Werner Team Driving

Team Driving is rough. You have to like and trust the person you are running with. You will be living in a space just a little larger than a closet; you will get to know how this person smells, acts, thinks, farts, snores etc. and if you don't trust them then you won't get much sleep. If you trust the person the truck will just rock you to sleep, but if you don't feel safe with the persons driving; you will live in fear of an accident and you won't get the sleep you need and you will be the one causing an accident. Does this person have a solid family life or will he be taking a lot of hometime? If he's on hometime, so are you. This cuts into your money making capabilities. Will you be able to smell this person daily and breath the same air for 24/7? It's a lot to think about before you take the plunge. The important thing is that even if you get along with this person, you need to spend time apart sometimes. If you stop at a truckstop, split up and have some alone time. You don't have to eat together or watch movies together or do laundry together etc. Catch some "Me" time and take care of your emotional needs first.

 

my ony thing is that its my only offer other than driving solo for swift. Its not that im going to say no because everybody that got fired and gave bad reviews, but what will i make more money with

 

team driving is not bad. u just have to get used to how that person drive because your life is in his hands when your are in the sleeper. my teammate got 10 years experience but he never used a qualcomm before so i have to show him how to use the qualcomm. its just like im training him everytime we stop he wake me up asking me what to do. but he said he was going to quit because he dont like using the qualcomm so i hope my fleet manager let me stay solo.

 

yeah im kinda hoping i dont start teaming with another student. I would like to get a experienced driver to team with

 

The only way I would want to team drive is with my wife, that way all the money goes to us. i would not want to team with someone else for an extended time, I will gladly do it for training but then I want to go solo.

 

having an experience driver as a teammate is good but my teammate dont know the qualcomm so its like i got another student with me...

 

Generally you will almost always make more money as a team than you will running solo. At least when hauling generalized OTR van freight. This is because a majority of consignees want their freight there ASAP and team trucks can run around the clock. The secret is finding a co-driver you can live with, work with, and trust. As to the pay, it is common (but not always the case) for team drivers to get a little more per mile than solo drivers do. Part of that is because a team operation usually posts a lower actual cost per mile to the carrier than a solo does and the carrier can charge a premium rate for the service. Some carriers just pay each driver 1/2 of the total miles driven each pay period which can be problematic because with a bad co-driver you may find that you are doing alot more driving than they are. The 50 -50 split was common because until relatively recently it was hard to verify just who actually drove what miles. Logged miles didn't work because you weren't, and in most cases still aren't, paid by the actual miles you drove but by "book miles." Since the advent of the Qualcomm, PeopleNet, and other Sat communication and tracking devices, many carriers no longer just automaticcaly split the check down the middle they actually pay each driver based on their perfomance. I think this is the way Werner pays but am not sure, so feel free to ask them. Also in most cases you will find that on of the two drivers will be classified as the lead driver. One of the main reasons for this is the lead driver is usually responsible for reimbersable expenses such as scale tickets, tolls, or emergency part purchases, such as blown light bulb or fuses etc. the lead driver always pays these expenses so that on payday the carrier knows whose check to reimburse. Hope this helps to answer your question.

 

Banacle Bill thanks for the post it is really helpful to read something like that,

 

well guys im back lol and here is the story werner SUCKS.i was told by my recruiter 325 a week 1/2 350 a week 3/4 and 375 a week 5/6 its a lie never fig it out till week 6 cause weeks 1 thru 4 was with a traineer that kicked ### we ran hard and it was fun got mileage bouns every week so checks were 400 before taxes so of course you think its ok then i got a new trainer for weeks 5 and 6 and talk about hell well come to find out i was his 3rd trainnie every load was late. we ran out of route every time by atleast 50/100 miles or so called my student driving manager and said i would like a diff trainner this was on week 5 3rd trip with the man she said well whats the prob so i told her loads are late for no reason.her response was well deal with it your almost done.i asked well fine then i would like to take my paid time off so i could get off the truck her response was i was no longer able to take it cause i had about 40 hours left.which i think they should inform people that after 150 hr completed you must take it or you lose it thats prob 2.prob 3 well there perdiem its good but what they dont tell you is 25 dollars comes out of your check to cover the processing fee which is a bunch of crap.num 4 i was also told by my sdm that i would have to stay with the trainner for another 6 weeks due to no trucks and team partner avil at this time at trainne pay. so the trainner gets all miles paid at 31 cents a mile and im still stuck at 325 week take home 319.payscale goes like this 325 a week for weeks 1/6 weeks 7/12 350 and weeks 13 threw? 375.i was bounced out of my bunk 2 times cause trainner 2 would slam on the brakes at everything loads were late cause id drive my 11 streight and then he would drive for about 2 hrs pull over and go to sleep also id wake up and be like what the hell all he would say is i was tired.ok prob 5 im on my 10 hr break asleep dude would wake me up and say i need you to back the trailer in um no im on my break asleep.he would say well werner wants you to have 30-40 backs a day ok great but nope.the man did not teach me nothing i almost felt that i was teaching him.1st trainer like i said taught me how to be a driver how to be the best at what i could do i have alot of respect for him and called him to ask what should i do.he told me well id quit and find something solo.my sdm told me that id run team no matter what i asked ok how much exp will this other driver have she told me the same as i.ok i feel good about my driveing abilitys but what if this guy has never been over 48 state up or down the big grades and the weather she told me well thats were you 2 help one another.um no i dont get paid to train im not a trainner and if they cant put me with someone that has been threw the same than thanks but no thanks.so i then asked ok well training is almost done this is week 6 15 hrs left i asked how soon will we be getting to a term so i can get home to see my family. she told me another 6 weeks.i told her what do you mean another 6 weeks she said well we need you 2 to run and earn your home time i told her ive been out for 6 weeks now and i have not earned any she told me nope.ok thats a bunch of bs.so had the trainner drop me off at the hotel in north carolina and caught a flight home.when i got home i called a couple of guys that i went to orreintation with and come to find out they were told the same thing.and both of them were going to be solo drivers.they both quit 2 days after i did when they got closer to a airport.for the most part it was good till the end when i found the truth about everything i learned alot to do and alot not to do lol.but as far as going with them well its up to you this was my story with them.and this was the first job ive ever walked away from.now i might be going to swift might not be much better but hell its a job and its solo.so thanks to all that read this and hell any question ask ill reply now that im home.

 

Gads, I hate run-on sentences.