Advice for newbies thinking of teaming

You should listen to those vet truckers...

Better home time doesn't mean diddley unless there is better money attached to it..

FYI: a pre-hire is not a job offer.. It's just a piece of paper..

 

Kiss that friendship goodbye.

 

no,never.i friend wants me to train him and team,but i know within a month i would kill him.i dont know how guys take their girls with them all the time.just think,could you live about 12 hours or more a day in a closet with the person.

 

I team with my husband, and if we hadn't been married and been BEST friends for over 28 years, he would have been a dead man, and I would have been sorely hurt - LOL! If you think that you could live in a walk in closet with this person without killing them, go for it... It take a patience that is really hard to learn... Minimal if any privacy or personal space... Little irritating habit will become major irritations... So my suggestion is to approach teaming with caution

 

I teamed with my best friend and had blast doing it. If you have to ask people who don't know the two of you though, you are probably doubting it already and that would be a good sign it wouldn't work out well.

You can't take things personally when teaming. It's best to be upfront and quick in telling the other person when something is bothering you. Somedays you'll wake up and be in a crappy mood and probably get crappy with them and vice versa. You just have to let it roll off.

 

I've done mostly team driving during my otr years and have had some good co-drivers and some bad co-drivers. Not putting the blame on them either because sometimes personalities just don't match.

I think you have more issues then this though. On one hand you want to team and will never be home and on the other hand you want more home time. You may want to put some serious though into this before diving in.

 

No experience, but common sense would make me personally say no. Unless you can stand that person 24/7 for up to 3 weeks at a time I wouldn't do it. Teaming sounds much like a marriage...you have to be a perfect fit for one another.

 

LS said it! Not everyone is cut out for teaming and yes you have to be a perfect fit or it ain't gonna work! Another factor is where you and your co-driver live. I wouldn't do it if you lived more than 50 miles from each other. Home time would be a big pain in the butt! The best teaming gigs are the floral runs out of FL, TX, and CA. You run out for usually a max of 5-7 days with 20-50 stops around the country and when you are empty you grab a load and shoot back home, take a day or so off and do it again.

If you do decide to team an important factor is finding a co-driver with the same likes and dislikes. Smoking, music, daily habits etc... You also want someone who is responsible and are comfortable driving with. It is very nerve racking climbing back in the sleeper while its snowing or bad weather and you have to count on your co-driver to make the right decisions and maneuvers.