Pros and Cons of Team Driving

Running team is great if ur objective is to make money... Look at the greater good! Companies seem to be catering to teams more so now than ever bcuz of freight being able to make it there in half the time. I have done both n would do team with the right individual... Problem is that most guys aren't gonna have the same priorities in making money. Best approach for me is when im on the road solo or team, I wanna make the money n when its time to ### home, its just that! None of us make money if the wheels aint turning, agreed?

 

Actually,

in all honesty,

I think there is less team freight now,

than compared to 5-10 years ago !!!!!!




ymmv.....

 

I don't team with anyone I'm not sleeping with.

 

Sure does make down time go by better don't it..LOL

Petey

 

i have ran team with my husband the last 20 years. THERE IS NO WAY, even if i wasnt married could EVER run team with anyone else....we love each other and its DANG hard .....lol ,try just being friends and sharing that box....you wont be friends by the time its over i bet....not too mention they way we ran, we ran hard and it didnt leave much time for anything else...hot meal etc. plus you cant rest good bouncing down the road IMO, not to mention traffic, scales, fuel stops etc...all of this wakes each other up....then have to drive your shift after not much rest...it gets old fast.

 

Pros: More money. Teams are the wave of the future, especially with the new rules coming up. In some cases two heads are better than one.

Cons: Finding a decent co-driver. Out of 6 co-drivers, 2 were good, 1 was alright and 3 were horrible. I'm currently searching for #7.

The rest is more of a personal preference. Some people can't sleep in a moving truck, etc.

 

Teams make economic sense to me and I'll never drive solo again if I can help it, but Giggles' post is accurate - 'that box' will test the patience and maturity of even the best of friends. I can drive with anyone long-term as long as they're straight and know when to ignore each other.

 

I posted earlier looking for a team partnership. To me the economics of team driving seem much better, just comparing the average top pay for teams versus solo. If you can sleep in a car, then you should be able to sleep in a truck. Personally I sleep like a baby in a car if I trust the driver.

Getting paid more for each mile is what it comes down to I guess. Another factor is not losing your interpersonal skills. Having to deal with another person makes going back out into the world that much easier once you climb out of the cab for awhile on your time off.

The old adage "2 heads are better than one" seems to hold true for trucking as well. As long as you keep in mind that you should treat driving as a biz relationship that you should keep positive and helpful in regards to dealing with your partner. I don't expect to become best friends with my partner, just friendly and helpful. Just talk shop and safety, never know when that could save your life. There are good Youtube videos that show real life near wrecks and having a safety-minded partner and reminding each other that the most important thing OTR is not getting into an accident. Nobody benefits from an accident ever.

Knowing you are making more money takes the stress out of driving for longer than is safe makes team driving more appealing to me. The caveat there being the other person looks at teaming the same way and doesn't just want to push it too far to make as much money as is humanly possible (and then subsequently disregards safety concerns).

One thing I don't see mentioned much is that there might exist the possibility to get out of the cab as your team reaches the end run of a job. that last stretch can be run solo and one or the other member of the team might just be able to jump out at a certain spot and take an unscheduled break from trucking. I love the idea of maybe doing that and "roughing it" as in doing some primitive camping and hiking - or staying at a hotel/motel or Airbnb, getting some rest and maybe a little disc golf or whatever and then getting picked up later. I don't know how doable that is because I've not even begun with my CDL (Sept.). My guess is it might present itself as an opportunity occasionally depending on where you run and the geographic coverage of your specific carrier. My guess is that carriers that run more toward the north or areas of the west would give you more camping opportunities. I'm curious if any team drivers out there have experienced much in the way of unscheduled breaks like I've mentioned.

I see as a positive is less stopping at truck stops. I just don't see the upside to that for solo driving. A lot of accidents happen at stops, and as a team driver, you are eliminating a lot of the need to have to park in tight spots and risk getting hit by inexperienced drivers. So you are removing the stress of that whole equation because you don't have to do that near as much as solo drivers. Also not stopping at truck stops to sleep and suck down all that diesel exhaust seems like it would make team driving better from a health perspective. Read up on diesel fumes at truck stops if you don't believe me. Studies have shown that diesel fumes are bad for your health (big shocker there), containing heavy metals like lead, arsenic, and mercury (so think neurological issues including early onset dementia). Diesel fumes are also correlated with heart attacks and strokes. Team driving means you will not be having to breathe ####ty truck stop air as much. Nice right?

In that same vein, as an inexperienced driver, I like the idea of a having a friendly and positive partner who can help me back into tight docks and parking spots! I plan on having some pocket radios always in the cab for just that reason. As someone who has never backed up a semi, I like the idea of having an accident prevention spotter on the ground in sketchy situations.

So, to sum up, taking some of the monetary stress of driving away by getting paid more by the hour, big plus in my mind. Have a safety, business minded partner and that seems to be doable. Remove accidents at truck stops out of the equation.

 

cut out on the trucking porn you have been watching lol