Why Do We Demonize Team Driving?

When I first broke into trucking in '77 and drove off and on for the next 4 years I always drove team with my older brother (he was O/O). When I got back into trucking this year I again teamed with him for a couple months for retraining to get my CDL and ran team with him for 3 months. Now I have 4 months running solo with Swift.

My brother and I decided to part ways because we weren't able to double the miles on the truck as a team. As a solo driver he was getting 10K to 11K miles per month. As a team we averaged 16K per month. Working for a small outfit out of the LA area we ran out and back to the East coast or Midwest, getting home every week and taking a 34. The problem is that as a solo you have 14 hours to maximize your 11 hour drive time every day. As a team you have only 12 hours to maximize your drive time. It's really impossible to double miles as a team even if you are in the middle of a multiday run.

After going through training at Swift (they required 240 hours training since I didn't go through a school to regain my CDL) I've run solo, which is my first experience as a solo driver. I have to say I strongly prefer running solo. I had my wife in the truck with me for a couple weeks and that was enough for her!

Running solo means I sleep MUCH better than I ever did running team. That is the single most important aspect of running solo in my experience, that and the fact that I can really stop wherever or whenever I want.

Issues of hygiene and cleanliness are gone. My brother and I got along great, we both were clean and insisted on having a "buttoned up" truck and cab with everything in its place. My trainer at Swift was .... less than exemplary... to the point I nearly made the decision to get off the truck. I ended up sticking it out in order to make sure I got through the training phase as quickly as possible.

While teaming certainly gives you an extra set of eyes and another professional mind to lean on, I think I've learned far more running solo that I ever did running team. I'm responsible for everything, and I make very sure everything is in order.

 

I ran solo for my first few months, then teamed with my husband (now ex) for almost a year. Needless to say...that did not work out quite as well as we had hoped...the marriage or the teaming. I do miss the priority status and long hauls of being a hard running hazmat team. I don't miss the bs and drama associated with living in this truck with him.

I will say that the first few months solo were...hair raising. Being all alone out there with no one to help talk me down off the ledge when I got scared, nervous, confused or upset. I nearly hyperventilated coming down a mountain my first week, and gave myself a full fledged panic attack another time. Had I someone with me, that might not have happened.

I can think of several times over my first winter that I encountered a "what goes up, must come down" situation in less than ideal conditions (night time, blizzards, high winds, black ice). We spent the entire winter on 80, 84 and 5. You can imagine, for a rookie that was baptism by fire (or, rather...by snow). I'm not ashamed to admit that there were several times that I woke him up in the middle of the night, because I was terrified. He also woke me many times for the same purpose. He would sit in the jump seat, half asleep and hold my hand down the mountain. He didn't have to say anything, just the presence of another person was comforting. Just knowing that he wasnt worried about my ability to get us safely down was a boost to my confidence.

However, the "wrong" co-driver, can either intentionally or unintentionally undermine your confidence in your abilities. He was bad about acting like I couldn't back up to save my life...ironic considering how much work I had to put in to teaching him how to when he got on the truck with me. It got to the point where I really did struggle with it, too much pressure knowing he was watching and judging me. Once I put him off the truck, I was back to backin like a pro.

Only one time did I ever "quit", and throw in the towel. Coming across WY, another truck slid out on black ice, while attempting to pass me...he came straight for us...the only way to avoid a collision was to throw myself half off the road...putting more than half of the truck and trailer into the three foot snow drifts on the side of the road. I pulled off at the very next exit (truckstop/rest area be darned) crawled into the back in tears and told him I couldn't keep going. Not after a scare like that. We ended up having to back the truck up the exit ramp to get turned around and go back to the truckstop a few exits back.

I said all that to say this...yes, teaming can be great. It can also be its very own special version of hell. I do agree that teaming for your first 6 months or so is a wonderful idea....what I don't agree with is putting two brand new rookies in to a truck together and turning them loose onto us and the unsuspecting motoring public (maybe "ROOKIE" stickers are in order). That has disaster written all over it. We got lucky and made it out with no accidents, tickets or points. That's rare.

Speaking of rookies....at what point can you quit identifying yourself as a "rookie"?

 

I don't think there is a limit. I still think of myself as a rookie 10 years later.

 

I don't mean at what point can you assume you know it all. I just mean at what point can you consider yourself a "grown up trucker" and not a baby trucker anymore. Is it miles turned, years put in?

 

People n cars drive a certain way. They think they're good drivers, but they don't read road signs, they don't have full control of the vehicle (hence the tapping of the brakes), they can't read traffic. Every single day, they unknowingly come close to death. The first thing they do is hit the brakes and cut the wheel (which unbalances the car and make it lose control). They see a cop, the hit the brakes. They miss their turn, they hit the brakes. Ice on the road, they hit their brakes. Switching lanes, they hit their brakes. They blow a tire, they hit the brakes. And then they get the bright idea to get a CDL and drive a combination vehicle, because they "like to drive."

When do you graduate from rookie status? When you quit driving like a 4 wheeler. You see them, traffics merging on, they cut their wheel and slam on the brakes. Entering a weigh station and the sign says MAINTAIN 35 MPH and they can't read signs and so do 15. They can't read signs in construction zones. The sign that says KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS was missed. They can't check their mirrors without tapping the brakes. Their first impulse on black ice is to hit their brakes.

when your first impulse is no longer to hit the brakes, in ANY situation, you have graduated. Congratulations. NOW, you can drive.

 

Most Drivers Choose trucking because of the privacy for the most part.When I am Driving I don't want someone setting next to me picking there nose and asking stupid questions or telling me how he/she thinks the world should go around.Hell we don't have to be on this forum yet you see people trying to preach stuff that will make you brain spin.Do you really wana sit there & listen to some one Nagging you a bout bathroom brakes or chow brake or taking borrowing your coffee cup to mix his Vegen soup, or drooling on your pillow or you having a find the words to tell him to wash his fruit of the loom at least once a month 4 pete's sake.

 

OK, you have made the very misguided statement several times in this thread, about having a CHOICE as far as a co-driver is concerned. And to a point, you are correct. You can always choose to quit and look for another job. But sometimes, THAT choice can mean financial disaster for you. And frankly, I was not insinuating anything, it was a flat out statement. Your posts, at least is this particular thread, just scream that you think you know it all.

Now, as far as sleeping while the truck is moving? I think that is some of the best sleep in the world, IF you have a decent co-driver that you can trust to keep the "dirty side down, and the painted side up." Otherwise, nobody in their right mind could sleep very well.

I'm very happy that you have had good experience in team driving. It CAN be done. But that certainly does not mean it works for everyone.

 

[/QUOTE] If you ever have a co driver like that it's entirely your fault. I can understand the privacy thing, but to say that you wouldn't team because you're afraid of being stuck with somebody truly awful just shows a lack of willingness to properly vet. This isn't an industry for the lazy...[/QUOTE]

Hmmmmmmm For some one that Preach Thou Shall Not Judge you say What? This isn't an industry for the lazy Do you see now what I mean By:
Hell we don't have to be on this forum yet you see people trying to preach stuff that will make you brain spin.


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