Good Companies for New Husband & Wife Doubles Teams to Make the Most $

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by insipidtoast, Jan 28, 2023.

  1. lual

    lual Road Train Member

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    I would agree with all of the above....but with the following caveats:

    • Old Dominion does not hire beginning drivers from just any CDL school (i.e., post #6 above is accurate :thumbup:)--call ahead to OD, and/or visit their website...to find out what CDL schools in/near your back-home area.....from which they like to hire/recruit.
    • Before investing a lot of time and money in this....MAKE SURE your spouse is ok with the ENTIRE PROCESS of setting up/breaking down a set of LTL doubles......at night....in the rain....in a yard/parking lot that isn't level.....with potholes......& without your help. HINT: those LTL dollies are heavy! o_O LTL pays good money--but (obviously) there's reasons for that.
    • People respect what you inspect--NOT what you expect. With that in mind, to get an honest idea of what LTL is really like--it's probably a really good idea for you and the spouse to spend some real time reading thru some of the threads over on the LTL section of the Forum:
    LTL and Local Delivery Trucking Forum | TruckersReport.com Trucking Forum | #1 CDL Truck Driver Message Board (thetruckersreport.com)

    and go thru some threads like these:

    How's Everyone Doing in LTL Right Now? | Page 15 | TruckersReport.com Trucking Forum | #1 CDL Truck Driver Message Board (thetruckersreport.com)

    and

    Any LTL companies that would train wife and I together in same truck? | TruckersReport.com Trucking Forum | #1 CDL Truck Driver Message Board (thetruckersreport.com)

    and

    Is LTL the best area of trucking? What's the catch? | TruckersReport.com Trucking Forum | #1 CDL Truck Driver Message Board (thetruckersreport.com)

    --Lual
     
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  3. MSWS

    MSWS Light Load Member

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    Covenant Transport. You might need a refresher because of your time out of the industry and your wife will need full training after she gets her CDL. Covenant will put you and your wife on the same truck with a trainer. She'll do most, if not all, of the driving because you'll require little or no seat time due to your experience. But it'll keep you together, assuming that's important.

    I don't know of any company that will let you train her without at least 6 months of recent experience, and every other company will want you to go drive solo while your wife is in a metal box with only God knows who. After 6 months or so with Covenant, you should have no trouble finding greener pastures as a team.
     
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  4. ducnut

    ducnut Road Train Member

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    A thought regarding this last post: Dot Foods has female trainers, for your wife. The two women trainers I knew were awesome people and known to be great drivers.
     
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  5. bryan21384

    bryan21384 Road Train Member

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    Hobby Lobby maybe? I only said that because I saw a poster advertising for teams at the truck stop lol
     
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  6. Rideandrepair

    Rideandrepair Road Train Member

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    I’d forget the doubles. It’s nothing but a hassle anyways. Barely pays any more. Besides being stuck on a rigid schedule really sucks. I understand you’re thinking about planned time off. Being a married Team, I think a better choice would be OTR, running different lanes. Choosing when and where to take time off. Being flexible, instead of so rigid. Makes for a happier life. Keeps it adventurous.
     
  7. insipidtoast

    insipidtoast Heavy Load Member

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    Thank you. This is very helpful.
     
  8. insipidtoast

    insipidtoast Heavy Load Member

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    No my wife wants the predictability. No curve balls. No scratching heads about how to get to different places all the time. Maybe it's not realistic. Also, from my point of view, OTR = too much inconsistency.
     
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  9. insipidtoast

    insipidtoast Heavy Load Member

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    Not like those women trainers that hillbilly guy was talking about in his review of the schneider phoenix OC? ;)
    That post cracked me up.

    I was always a fan of manchester. Best walmart truck stop in the country. Do you think the manchester terminal would give that same sort of OTR deal that you did where you drove 4000+ miles in a week? How about for teams? A long dedicated run would be ideal though. My wife said she would appreciate the predictability of it. Just going to the same customer everytime and turning around to go back. Out and back. Probably wouldn't want anything more complicated than a triangle route. I'm not sure we really want much hometime. We don't have a home in TN, and even when you're on hometime as a team, it would just be for a couple days, and I'd still have to keep the same sleep schedule.

    We lived together in a truck for three years when I was a solo driver, so she's already used to the lifestyle, but having opposite sleep schedules would be new.

    To everyone else, the only reason I suggested doubles was because I thought that was the best for the out and back, linehaul style trucking. If there's something that's not necessarily doubles that does that route and pays the same, that would be great. Would make life much easier when trying to park for breaks.
     
  10. insipidtoast

    insipidtoast Heavy Load Member

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    That looks cool. I wonder if they train. A lot of those sorts of routes depend on the amount of hassle you have to deal with when you get to the west coast. Drop and hook isn't always better unless the company is always on point with their maintenance. I've worked for medium size companies that have drivers that drop junk, and that made me learn to hate drop & hook.
     
  11. insipidtoast

    insipidtoast Heavy Load Member

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    Could you please recommend some of your top picks from near your old neighborhood?
    We wouldn't be happy going with one of those places that's run like a good ol' boys club.
     
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