Need some wisdom on OTR: solo vs team

I have newbie questions galore. Hope not too many.

1.) Do team drivers make a lot more money than solo drivers?

2.) I don't see the difference in work load between OTR and regional. Is there? Maybe regional has more local stops and load/unload duties?

3.) Can there be more home time if you go regional instead of OTR?

4.) My first choice is Schneider National, because they will train me and provide a truck for the CDL exam, and then hire me for at least a year. I cannot presently afford a private CDL school, and frankly, I don't trust any of them. Schneider has a terminal 30 minutes from my place in New Milford, CT.

5.) I don't know what type of load I would prefer to drive: van, reefer, tanker, flatbed. Vans are most common, but I believe tankers pay more, and they look a bit easier to back up. Any thoughts? Companies want you to declare a preference right off the bat, but new drivers don't know squat.

 

1) No, team drivers don't make more money. They get more miles, which effectively doubles the take-home pay. But the pay is shared. What you need to ask yourself is, do I want to LIVE AND WORK with a stranger, to earn just as much money as I can driving solo? If you think roommates are annoying, try working with one!

2) Can't answer this one, but assume that regional would require more stops, unless you get a dedicated line.

3) Yes, definitely. However, regional work is usually reserved for drivers with some amount of OTR experience.

4) At least Schneider isn't too evil. But don't think you can't afford CDL school. A guy I know is getting his CDL school tuition paid 100% by the state. Call up a local CDL school. Do so anonymously, if you wish. Ask them about financing options, and what programs are available to help people who are limited on funds.

5) It really shouldn't matter that much, except that you'll need a tanker endorsement on your license if you want to pull that. Also, you will PROBABLY need a hazmat endorsement for tankers, as well. Hazmat is a pain in the butt, so that's probably why tankers pay more. Reefer is just a van with environmental equipment on it. More to inspect pre-trip and each stop. But I've read that pulling reefer can be an advantage, as you have more loads available. (reefers can be used as dry van, when no temp. control load is available) If you want to pull flatbed, you will need to learn load securement (you should learn that anyway!). Also with flatbed, you will be inspecting tie-downs and doing some tarping/untarping work. Some people think flatbed sucks because of load securement and tarping work. But if you pull a van/reefer, you will do a lot of lumping, so I don't see what the difference is. You aren't going to be "lumping" something that requires a flatbed to haul it, obviously. But then, you aren't going to be tarping reefer loads. -Dave

 

On question # 1 - I'm about to sign with PAM Transport and they promise that all TRUCK miles are paid to OTR Team Drivers. They further explain this and I quote "That's means you are paid for your miles + your co-driver's miles." Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.

 

Again. If .40 is paid to the truck, then each driver gets .20 mile, you don't each get the full .40 cpm.

 

If the income is not pooled (as in a married couple) team, rarely is the money better to offset the negatives. That being said, the trucking industry is changing and the number of long hauls (I'll define as 1,500 miles and greater) is becoming less and less as each year passes. And those few are often demanding expedited service i.e. team service. The produce hauling out of CA to east coast will always be there, but the east coast to west coast turn-arounds are getting harder to come by and often have to be via one or two hops, costing time and reducing miles. Each load and subsequent unload adds costly time to a team's schedule and thus fewer miles. 1 load/1 stop week, good. 2 loads/6 stops week, bad.

Solo drivers today are hard pressed to average more than 2500 mile/week, many teams will avg 5000 mile/week, 6500+ with a good company with coast to coast runs almost exclusively.

Typically the "uprate" of team vs solo is about 2 cents (if any at all), but the rate IS then split in half. You can do the math.

Can you sleep GOOD for 7-9 hours in a moving truck?

Is your partner TRULY a safe driver and can he/she be depended on not to fall asleep at the wheel?

Can you find a partner who you won't want to strangle in a week or who will strangle you?

Put up with a smoker? Chatty-Kathy? Foul-mouthed? bad body odor? constantly jabbering on the CB? different work-ethic?

Can you agree on a 12hr on/12hr off schedule and live with it long term?

Can you agree on a hometime schedule? (You'll have to live near one another)

Nothing worse then being teamed during a slow freight period and sitting for 30 hours between loads. (crammed in a tiny truck staring out a windshield ... one of you should be prepared to cough up a motel expense)

To my way of thinking, if you're not running coast to coast exclusively, teaming does not pay. If the team-mate is your wife or girl-friend and you get along well, then that's a great position to be in as long as you're with a carrier that has sufficient 1500+ mile freight with good pu and del appointment times, and has a good, dedicated team division.

I'd much rather run 2600 miles @ .38 (happily and sanely by myself), than 5200 miles @ .20, miserable the whole time. Think about it long and hard.

 

I don't mean to burst your bubble but this isn't as great as you think and a others have tried to tell you this.

If you are banking on what a company is telling you, you will be very disappointed and will most likely add to the high turnover rate due to your unrealistic expectations.

Let's take some imaginary numbers to give you an idea of what might be realistic. First Google PAM Transport and look at the first sponsored search result, "No experience. Earn up to $40,000. When trucking companies give you an up to number that is usually the top 5% making that number. They don't even have their mileage rates on their website.

It works like this: solo may get 0.30 per mile and teams get 0.40 per mile. You surely don't think they pay 0.80 per mile for a team, do you? The only reason they can pay 0.10 per mile more for teams is because they run more miles which lowers the per mile cost on the fixed operating costs.

So let's say you run 3200 miles solo at 0.30 per mile and gross $960. Now a team runs 5400 miles at 0.40 per mile for a total of $2160, which is split, between the team for a gross of $1080.

IMHO, the cons of a team operation would never make it worth $120 a week or $6,240 per year. If it does for you then you should go for it. But if you think you Get $2,160 then you are in for a rude awakening.

Believe me the company won't set your thinking strait unless you ask the proper questions. They work hard to mislead new drivers without outright lying to them. They hope once they get you on the payroll you will continue to allow them to mistreat you. But they really don't care because they are training 40 or 50 more this week that have stars and dollar signs in their eyes.

Please do yourself a favor and do more research. Check out these threads:

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/trucking-company-dac-reports/

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/discuss-your-favorite-trucking-company-here/

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/report-a-bad-trucking-company-here/

 

Hey guys thanks for all the informative responses it helps out a lot! $900 to $1000 a week sound sweet. I've had my fair share of #### deals in my life where the pay was not nearly as good as the time and effort put in, so yeah. I understand I might not get along with the person I might get stuck with 24/7 but it won't be the first time in my life that happens; having military experience you learn to get along with all types of characters and in my case the company that has chosen me (but I guess I should ask for other options) require new guys to do six months of OTR team, if I can make that, surely I'll make a career in trucking. I know it'll be hard but I truly believe this is the career for me. I love to drive, and I love to travel - why not make a career of it. BTW- I'm making .175 cents a mile and I don't think they would try something as sleazy as cutting that in half, would they?!?! I guess I'll just have to ask the right questions next time I talk to my recruiter person; thanks for everything guys!

 

I made considerably more when teaming. The miles have to stay up though since you're splitting pay or miles. Still, my bad weeks teaming were equal to the pay of great weeks solo.

I team with my best friend on and off and we have a great time on the road but not everyone can get along in a truck like that, even friends. It's not easy at all for most people. I was just offered local work through my company and we were both sad when I had to clean my stuff out of the truck. I left some of my stuff though as I know I'll end up teaming up with him again within a couple months.

 

Been teaming up for a week now. Not too bad. We get along quite well. He gives me my space and I give him his. It's nice to have someone there just in case, cause those couple of weeks I was out there solo it was scary; part of this life I suppose. Like one of my friend's who's teaming said "I don't wanna go solo until I have this down pact" ... granted this is a neverending process so 6 months of 'getting it down pact' with someone has it's plus sides. The real awesome part of it all is that when teaming you can make up to $200 a day, as has been the case with us.

 

The pay is nicer, due to more miles. You split the pay down the middle with your team mate. If you really want to team, make sure it's with someone you REALLY TRUST and can handle living with. I've met tons of drivers who have dreamed of teaming and quit a month later.