION: when you are assigned the load, look carefully at all the information, especially pickup time and delv time. If there are any problems that you foresee, let your dispatcher (or dm,whatever)know immediately to avoid any messes later on.
here's one example: I was assigned a load from Campbell's (napoleon OH) pickup at noon, deliver to Jewel (chicago) at 5 pm local. Here's the rub- getting loaded can take anywhere from 45 mins to 4 hours, depending on if your load is built and how busy they are. Total drive distance (without figuring Chicago traffic) is around 220, meaning about 3.5-4 hours. I got there about 45 mins late for the appt, but no sweat off my back, Jewel took the load and my Co. didn't complain, because i told them it couldn't be there on time when they assigned it to me.

I never had any problem sleeping in the truck, except for my first 2 nights with my team driver (when I ran the dumb and dumber training) and the first 2 nights with my trainer. And, I used to run reefer, but even before that I could sleep parked next to a reefer without a problem. the supertruckers have to use their jakes, because every one I've seen has been gassing on it and grabbing gears like there's no tomorrow.

Cool. That's right, tho'. For the first eight weeks at Crete, you'll be with a trainer. There's enough space in the truck for two? But you brought up another question . . .

What speed do they figure you'll drive as an average to figure out when you should get to your destination? I imagine they push you but how much? I have heard any sort of estimate about loading and unloading times. Some can load on time or quickly; some can't. Some you're in and out; some take the live long day. Do they allow you more time on a run of more than one day?

Conerning the jakes used, don't they have speed limits there? Or are people just that inconsiderate to fellow drivers?

Thanks for the input.

Unfortunately, some 'Supertruckers' are just that inconsiderate. And with regards to engine (jake) brakes, they can be set up a few different ways:Always come on when switch is on and you let off the throttle; come on only with switch on and brakes applied; or, same as previous scenario but only active in high gear range.

As far as room goes, it will be tight in that truck with two people, so hope fully you get along well with your trainer!


The amount of time they figure is a tougher matter altogether. The best I can tell you is from my experience: Covenant was all over the map, on some delvs they would give you 2.5 days to go 1100 miles, and on some they wouldn't give you nearly enough time to get there. Central Transport would give us 5.25 hours to go from Romulus to Indy- 280 miles if you take US24, 300 if you go 94 to 69.

with Schneider their trip plan was calculated at 55mph everytime. Now granted they still gave ya those "Just in Time" loads, when ya run your tail off and get to the consingnee at the last second. Then they tell ya to just go park it in the giant lot full of trailers.

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Keep them wheels a spinnin, and the beavers grinnin, IM GONE!!! East bound and down..............

When I first started teaming, I had a helluva time sleeping, particularly on the bad interstates (we ran hard) but eventually I fixed it. TYLENOL PM did the trick, and I never felt groggy the next day (or night)

I didn't find it loud at all. But I worked really hard to make it that way. We had a good sized inverter and put a small clean air machine in the sleeper which sounded like a little fan.... and the seperate air cond. controls could make a nice humming noise.... we ran hard so the engine was rarely, if ever, turned off.

The problem that I encountered as a team driver was when we had to roll down bad interstates, but I fixed that too. Thanks to Tylenol PM, a pothole could throw me a foot off the bunk, I'd wake up but go right back to sleep.

Additionally, I added a down feather mattress top and a quilted mattress cover that let you kinda squish down in the bed... much like a princess and the pea thing. It made you want to stay there. Clean sheets too!