Going to a Team Run - Tips, Ideas, suggestions?

Do you know your team driver? I have done some team driving. My suggestion first thing you and your partner need to have an understanding on things such as smoking. You need to talk about the run. Have a game plan. Who is going to drive first. Where you are going to switch. Try to make sure you share the work. It will become a problem if one driver feels they are doing more work than the other. If you both understand the expectations you should be fine. Try to get a long. Even things like cell phone calls can cause problems.

 

Ziggy the route you are describing is basically a long local route that can not legally be completed by one driver under the 11/14 hour rules. If I were you I would follow ampm's advice and get a set schedule with your co-driver splitting the work evenly. You guys really do not have to worry much about lack of sleep since you will both be sleeping each night at home, so when you go to the sleeper catch a nap and read a book, watch a movie or bring a laptop the rest of the time. This should be a piece of cake. Good luck.

 

You can buy a dc cig charger for about 50 bucks. They do not get as hot.

 

Before leaving a truck stop, rest area or dock. Be sure to check the sleeper for your team driver. So easy to leave a co-driver behind thinking he's asleep in the truck. I ran teams for two years. We had a game plan and stuck with it. As soon as I was done driving and the other took over. We would talk for a few minutes then I went straight into the sleeper. Time alone behind the wheel and less contact with your co-driver, worked the best for us. To this day, we have been best friends for the last 20+ years. I have seen a few times where both driver and co-driver got out and traded punches. Interesting to say the least.

 

Yes! Change your socks everyday!

 

Start planning now on where to dispose of the body.

 

I've been needing to get this off my chest since 1996.

My first month after training, I ran team with a driver I met at the school. I was 29, and had about 8 years of experience racing sports cars. Baker was 23, fresh out of the Army where he had experience driving big military equipment.

First off, we had different philosophies about driving and money. Ryder gave us plenty of time to drive the speed limit and make the runs, so I drove the speed limit (or less, if conditions required it). He was hell-bent on squeezing every penny and mile out of every hour that he could. He stuck his head out of the sleeper once in Ohio and yelled at me for still being in Ohio (55mph limit for trucks). I stuck my head out of the sleeper once in Pennsylvania to find us rounding a blind curve on a backroad too fast and finding the road blocked by a road construction crew.

Also, thanks to years of racing, I drove very smoothly. The better your vehicle is balanced, the more traction you have for things like braking. My team-mate slung the truck all over the place, tossing me around the sleeper and preventing me from sleeping. And he wouldn't listen to me because he was 23, fresh out of the Army, and knew everything. After a month of that, I knew I had to run solo. When we got back to the terminal one night, I surprised him by asking the dispatcher for my own truck.

My old teammate ran solo for a few weeks, then teamed up with an old Army buddy of his. I saw him once in a while, and one time he was worried that Ryder was going to find out about the three speeding tickets he had earned since we split. Yes, he got them in the truck. But he was happy with his new teammate, as they shared the same philosphies for driving and money. Meanwhile, life was good for me in the slow lane. I made more money than I had ever seen, and slept like a baby in my parked rig.

A few months later, I was doing my paperwork after a run and the fuel jockey said "Hey, when you started here, weren't you teamed up with Baker?"

"Yeah."

"What was y'all's truck number?"

"535. Why?"

"Want to see what's left of it?"

Baker and his Army-buddy teammate were bringing a backhaul of bleach from Texas, made it about ten miles from the Scottsville terminal where we were based, and failed to negotiate an S-curve, rolling down a hill. His buddy was driving, and Baker had to be cut from the sleeper. Both of his wrists were broken. I don't remember the extent of his Army buddy's injuries.

Needless to say, Baker didn't drive there again. Probably didn't drive anywhere after that. Ryder wouldn't even let him be a yard jockey. Same for his buddy. I'm glad I wasn't around Baker's house when he told his wife and daughter.

So if running team, talk about everything first. Find out what he drives like and see if you'll be able to sleep through that. Take an honest look at your own driving too. If you're both slow, smooth and professional, that's the worst part out of the way.