From Walking Across America to Team Trucking: Which Carrier to Choose?

Your plan is reasonable. Understand most carriers, maybe all carriers, are going to train the team as separately not in one truck with trainer, student 1 & student 2. I spent 8 weeks with my trainer (great guy) in the 1990s. It was very difficult sharing the small space & I could hardly sleep with the noise &.constant bumping of a truck in motion. Under no circumstance sleep in the top bunk of a moving truck. The space of a semi truck is about the same as the smallest apartment bathroom with a tub, toilet & sink. Size may be similar or less than a jail cell.

 

There are not many women trainers. Some women train with a male trainer & some women insist on a female trainer, which can mean waiting for a trainer to be available. Companies do not tolerate misbehavior by trainers so they are often quick to react to a complain't by a female student.

 

Our resident guru @Chinatown will know more about the companies & have suggestions. You need to do research & NOT RELY ON WEB PAGES & HAPPY TALK FROM RECRUITERS. I suggest you insist any company that interests you put you in contact with a current team (husband & wife, if possible) and listen to their description of the training, pay, & off-time policy. Ha e them tell you how much money, how much time off, rather than asking if they get a good paycheck & get enough time off. Everyone has a different definition of good or enough. You want them to use the numbers & you judge those numbers.

 

CR England will train you and your wife in the same truck at the same time. Trucks are set up for 3 people. This is a refrigerated company that runs 48 states.
Schneider may have the same program, but Schneider is dry van. You won't make as much money as pulling refrigerated freight.
Get Your Commercial Driver's License (CDL) - C.R. England
Get Your CDL in a Few Short Weeks. Our commercial driver’s license (CDL) education programs are focused on providing real-world knowledge you’ll need to feel confident as you become a professional truck driver.

 

You'll hear complaints about CR England and those stem from two total strangers deciding to team together. That rarely works out peacefully. Those problems won't apply to you and your wife. You've been traveling together for years.

 

I knew a guy who had started with CR England. After 6 months (20 years ago) his wife went through school and they teamed for few years. When child number 2 announced itself, she stopped and he tried to be home more. Last i heard from him, CR was starving him out, since he was not getting the hint about moving on

 

Teams make lots of money for the trucking company.

 

Because of the tight CDL job market right now -- teams are where it's at...for getting hired.

But many carriers want team drivers who already have some experience.

With that said....& based on what you need...& are looking for....Schneider will be VER-RY TOUGH to beat (i.e., for team drivers who have no CDL yet, need to get one....& thus, have no prev CDL experience).

The better-paying CDL jobs will require the relevant CDL endorsements: tanker, hazmat....& doubles/triples.

After you get about a little over a year teaming for Schneider....& you have those mentioned endorsements, then "up your game"....& your paychecks....by looking at team jobs within the LTL sector:

• Old Dominion Freight
• ABF Freight

Later....with 3+ years of team driving (& with clean safety records)....then look into hauling military/DoD loads.



-- L

 

Just so you know, driving a truck ain't no YouTube adventure! You didn't explain HOW you paid for all your "adventure" until now, so I have to assume you are either independently wealthy, or you have "online patrons" who fund your life, that will be expecting you to post regular videos. So, let me get real with you:

If you are the former, why on earth do you want to drive a truck for a living (that's assuming you ARE going to do it "for a living", rather than just creating situational videos..)?

If you are the latter, I doubt many companies would be willing to humor your request.

Regardless of which camp you are in, keep in mind that you are paid to DRIVE, not to pull over 5 times a day to futz-around creating content. This is a FULL TIME JOB and then some more! If you really want to drive team coast-to-coast, you will be driving close to the absolute maximum allowed, and the rest of your time will be filled with waiting to fuel, waiting to get a shower, doing laundry, waiting at loading docks, and occasionally waiting while broken down on the side of the road. Be prepared for scorching-hot summers in the desert when it reaches 120°F, blizzards in the upper mid-west when it's -40°F with a strong wind, and having to climb mountains in heavy snow using tire chains. Driver-unloads also happen; have you ever had to hand-unload 42,000 lbs of coffee in 50 lb boxes stacked only 1' high on the floor in Houston in the middle of summer? I have, and it wouldn't look pretty on YouTube....

So, if I were you, I'd aim for something more of an adventure and less of a job, like maybe hopping freight cars coast-to-coast....