Please Read (I need your advice on this)

I know it's practical miles vs hub miles, but it might not be such a big difference as you think. You might want to ask them how many miles they calculate between terminals and you'll be able to have a better idea. At least that has been my experience. The company where my hubs is now pays practical miles (They can't pay hub miles since the drivers take the trucks home and do a lot of off-duty driving bobtailing home, going from the terminal to get food, etc.) and I haven't seen a big difference when I compare it with door-to-door addresses on his GPS.

12 cpm is a HUGE difference. The difference between hub miles and practical miles would have to be really large (25%) for you to just break even. Example: If a 500-mile trip (as in hub miles) is calculated as a 400-mile trip (practical miles) you're still making more money with Con-Way ($180 vs $192). At the end of the year we might be talking about tens of thousands of dollars depending if Conway gives you for more miles, enough to make up for the hub vs practical issue. It might be worth it if it's a better company (I don't know much about either of them) but you need to put it in perspective.

 

My wife and I have drove for three companies as a team, USxpress, FedEx Ground and TLG TLG (The Logistics Group) is the best company I have drove for. I drove for 3.5 years before my wife decided to get her cdl and out of the 5 companies I have drove for, TLG was the best. They know you by name, they treat you very well and they haul auto parts. Everything they haul needs to be delivered asap but, no worries about safety issues. The Trucks are rented/leased from Penske, Rider and another company out of Nashville, TN I can give you a number if you wish me to PM you. I don't driver for them anymore because the wife has decided to stay home. I will not get a recruiting bonus and never have cared if I did. I don't talk good about companies for any reason other than, they are good to talk about.

 

Honesty and integrity,

what a concept.

 

those who can team with their spouse my hat is off to you

I think I would run the truck into something if I had to team with someone constantly, im more of a solo type of guy myself and as long as im making decent checks its staying that way.


As for those companies im not familiar with watkins but I see con-way constantly moving.

 

Watkins & Shepard is an honest company and that is a rare find in trucking! I started with CRIME, INC out of Missouri and then went to W/S and became a company driver for them. I became an owner operator with Watkins Shepard and enjoyed it as much as can be expected for 3 years OTR. I'm now local rail can hauling just to be close to family and home weekends and most nights.

Bottom line you will not get 'surprise settlements/pay from W/S' If there is an issue with a pay amount simply call them and they will correct it or explain it fully. Everyone is Missoula (the headquarters) goes by first name and they actually answer the phones when you call them.

Their recruiter was the ONLY honest recruiter I have ever dealt with in trucking.

Watkins Shepard HQ is full of good people and it is really like a big family once you know them. W/S afforded me an IVF baby (30K costs) and paid off my truck. My 3 years with Watkins was financially successful and they were good to me.

Good luck and I have no advice about Conway because I never drove for them.

 

Teaming 5 and 5 was incredibly rough for me when I was training. My wife and I tried it and we were bone tired all the time. We finally settled on running our shift normally when we could both run 10 hours each. That afforded us some degree of rest for a goodly length of time.
But those highways were rough in Louisiana, Pennsylvania and other places too. And there was the time when the company ran us on the east coast for 5 weeks solid. That pretty much did them in as far as we were concerned, and we knew it was time to start looking after that.
Anybody who wants to run team is to be commended, but when it comes to doing it with your spouse, there's one thing to remember: it'll either bring you closer together or drive you apart. In our case, it brought us closer together. You're in the same unit but while one is driving the other will have to go back to that sleeper for rest. It can be a pretty hard thought to realize that you want to see each other but you're going to have to get your rest.
After my wife did her 500+ miles, she was WHUPPED! And to top it off, she did the night shift. Frankly, she preferred doing the night shift as there was less traffic to deal with and easier for her. Even after many years of not doing team driving, it still affects her in my opinion. She has had opportunity to do some of her most productive work by staying up all night while overseeing our business.
Team can be a great way to make excellent money, but consider so many things carefully as you make your plans. It's not all glitz and glamor. Anybody who tells you it is...send them my direction and I'll set them straight!

 

rough roads are another reason I dont like to team, when I was in training I had a heck of a time sleeping at times bouncing all around.

 

Another difference is one day off every 6 at Watkins -vs- one day off every 7 at Conway

 

Here is the other thing about teaming that all should look at, health. I gained 25lbs and the wife did too because all a team does is drive, sleep, drive, and sleep. If you run hard, like you should, that is all you will do until you reset or take home time. Yep, great money but, to me health and our marriage is more important than money.

 

When we got our time off, the first day was nothing except a day to vege out! It wasn't uncommon to run for a month nonstop. And when Christmas freight was in full force, we'd go for 8-9 weeks straight. Hey, there was money to be made! But what price for a paycheck?

I don't regret our team days but it's not something I'm willing to go back into again. We're strong in our marriage even today, but I regret those times when I got irritated with her. The strains of the road can do that. Keep an eye out for it.

And if anybody says a team can't run out of hours, PHOOEY! Three time sensitive back to back to back cross country runs (Utah to Ohio, back to Utah, then Utah to Rhode Island) would do in just about any team, regardless of their truck speed.