Needing imput...

Ok, i've done the team thing before unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it).

As far as the
1) Pre-exisitng team thing (you and your ma), yes, companies love teams, especially family teams and/or marrried couple teams.

2)Women; i'm not sure about this one? Myself, i would definitely give special consideration to female drivers, because, based on my observations, they, for the most part, tend to be, on the whole, more consistent than male drivers. i'm not saying male drivers, in general, are less consistent than females, i'm just saying if you took a random sample 10 female drivers and 10 male drivers, inevititably more of the male drivers would have problems related to consistency.
So yes, maybe some companies would be more attracted to you as drivers.

3)Clean driving records; Definitely. This one of the most important things for any driver----to keep their record clean. It definitely makes it easier to get jobs.


Other stuff:

1) Try to get a Tempur-pedic or other similar "memory foam" type matress. (you can get them cheap at walmart). This makes sleeping in the truck while it is moving much, much easier.

2) No engine brakes (more commonly known as "Jake Brakes") ever---unless it is an emergency. Or if it is a steep hill.

3) Slow down if the road is too unsmooth. This means that if the speed limit is 65 but the road is too harsh for your partner to sleep well, slow down; There is nothing wrong (generally) with going 55 in a 65 zone, generally. Remember, a team going 55 is still faster than a solo driver doing 70mph all the time.

The bottom line, for me, is that right now team driving is not a feasible thing, due to the fact that the sleeping setup is not right; It's uncomfortable, noisy, and in some cases the jostiling makes it difficult to get any real sleep. And, if you don't get good sleep, it's not going to work.

a) the other thing you could do, if your delivery schedules permit is to do sort of an 8-8-5 deal or something like that. In other words, one driver drives 8 hours, the other driver drives 8 hours and then the truck stops and you both sleep for 5 hours, the truck doesn't move. The first driver may fall asleep 3 hours before the truck stops and the second driver continues to sleep after the truck moves again, but at least got 5 hours of non-moving sleep.
This is still much faster than a solo driver.

More later.

 

Why no jake???? drive without a jake??? Why???

I've slept for hours and hours when Mike was driving and using the jake. You don't notice it or hear it after awhile. It's just something you get used to.

I can't imagine driving a big rig and NEVER using the jake. It's a very convenient tool - why not use it when you're allowed to? (some places have no engine braking areas)

 

get used to it, especially since it's your mom. That's right, the jake is a useful tool that saves wear and tear on your brakes. Just remember never to use it on wet roads, rain, snow, ice, etc. because it can cause your drive wheels to lock up resulting in a jacknife.

 

Don't want to alarm you here but Team driving takes alot of patience and getting a "restfull nights" sleep will become obsolete (as long as the truck is moving).
Rough roads will literally bounce a sleeping person off the bed. many jokes are made about getting more "air time" then Michael Jordan!

Curves in the road will make the sleeping person slide from the head of the bed to the foot of the bed. Be sure to use the straps to hold yourself in the bed in case the driver must brake suddenly. If you don't you may find yourself sliding out of the bed and onto the floor of the cab possibly striking the stick shift and knocking the truck out of gear and injuring yourself.

Be sure to purchase a carbon monoxide detector immediately. Exhaust fumes can build up in the cab and (without fresh air) cause serious brain damage over extended exposure.

As others have stated ;who ever is driving must slow down and attempt to minimize hard turns so the person in the sleeper may get some rest.

Better to consider working for companies that are team oriented meaning they use full size double bunk condos with plenty of space to store your gear, and have the freight base to keep you moving.

When the truck is moving always be sure the person in the bunk is first in the bottom bunk and secondly always has their head BEHIND the driver. The reason for this is in the event of an accident a drivers' self preservation instincts will kick in and they will steer away from a collision in an attempt to spare their side of the truck.

Team driving can be a happy and financially rewarding experience so long as you treat one another with respect and try to distribute the workload evenly.

Good Luck!

 

Hmmm.... Mike just drove the way he always did and it was no problem for me to sleep. Curves, jake brake, traffic, no traffic, bumpy road... who noticed? I was asleep.

And have never ever hit a road bumpy enough to throw me out of the bed - and we've been over many. You can always use the belts if you're worried about it.

And don't forget you cannot sleep in the top bunk when the truck is moving - not allowed.

I never minded sleeping when the truck was moving - I actually slept better than in my own bed at home!! LOL

 

You must be a SOUND SLEEPER! Kudos to you if you are!
I have driven freightliners, Internationals, and Volvos in team applications and had the same results in all; lots of air time, fragmented sleep, and sliding from one end of the bunk to the other. Only time I ever got real restful sleep was when the truck was parked.

 

sounds like a comedy act if you think about it. I could write a whole sitcom using this stuff..........brilliant work !!

 

Actually, I'm usually not a sound sleeper - but sleeping in a moving vehicle has always been easy for me and I actually sleep BETTER. Go figure, huh? LOL