Newbie Team Driver Wannabees - Can We Do This?

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50-60 lbs, OK ... doesn't sound as daunting to me. A pallet on wheels? I think I can do that. If I don't have to push it too far! I wonder if I go over to our local Lowe's store if they'll let me try to push one of those pallets, just for practice? .... nah, didn't think so.


Both of us will be working out. Starting today. Went to WalMart and bought a set of weights for $20. I told hubby maybe we just leave them all in the box and practice lifting that heavy box from floor to table! I think it weighs 40lbs! Neither of us is a big person. He's 5'9" and maybe 160 lbs. So anyway, we'll be working on building muscle and strengthening our legs and backs.

Long days and short nights ... sounds like when I was a flight attendant. 5/6 hours of sleep after a duty time of 14-16 hours. I can do that easily. And I doubt I will have any trouble sleeping while he's driving, already have experience with that in our truck while on vacation trips with the travel trailer. As for not stopping to enjoy the view, that's ok too. I am also a photographer so I know it will kill me to not be able to stop to grab a shot of wherever we are that looks so awesome. But I've also been known to shoot a lot of really neat pictures through the windshield of the truck while he's driving. So that will have to do until we get time to stop for fuel or off-time ... if you see someone taking pictures of everything surrounding a Pilot station, it's probably going to be me.

Thanks for the info, it's much appreciated, Okieron!

 

Hey Killer! That's a killer name you have, btw.

Good to hear from a husband/wife team who has gone through it all already, thanks for the info. Oh, your wife is 5 inches taller than me, I'm so jealous! I have to wear my stilettos to get anywhere near that height. But good to hear she didn't have any trouble with the tests so there is hope for me!

Did you two get a pre-hire from Schneider prior to attending CDL school or did you get the pre-hire during or after finishing school? We are trying to get a pre-hire from someone(s) before we leave for CDL training, (knowing full well that it doesn't mean we're definitely IN until they say we're IN, after all is said and done). But it just makes sense to us that it might be a good thing to at least make a company aware that we are interested in them and are on our way to CDL training. Are we thinking right?

We've been together for 18 yrs, yes I know what you mean, been there, done that ... got the t-shirt. We also spent a month together traveling in our truck, pulling a travel trailer. It was challenging. Not the driving, not the backing up, not the back-in parking between two trees, none of that. The challenge turned out to be learning to get along in a tight space while driving for 12 hours at a time. We had words. We had disagreements, can't think what those were though anymore. But we survived and can laugh about it all two years later. We found out that we love traveling together and if we didn't have to work, we'd just buy a huge 5th wheel RV and a bigger Dodge truck and travel for the rest of our lives. Since we DO have to work, however, trucking seems to be the way to go until we can retire and follow that dream.

Thanks for the info, we may have some questions for you two as we go through this process, so thanks for the offer of help as well.

Last night my husband found the video on Schneider's website, the one with the guy demonstrating the physical testing at their company. We're going to use that video as a reference for our strength training with our new box of weights.

 

Hi Silvermitts!
Thanks, we found one ... Last night my husband found the video on Schneider's website, the one with the guy demonstrating the physical testing at their company. We're going to use that video as a reference for our strength training with our new box of weights.

 

Another question for team drivers ...

I've heard that some use the upper bunk as a storage area, have seen pictures of the setup, looks good. Then one person sleeps while the other one drives so you really only need one bed.

But what happens when you get stopped for some reason and you both need to sleep and you're stuck in your truck? Those beds are pretty small for two people to use at one time, so do you flip a coin and the loser has to sleep up front in the seat? Does the loser pitch a tent and sleep outside the truck? Or does the bunk open up into a queen size bed somehow, like a pull-out sofa? I've never seen the inside of a truck in person ...

 

Dagger, thanks for the info. OK, so the bunk is twin size, that is pretty small for two people to sleep comfortably in. Good idea about driving for awhile before making plans for that upper bunk. Another question. Does the upper bunk fold up or is it stationary? My husband wants to go to a place up in OH where they sell trucks and see the inside of some but I told him maybe it's not a good idea because what if they are really nice and then we get one that is not at all like that and we're disappointed. I don't want to set my expectations too high and set myself up for disappointment ... with anything in this business. Besides, I don't want to waste the sales person's time, showing us trucks when he/she could be working with someone who is actually thinking of buying one.

And, good point about the trainers, I didn't think about that and it makes perfect sense to me, thanks.

 

Well, I found a CDL school in KY that's about an hour drive from our house. Just talked to a woman over there who said we need to go to the Employment office and apply for WIA assistance which would pay our full tuition at their school. We're going over there in a few minutes to see if we qualify. That would be a huge help to us. The school is a community college, 4 week course, CDL test given at the school by the KY State Police after we finish classes.

 

Hi! Oh my gosh, it's good to hear from another pilot who has gone into trucking! I asked my husband that question, well a similar question just last week. I was concerned for him because he LOVES flying, he never, ever left on a trip without a smile on his face, even if he was going out for 5 days knowing he would be chewed up and spit out and mentally and physically exhausted by the time he got back home. He's been flying for 32 years. His answer ... "Yes, I love flying but I will have no regrets leaving an industry that's been all but destroyed over the past 10 yrs with help from mgmt and our so-called union brothers at the majors. I'm ready for a change and look forward to being a part of the OTR truck driving industry."

He also said that he wants to end his commercial pilot career while on top, with those memories ... rather than have to fly for an airline in China (in order to still be a Captain), or start all over again and take a First Officer position at 15 grand a year, be on reserve for years and not be home to see me for weeks at a time. He has 14 years left before pilot retirement age, that's not enough time to go from First Officer at the bottom of the pilot seniority list to Captain and achieve the same pay and flight duty time that took him 25 yrs to attain with his current company. Flying is just not an option for him (and us) anymore. I have to say, he has a really great attitude about all of this and he's holding his head up high and doing what he has to do, both for himself and for us as a family. He's the best husband a woman could ask for.

I imagine we'll be visiting small, private airports while on our journeys whenever we can stop to do so ... just to watch a few planes take off and land. He'll be OK. Thanks for talking to me (us) about it though. Any time you want to talk airplanes, I'm sure he'll be more than happy to do that with you.

Yes, research! We don't take anything lightly, especially something as important as choosing a career and a company to live with for a decade or more. OMG, we have gained a ton of knowledge about this trucking industry in the past couple of weeks. Isn't that just like a pilot though (and I've heard the same thing about engineers) ... they don't do anything without putting a huge study on it and developing a plan first. I think it's the way those professions were trained. I'll bet you did the same thing.

Keep in touch, feel free to send us a pm if you ever want to chat ... my husband would probably love to trade flying stories with you! Thanks for the luck, we can use all we can get.