Other than not being home, can I still have a life?

^This. A thousand times. Truckers, on a trucker forum, telling folks not to get into trucking. Hypocrisy has no boundaries.

 

I don't see any hyprocrisy, I see a warning that the life of the driver is not dictated by the driver when they enter into this world.

I think it is akin to someone wanting going into a criminal activity and told by those in it not to because .... there is a warning but not hypocrisy involved.

 

Bull, A trucking forum is precisely the correct place to advise someone whom has reported a lifestyle that is inconsistent with the OTR lifestyle to not get into it. Would you want the OP to go to a Funeral Directors Forum (if there was one) to get trucking info? It is what it is. Stop trying to kill the messenger just because you don't agree with the message.

 

I agree. If I could make the same money and be home every night I probably wouldn’t be out here.

 

Teaming you won’t be able to do much but drive. That truck probably won’t stop much. There are a LOT of TA truck stops that have gyms in them. Check for them on Truckers path

 

It's pretty standard for many of the California based produce trucks...I see it all the time.

My wife and I have been teaming for a little over 2 years now, and things have never been better. Of course, it's not for everyone, just like the people that are afraid of NYC or driving on snow.

Make sure you get with an outfit that will run you non-stop. If you fart around, you'll end up running recap and never getting a day off. We run for 6 days then do a 24 rolling restart. We have had 4 restart days off this month, and we rented cars on 2 of them along with a hotel next to the truck stop. We visited Cheyenne and Seattle on relatively early days, and ran errands when there was nothing to see. We are at 27000 miles on the last day of the month.

We come home for about 12 days every 8 weeks, and we do whatever ER want with our time then. We booked a trip to China on a whim, do we're going there on our next home time.

 

I am only doing OTR because I’m single. Have you taken long road trips with your girlfriend? Being in a truck with a trainer right now I can tell you that the tin box gets small. If you are both very adventurous then it might strengthen your relationship and it’s possible you will love it. It’s also possible that you end up hating it and it wrecks your relationship.

If you decide to do it have some kind of achievable goal to work towards. Research a LOT and go to the best possible company you can. Good equipment, good pay, and creature comforts will make life easier when you are running together.

If you decide not to do team OTR you can always take a peek at local opportunities. Work the same shift in separate trucks but you might be able to run together if it is something like construction.

Drive safely!

 

I run solo line haul and absolutely won't work over 40 hours a week. I get calls to make extra run. NO, no reason required just ####ing NO. I don't want to do something I friggin' well don't do it. Been at company 22 years ...40 hours a week...no more!

 

First teams are not as much in demand as people lead you to believe, especially a Swift and Schnieder. Except in a few cases, the megas, run the teams like two solo drivers; meaning they plan the teams like any other OTR solo. Their are exceptions of course, and you could as a team luck into a dedicated route at a mega right off the bat. But, many times teams wait for years for that dedicated run that pays off at these megas.

There are runs and companies that demand teams and pay a small premium for them over a solo driver. These companies are often looking for teams because many teams don't last long;Someone in the team gets weary of the lifestyle and the company requires teams.

And it is a huge lifestyle change running a team. Most teams that run the miles and make the team money, have little or no time for socializing except for when one is behind the wheel. Most husband and wife teams (boyfriend and girlfriend, or whatever) say they have less actual contact of any kind then when just one of them was at home and the other was running OTR. One is sleeping, one is driving, rinse and repeat.

And the gym. Forget about that. If your running as a money making team, you will never see the gym.

If your running like a team at the mega, you will be stranded somewhere waiting for a load wishing you were at the gym, but afraid to go because you don't want to miss that one load a day that might come your way.

 

Getting to a gym regularly isn't going to happen, but you can still get a good workout within the confines of your truck using your body weight and a few simple items. Look up "prison cell workout."