Husband/Wife (or couples) Teams - geting started Info, advice, experiences, etc

Actualy gigs put your two cents in on here cause you and cb do this. If you want some good answers gigs can tell u about teaming she wont steer you wrong

 

good advice RW..as always....

well running team is a whole different ball game than solo....solos have time to do things...LOL shower, eat etc...

it is really hard to live in a box smaller than most peoples closets..( i know i have said that many times, but thats the best way to describe it)

we met in 1991, sept 21 to be exact...and have been runnin team since then (thats another story altogether...lol)

it is very hard. we have always ran hard...7000 miles +. a week..even when the speed limits werent what they are now.

a lot is expected from a team. they dont think you ever get tired or need a break. we have always (well most of the time ) ran reefer...we are asked to roll over hours ...sometimes i will but usually put my foot down and say NO..we need this dang truck to stop...time to get out..wash clothes etc.

we run almost all of our loads with just enough time to get there. that means no time to mess around in route. we are sch. VERY tight. we have enough time to stop to fuel, use the bathroom, walk the dogs and grab a bite to GO...and i dont mean going inside and ordering something either....

we unload, then head straight to start reloading...4~6 pick ups usually...in CA..which can take 1 to 1 1/2 days depending on whats ready. then straight back thru to drop at the yard, go load another . or pick up a pre loaded and back to CA as fast as we can go....

the only time we get a hot meal is on a restart..there is just no time..( i know , not everyone runs this way)..no time to lay down together , its wake up..do logs, brush hair, teeth, and get rolling....i usually stop ONCE during my shift....

on a restart we spend it cleaning the truck, grooming the dogs, washing clothes and taking care of what we dont have time to take care the rest of the time....so there is no real time off...til your time off......

it is also VERY hard to sleep going down the road...road construction, traffic jams, unexpected brake checks, weigh stations, fuel stops.....all of these things wake us up....not to mention making all our pick ups.....its dang near impossible for the other to sleep while we are makin all the pick ups..sliding tandems,phone calls, bumping docks, being loaded....it ALL affects your rest...the other one getting in / out of truck....

if you do disagree...(which will HAPPEN we are best friends and somedays i STILL WANT TO KILL HIM and vice versa)..there is NO time to stop and throw a fit....lol and cant exactly SLAM the curtain....LMAO..so you just keep on truckin.....

in its day...we had a blast, but things have changed sooooo much..that we cant stand to be out here hardly....

its a very stressful job...and getting worse all the time with the new regs RW mentioned...IF i had the money to buy a truck....which i dont....i wouldnt....we used to own our own and got out of it in 2005.....

it takes a lot of dedication and gettin used to not having much of a normal life....i am not saying trucking is bad...its just not what it used to be....people see us as having it made...get to be together, make all this money and just see the country....thats NOT all there is to it......

i am rambling now....sorry...lost my train of thought...besides , restart is almost up gotta go wash clothes, shower and hit the road....be safe and good luck in whatever y'all decide...

 

There ya go. Great post gigs. If you guys have any questions feel free to ask any of us on here. 99% will give yoh the best answers they can from their experiences.

 

As far as sleeping goes, get yourselves a good custom foam mattress. The mattresses that come with the trucks are spring mattresses and really bounce around a lot more than a foam one. Also the springs really intensify any road vibrations and give you the "nose itchies"! Also a good body pillow makes an excellent kickstand and keeps you from rolling around back and forth. Pair these items with a good set of foam earplugs and you are ready to roll! No matter what it will take some getting used too! Be sure to not drink any liquids or eat at least a couple of hours before going back in the sleeper. There are several other little tricks you can do to keep yourself from bouncing and rolling when going down the road.

Good luck...

 

Well. I ain't gonna lie. It sounds like serious hard work/lifestyle. I'm just gonna come on out and ask and you can tell me to MYOB. How much do you guys/gals make a year? I mean you sound like it's work work work and more work. How much time off do you get a year? On another note...OFF TOPIC: I got asked to be a trainer at my job. I'm stoked. Gonna put a little extra jingle jangle in my pocket

 

I will tell you this. The way things are right now unless your established and have good brokers or have companies that trust u to haul their product I would not recommend buying a truck to anyone with less than 3 yrs min under their belt. You have to understand that back in the day we didnt have mega carriers hauling stuff they never hauled before as they do now. One of the reasons I got away crom the trade show industry was due to mega carriers all of a sudden thinking tbey can haul special commodities. I went back to produce hauling and thats starting to go south with the Mega's getting into that. I would not touch a load cor under $1.50 flat with an fsc. On a good week I could turn outlaw style 3400 in 5 days and that was
Running 3 comic books and doing a California turn around pill. On a good year after all expenses I could bank $80.000 but like I said it was balls to the wall runnin. Trade shows back in the day I could run easy and if I sat at a show I was paid $350 a day. If I did ltl loads I would get 60 percent of each picks line haul price. Some were big bucks and some were crap. A good hard driving team could make $1200 a week before taxes and thats at say.48 cents per mile split. Percentage could pay more or less e
Depending on the company. Team driving is not for everyone you have to have trust in the person behind the wheel while u try to sleep and as gigs stated you are constantly going going going.

 

i'm a team o/o on percentage with a megacarrier my avg load w/fsc is over $2.15 a mile we NET over $7,000 a week, run 6 days and in the motel for a 34 almost every week

TheRoadWarrior is right you need to do this for a few years befor you go out and get a truck.. we were company drivers for the same megacarrier for 7 years before we went and got our truck

 

So IF I understand you (I said IF) you made 80K, but that was "Cowboy style" and by yourself. No offense, but I want to know what a husband/wife team can make "By the book/legit". I'll gross a very decent amount this year and I sleep in my own bed every night.

 

Having my wisdom teeth pulled tomorrow, but hoping I feel well enough to go to GATS on Saturday. Have fun!