Hopeful female team in Houston looking for advice.

From the way I understand the teams are running all drop and hook terminal to terminal runs. No touch

 

I can +1 to @Chinatown covenant recommendation.

Had a friend that workes for 'em with nothing but good to say. Think they may train couples together, but can't say 100% sure.

 

I'd go ahead and apply with Covenant; you still have plenty of time to make a final decision.
Sometimes recruiters have rushed days listening to people who are overbearing. Don't worry, you have plenty of time and other companies to talk to and get information from.
I like to research companies before talking to them such as their Wikepedia page so I can surprise whoever I'm talking to with information they probably don't know about.

 

My guess is that an email officially locks that recruiter to you, so they get the credit.

 

Dogs will be a problem during early training and with certain lines of trucking. You might want to pass on the dog until you have had 6 months in. One scenario might be a preventable and now you two are on the way home by bus with a dog in a carrier. The first year is the most dangerous for new drivers.

Your student loans might be covered by uncle sam. That is one way to get it paid to the schools. But once you sign, you cannot discharge this kind of student loan. Uncle Sam will make sure he gets his money. If you are borrowing 4000 dollars and expect to clear 20K the first year after expenses and taxes it should be relatively easy to pay that 4k off. It's a small investment against the potentially millions in gross income you might make in your life time on the road.

You are young and healthy, DOT is less of a problem medically. Just make sure you do not have a habit for drugs and alcohol etc. All of that has to stop. (Im assuming you two are clean, but people in life usually has something for a vice)

You will always be learning during school and then after, specially your first few years. Heck even today I still learn something.

You two will need to understand that who is in the drivers seat is now the Boss, or better termed captian of the ship. There will not be arguements and problems from either one of you. The sleeper traditionally is a haven for the one who is not working or is in need of quiet now and then.

You two will want to be ready for some intense trucking. As a team you are considered more valuable and called on than single drivers. You both will learn each other's weaknesses and be prepared to help each other during those times. For example, one of you might have a problem with mountain heights. Or some such basic fear or phobia that comes to light in a situation. For example my spouse as a team, had trouble with wide open Nevada spaces and I had to put her in the sleeper and get that truck to Reno and civilization. We both did not know of this until she had a few hundred miles of nothing. That worked on her mind. Me it's literally paperwork. In my day some companies buried drivers in paperwork to track just about everything, Ive consumed two to three hours of my day as a clerk writing out forms in a pile on that stupid truck to keep daily records not kept at the home office. (To save money on staff...) So we swap. She takes care of the paperwork makes that go away while I step in and take care of the issue that is bothering her.

When you two are finished with that truck for time off, it has to be time off. Get away from there and better yet, get away from each other. You will be back on the road soon enough. Taking time off is a valuable part of work. But you cannot do it too often, it literally costs good money to sit home.

You also will be aware that certain areas of the USA are predatory towards you two, its not about being sexist or anything like that It's a problem where people will prey on you and you will want to understand and recognize the developing situation and deal with it effectively. Your health and well being as team drivers are more important.

You will want to be careful who you hire on, being a team is not something where you run toilet rolls of paper or soda cans all over say the NE. You will want to be involved in high value loads and other really goodie loads that pays well and is important to the USA. That way you two can feel that you are actually doing something that is not just basic throw the stuff in the box and drive to a place that does not care about you, your load or your time.

And finally learn to say the word No. If your new boss asks you two to do something that is not legal or whatever the conflict is, and it's not right say No. And stick to it. IF you two start running illegal even once, your company will instantly abuse both of you and you cannot get out of it without punitive punishment or being fired etc.

Finally but not last, put away some money every time you get a check. You or both of you might not always be truckers, when it comes to marriage and raising a family. The two does not do well. The 20's through the 40's is the best earning potential for the work value and mileage you two can put away, this is the time to make your money. It is good to have savings anyway because your miles each week flutcuates you will have some weeks where the pay is 0.00 becuase you did not have enough miles.

Who knows what the future holds. It should be a bright one full of promise for the two of you. But remember that your first year is pretty risky because you are still learning. School does not teach much beyond passing the state test for the CDL. Your real learning begins when you both are assigned a truck.

I would not worry about the 5 foot nothing. Stature has nothing to do with trucking provided your health is good and you have good fluids, food etc so that you are strong for what you can and cannot do. Things have improved very much from say the late 70's to now. It is a multi generational progress in technology, truck engineering etc.

Finally but not least, don't waste time of day or night doing nothing or something not related to the truck, putting away the miles. That is your first work. Until you are given time off, that truck does not stop for nothing except fuel. That kind of intensity will require a endurance and stamina that will cause you two to be pretty tired, then cranky then bad tempered etc. Learn to pace yourselves. You will do well. But it is pretty crazy when you are in LA monday morning prior to sunrise, in Jersey wedensday and back in LA by saturday night at the latest. That kind of mileage should make for pretty nice 4 figure paychecks. I don;'t know what the breakdown for that pay to the truck to each of you. Always put away some savings from each and every one. It's a feast and famine out there. Less so for a team.

 

What you could do is email recruiter with your questions/concerns if she or he still doesn't answer look elsewhere.When recruiter dances around your questions that speaks volumes.There's hundreds of companies to choose from so don't worry about passing up an opportunity.Also Covenant does not stand out from the rest many are far better.

 

Finance it yourself then. It's far better to do that than to enter what I consider a 1700's era Indentured service via a contract with a company that may or may not keep you your first year.

There is no rush to get into trucking, it's easy to really screw it up being in a hurry. Check with the local big truckstops and talk to drivers. Some will have a hard time talking with you but it is what it is. Get the MC DOT Numbers off the company doors of the equiptment and research it online to investigate companies. (That will go away when the DOT numbering system is ended) and use google earth to visit various areas of the USA to get a idea what you are about to get into. New Mexico is a hell of alot different than back home by the seaport in Baltimore.

Do try to find a school with a decent mountain to train on even if you have to drive a semi an hour there. For me mountain work was a fear at first and then later a powerful asset because it was all I cared for. If I can do it anyone can. The trick is anyone can get up them, but getting down... that seperates the men from the boys so they say.

Work on your savings as much as possible. one year is a good start. A very good start. Sort out what foods you can eat by going to a store and buying 4 weeks worth for yourself and still be strong in driving. It's way cheaper to do it one time per month than it is to eat three meals retail in the truckstops at like 20 per meal.

Perdiem. Make sure you own that perdiem to claim against your taxes each year. The flat deduction is worth alot of money. Also consider throwing down a certain amount per payroll additionally into your W2's withholding so that your federal and state taxes do not surprise you with a huge tax bill each year. You might consider that a form of savings as well so that will be your new years nest.

Finally but not least. Get your affairs in order. For example, something goes really bad and you do not survive the wreck. What do we do with the body? Get that settled along with the life insurances etc. So that no one else will have to worry about that. Most burials that are pre-paid, arranged will ship the body home from anywhere as part of the necessary final arrangements. There is a risk however that you might be cremated far from home as a portion of you is left there in the crematorium and you would be mailed through the post office to your family. It is what it is.

Have a arrangement for self defense insurance such as USCCA, they cover anything from fists, words and knife all the way to gun defenses now anywhere in the USA so when Mr Mad mad gets beat up and he calls the law on you and there you are in jail. Now what? And a lawyer that is geared to trucking network to be planned for too in case the law takes a dim view of your doing a big boo boo 2000 miles from home and you need to lawyer up.

Companies make promises. Get it in writing. Words spoken are just words. They will be forgotten and not enforcable.

Remember above all else, that log book is your document for legal work. You cannot allow yourself to be told to do something illegal. That's important.