Married Couple needing advice on starting our Team career

Please, please, please make sure you can tolerate being together in a space the size of a walk-in closet 24/7!!! Any little 'problems' you have now will be compounded by trying to run team!! Teams are a hot commodity because 'technically' the truck only has to stop for fuel and to swap drivers (which is preferably done at a fuel stop). Hubby and I did the 'full team' thing for a few months until exhaustion took over. It's not very easy to sleep when the truck is bumping along across America's highways and Interstates. We now limit our driving days to a total of 16hrs unless absolutely necessary to run more.

 

Running 16hour days is fine if you are retired and not trying to make miles. Its tough to run 7000 miles a week though on that schedule. Not sure how many companies would be cool with a team running like that either. We just had an older couple at our company get demoted because they were running a similar schedule. As a team you are expected to run 1000 a day to be productive.

Not knocking you or calling you lazy but in order to be a productive team you need to keep that ship running 24/7. If you are tired or burned out sure its fine to do that here and there or take a little time for yourselves but not on an every day basis. Most teams run coast to coast or run the "hot" loads and you can't just take it upon yourself to not deliver on time. Like you said, teams only stop for fuel and to swap drivers and must push on. There are also those unique fields in the driving industry that require "extreme teams". These are driving jobs in which unless you are dying the load must get there. If you are a team driving for Nascar or a company like "Upstaging" the show must go on and no matter what you must arrive on time. Traffic, bad weather, closed roads etc... you must find a way to get that load there no matter what. My wife and I ran team for a company that hauled pricey show and race horses. There was no way on gods green earth were we ever allowed to shut down or not drive if we were under a load!

Like I said, hope you don't take this in a negative light but the job of a team is to keep that truck moving. For any of you new drivers or potential drivers wanting to be a team please don't think this is the way you are supposed to be driving. You will surely be blindsided by the actual expectations of a true team and what their company expects of them.

If you are wanting more miles than a solo driver yet don't want the hustle and bustle of a real team then I might recommend getting into training or becoming a trainer. A trainer runs more miles than an actual solo driver and can actually eventually work up to team miles as training progresses but isn't expected or depended on to run as an actual team.

Currently I am running team for a company and we have a constant schedule of 9300 miles every 10 days. Every two days we are allowed to shower provided we are running on schedule and everything is cool. Back to the couple that got demoted, they were an elder couple and the woman would run her normal time driving but her husband just couldn't drive more than 3-5 hours a day. She would try and make up as much of the miles he couldn't drive but just couldn't keep up. Customers were complaining and appointments and such were being missed so they were put on a local shuttle schedule. Once again, I'm not bashing your driving schedule but the reality of it is that a team normally cannot operate that way.

As new drivers, yes it will take you a little bit to work up to running 7000 miles weeks but the company realizes this and will work with you and schedule you until you can handle it. After 3-4 months or so though you will be expected to be able to perform as a professional team.

With all that being said, there are companies and such that don't quite have the miles to keep a true team rolling like they should and for the teams that don't mind running low miles this is the perfect position for them. There they have the opportunity to run as they wish and drive together without the pressure of actually running team miles. This is probably a little more prevalent with the mega-carriers in which they have all different types of loads and driving situations. The exception to that would be the air freight companies.

 

This is sounding depressing. There are companies out there that take a little different tact with a husand/wife team. There is a company in Wisconsin (H. O. Wolding) that has been very good working with these situations. If you are thininking of reloacating to Phoenix I would give Marc a call. the have a service lane that runs Wi to Flagstaff to Phoenix or the west coast. They do offer tution reimbursement on your schooling and will probably have you go to a Wisconsin school they use. You would have to make the relocation first.

 

Then you had better find another profession! Your wife will be losing her #### useing the rest rooms in rest areas and truckstops not to mention shippers and receivers.

 

Some restrooms are better than others and you will definitely have your favorites and also ones to avoid everywhere you go. Actually the ladies have it good because statistically there aren't as many lady drivers as men so when you do have to use the bathroom or shower you usually have it all to yourselves. Can't really speak from experience but I am assuming women are also a little cleaner in the restrooms then men are. Try brushing your teeth at 9am in a truckstop bathroom with 20 other fine associates all sounding like that are giving birth behind you! Sounds like a men's maternity ward! I won't even get into describing the smell but I can tell you it isn't minty!

In most cases when you shower you actually have your own private bathroom. It has a stand up shower, sink and toilet and they usually provide a couple towels, face cloth and some sort of very inexpensive soap. Use this soap and you will surely have dandruff in a week! Better than nothing though if you forget to bring your own. Showers are $10 but most of the time you can get them free by using your frequent fueler card. Every time you fuel up you swipe your card at the pump and it puts points on there. Its usually like 50 gallons = 1 shower. You should always have plenty of showers on your card so like I said they are free most of the time.

 

Hey Chompi, I worked as a night janitor paying my way through college, and I can honestly say that women are not cleaner than men. I am not sure where that myth came from. Near as I could tell how clean a bathroom is only related to how many people use it, and In trucking I would assume the Womens room would be better because of that. THere are some cultures where the people don't like to sit directly on the toilet, and those people can really make a mess as they squat right on the seat! Really! I have found the Pilot and the TA restrooms are not so bad, normally. In my short life as a trucker, if you didn't like the outhouses at some of the shippers and drop yards, you could be in for a really long wait --- also I remember once having to wait about 12 hours outside a costco distribution center with no restrooms anywhere, so this is not a good job for people who like clean available restrooms. I have heard that only about 10% of truck drivers survive the first year, if that is true than statistically only 1% of teams should make it (not sure it that works out in reality!) I would think a team might want to start with one person first seeing if they like trucking, and then the next person doing it. I know I would much prefer to be a DJ, than a truck driver, but I am Quitter, I admire you guys that are able to do it though.

 

If it was for going 15 or more MPH over the posted limit - you might as well ditch this whole idea.