Husband & Wife Team Drivers - Need Info.

The best teams I know average near 300k miles a year. They run as a team, whoever is driving and on the log does all the needed work, loading, unloading, fueling, paper work etc.. Often they will have a schedule where one person drives only nights and the other only days. The top team at my company runs 20 hours a day and shuts down for the rest. They did 287K miles last year.

Some of the worst teams I've seen are husband and wife where the wife is a part time driver and the husband has to do most of the work. Some companies refere to them as "Super Singles". They get a few more miles than a solo driver.

 

A typical day is impossible to describe. It changes constantly. Generally your trips start off with getting a load. First step is seeing where you pick up and where it delivers - and when. If you can realistically make it from where you are to the pickup spot, grab it and head to the delivery destination on time, you accept the load. Otherwise, you're going to have to figure up when you CAN realistically make it and inform dispatch to see what they want to do. If they want you to go for it, then you're good to go.

From there, you go pick one up, usually you have to take along an empty to the yard so they have another one to load for someone else while you take off with a pre-loaded trailer. When you arrive, you drop off the trailer where the yard accepts empties, then go hunting for your trailer - this can take awhile as they're not parked in numerical order. You're looking for a rather large needle in a fairly small haystack most of the time, so it's not too bad.

After you find it, hook up and head down the road. Stop a few times for pee breaks and make sure to grab a snack or three (healthy ones though) and put them within easy reach before you head back down the road.

Eventually you run out of time for driving (usually before you arrive at the destination) and your partner takes over. Rinse repeat until you arrive and either live unload, or another infamous drop and hook while waiting for your next load.

That's fairly typical. Now, from the couple perspective...one of you is sleeping while the other is driving...or at least trying to. Every jerk of the clutch, every bounce in the road and every start and stop is going to potentially wake them, so you try not to grind the gears, jerk the clutch, slam on the brakes (even though four wheelers will make you do it regularly) and you'll feel your back teeth floating before you want to stop at the next rest area, for fear of waking your partner.

If they can get a good snooze, the "perfect plan" is actually:

Hour 1:

Driver 1: Starts new shift.
Driver 2: Hangs out with driver 1 and helps with getting snacks, routes, checking signs, chatting, etc.

Hours 2-9:

Driver 1: Tries to keep things smooth going down the road so Driver 2 can get some rest.
Driver 2: in the sleeper trying to sleep.

Hour 10:

Driver 1: Finishes last hour driving.
Driver 2: Gets up, wakes up, gets ready for their shift and keeps Driver 1 company for awhile.

Hour 11:

Driver 1: kicks back and hangs out with Driver 2, getting snacks, routes, signs, chatting, blah blah blah.
Driver 2: Begins drive shift.

Hours 12-19:

Driver 1: in the sleeper trying to sleep.
Driver 2: Tries to keep things smooth going down the road so Driver 1 can get some rest.

Rinse, repeat.

Of course, that's the perfect run. Doesn't always work that way, there's times when you just need a partner out there, so both of you will have your snooze time interrupted to help with backing, or stubborn landing gear, or help with a hand unload, or dealing with an idiot, etc. You try to minimize these issues, but in reality, just be prepared to deal with having 2-3 sleep sessions, about 7-9 hours total time.

There's also the issue of down time. That's when you're both sitting around doing nothing. During those times, it's nice to be able to hang out together for more than four hours a day. So, one of you (the more flexible sleeper) will ruin their sleep cycle to hang out with the other. My suggestion is to make sure you don't mind strenuous exercise if you do this - because it'll help exhaust you when you're "wide awake" and have to go back to your normal sleep cycle.

There are other tricks to keeping up with your sleep and I'll let other drivers offer their advice, but that's the one that works best for me.

So, the good:

Hanging out together in the truck, groovin' to tunes you both love, seeing the sites...

The bad:

Getting lost and hollering for the other to come help you figure out just where the F@#K you are and how the F@#K you're going to get over to the delivery location.

Short tempers from fatigue. Remember, hold the tongue for ten seconds before you speak - your marriage will thank me later.

You'll both be newbies but you'll both find something you'll excel in that the other won't. It's tempting to let the other person do what you suck at - don't do it. At best, let them teach you and listen to what they have to say - they're doing it better than you, so shut it and learn. At worst, figure it out on your own, but don't rely on them - it makes you only half a driver.

The ugly:

What your spouse will look like after three weeks on the road during a manic non-stop run.

But don't worry, you won't be a prize winner either. Just remember to always try to hit the showers once a day during your shift change. Stopping the wheels from rolling for even two hours a day isn't going to kill ya. I recommend 1 hour R&R per shift where the two of you can just kick it and enjoy a sit-down meal (not at a restaurant unless you're rich - just a meal where you're not gulping down food while driving) together to be able to talk about the run so far and each other.

 

#### Ghost,put your glasses on.IT IS 2012!!!!

 

You can check out our blog (in my signature) It chronicles the last two years of our life on the road as a married team.

Craig

 

Good summary Ghostdriver!

A good custom memory foam mattress is mandatory for team sleeping, paired with a long body pillow! The body pillow acts as a kickstand to keep you from rolling around. You really want a foam mattress instead of a spring one because the spring ones really transfer the vibration of the truck and give you the nose itchies! Also though they give good support, in a moving truck its like sleeping on a trampoline! Hit one bump and you will boinging up and down for two miles! A good foam bed absorbs this. Also a foam bed really reduces a lot of the road noise. Last but not least, earplugs! Mainly so you can't hear your spouse! Seriously though, whomever is driving will be listening to the radio, talking on the ol' CB or phone, singing etc... You can buy a bucket of these foam earplugs at walmart and they are a God send! One in each ear and you are instantly in quiet heaven! A lot of folks take sleep meds such as benadryl, nyquil, tylenol pm etc... I would advise you not to unless you absolutely cannot sleep and its been a few days since you had any good sleep. Taking these will make you feel extra good and eventually they will be necessary all the time. Try to avoid them as best you can. If for any reason you do need them on occasion I would recommend the benadryl as it is probably the least evil out of all of them.

Sorry, figured I would just throw my two cents in on the sleeping arrangements. Any questions you have at all just holler or "pm" me if you would like. My wife and I have many years experience in team driving.

Good luck to ya'll...

 

###### I did it again...see, this is why I'm going back out on the road instead of working where I'm at...place is drivin' me crazy...and if ANYONE is drivin' ANYBODY ANYWHERE, it'll be me, thank you.