Is Team Driving trucking worth in 2024?

You 2 go try CRST for 1 year. Paid CDL school for both, then company team. 8 month contract for all expenses for school, lodging, transportation there, etc.

This is real world trucking at now a decent company w/benefits. NEVER do lease purchase period.

 

First question. Can you sleep in a moving truck? The ride is nor as smooth as a car.
As a proven team with a year or more, the market opens up for you and also you will have better idea of what fits you. To search out better job, such as munitions or high security freight. Or maybe linehaul would be your thing

 

Getting your own rig is dumb without ever starting off in the profession. Gauranteed failure that way. Without knowing what you're up against.

Working only 40 hours is mostly unrealistic in the trucking world. Mostly. You could find local work. But local isn't team driving. That's long haul stuff to which 40 isn't going to happen. Unless you plan on taking a day off after every load is delivered. Hard to make $1000 a week that way.

There are alot of expenses in trucking. Fuel will be your biggest expense along with insurance starting out as a rookie. Truck payments and trailer payments aren't cheap either. Then you have breakdowns and no idea if the mechanic knows what they're doing. And maintenance.

Sleep..is going to be very hard to do bumping up and and down on America's crappy roads.

Pee breaks and the inevitable crappy food that will wait till the worst time to strike. You're 100 miles to the closest restroom.

Freight hasn't been great for the past couple years. I run local and I'm not seeing the same amount of trucks this year compared to last year.

Trucking can be fun but it's not without its drawbacks. Being away from friends and family for weeks at a time. Living in a very tight closet with your other half. Unless your rich and can afford one of them expensive studio trucks that are long but will severely limit your load finds. As they're heavier and long. Some places are tight enough as it is with a standard truck.

Putting all that aside. It can be fun and you can make money some years. If breakdowns don't eat you alive. Just don't forget the tax man. They'll F you if they can.

 

Maybe. It is a carriers employment market right now.

Not always, a lot of work is based on single driver planning.

Don't know.

Nope, be a company driver for at lease 5 years.

Nope.

Yep

Just remember to have a plan B, you may not make it through school. As mentioned, you may not be able to sleep in a moving truck, but I am a little more practical - can you actually drive a truck?

 

Don't even consider Owner-Operator until you have 2-5 years experience as a company driver in the industry. You don't know what you don't know, but everyone else making important decisions that affect your income has decades of experience. They know how to rip you off and you won't even know what they took from you is missing for years.

CDL school debt is trivial ($8-10k each). The more important decisions is where to work. Find the company that delivers good results for new drivers, not just hires/fires 10 thousands newbies per year. If that great company has their own school, go to their school. If that great company only hires newbies from certain CDL schools, go to one of those schools.

The goal is a good job, not CDL school. CDL is a formality. You should assume you will get it without too much trouble. You wouldn't spend months planning and worrying and organizing a wedding at the perfect location only to hope that you will find your mate on the drive to the ceremony on the day of the weeding. That is esentially what most newbies do when entering trucking. They bring an idea, like college, that the key is to go to the right college and that will all but guarantee a bright future. It doesn't to that at all. The schools sell that fantasy because it keeps the schools full of cash and customers. It's good for the schools.

If you hire on with a company that doesn't fit your goals and needs you will be in and out of the industry in a few months. 80% of newbies leave the industry permanently within 12 months because they do almost no research into what trucking companies fit their needs. Unfortunately, your needs are different than other driver's needs so nobody can declare work for ABC Trucking and you will make it.

There are a lot of things that determine if the company fits your needs:
1. How often you need to get home, and for how long.
2. How far away from the terminal will you need to commute.
3. Do you have a legal and safe place to park your truck near home, or should you park truck on company property (my recommendation.
4. Does the company have enough freight to keep you busy enough to justify being gone for so long.
5. What areas of the country will you mostly drive in?
6. What is the pay and what are the costs of the benefits?
There are many others details and questions to ask.

This process CANNOT be done online only. If you do an online only search you will get bad results and be in and out of the industry quickly and still be required to pay for your CDL school, whether it was obtained on your own or through a trucking company's "free" CDL school.

 

All the above posts offer great info -- but I will add to the above with some footnotes.....as added food for thought:

• "Ridgeline" (above) is right -- its a carrier's job market right now -- & shows no signs of going back to a driver's job market anytime soon. With that said -- teams are in better demand right now, but that's really for teams WITH EXPERIENCE, & the right endorsements. You will search (& work) harder for that first worthwhile gig -- than say, 2 years ago.
• Ye$ -- you can indeed make $ome great money running a$ a team. The real questions are: Are you up for it? And: are you cut out for it? Contrary to popular belief -- not everyone is "big rig" driver material.
• Trucking (as you are inquiring about) is really more of a lifestyle -- & not just a job. You are living in a VERY CONFINED space with one other person for weeks (or months) at a time. Thus: you guys better like each other -- A LOOOTTT!!!
• Sleeping while in a moving truck is something some people can acclamate to -- while others simply cannot. Another Forum member was stupid enough to try sleeping in the top sleeper bunk -- while the truck was moving (& without being strapped in). Don't let your trainer(s) push you into the same mistake!
• Some other companies that hire/cater to teams, with limited (or no) experience: Covenant Transport, Schneider National, & Werner Enterprises. Each of these (normally) hire drivers with no previous experience. Given the current somber CDL job market -- each of those may not currently be hiring (team) drivers with no experience (or -- they just might). Of those mentioned so far -- & knowing what I have seen & heard in the industry so far, if I had to choose now, I would take Werner...as first pick. Schneider would be a close second. Werner offers dry van, reefer...& also flatbed options, for freight.
• Forget about 40-hour work weeks, & being home on weekends (for teams, at least your first year or two -- & in the current CDL job market). Trucking is NOT ANYTHING LIKE holding down a regular job.
• IF YOU CAN -- get your CDLs from a nearby tech school, or community college. Make sure the courses offered are valid for AT LEAST 160 HOURS (& more is even better). Bonus points: if the CDL school in question will teach you how to shift a truck's manual transmission (& thus, you won't later have an "automatic only" restriction on your CDLs ). Get those CDL endorsements just after you get your CDLs (i e., tanker, hazmat...& doubles/triples). ESPECIALLY the HAZMAT. Why the endorsements? Because: that'$ where the money i$!!!

-- L

 

Where exactly do you live? That can potentially open up ideas as to places you could run, as a team.

For instance, I know of a company where you can walk in their front door, sit down with a recruiter and HR mgr, who can lay out every step of the way, who can help get you lined out with an approved school, and will ensure you’ll have positions after school. In addition, this company have other positions you both could work, while going to school. This way, you can have income, benefits, tenure, and system knowledge.

 

I've been running as a team with my GF for about 6 years. I suggest trying LTL to start. Contact fed ex near you, and some of their contractors. Look on craigslist under cdl a team. Ask about approved schools in your area, and how to get training and or required experience. If you find a good contractor, you can do well. If you don't, you will gain experience. LTL is an easy job in this industry, not a lot of backing or bumping docks. Great way to dip your toe in.

We did it the other way around. Now we run LTL.

The best way is to pay your own way through school. Ours was under 3k each. Then get a job with a company that offers OJT. Then you won't have a contract, that is how we did it. 3 weeks CDL school full time. Then a few weeks with a trainer (paid). Then off on your own.

Expect about 75k per year each. You can make up to 100k each after you have some experience. The longer you stay out on the road, the more you will make. Expect 4 weeks out, 6 days off or so for the best pay. After you have a couple of years experience, you can move into other things that pay even better.