Team driving 101:

When I last drove team it was about 18 years ago, I drove with my dad. That was hard. It is like a relationship. You are with your partner more then anyone else. There needs to be compromise and you need to talk to each other.
What mattress you get is just like at home, what is more comfortable for one is different then the other.
Ear plugs are not a bad idea, especially if you are a light sleeper.

Where you position the 5th wheel will depend on the load you have.

Good luck!

 

Well set a schedule if you want...I know one guy who drove at night because he liked it better...the other guy didn't like driving at night...so he drove at night...the other during the day...same schedule pretty much. I think with them it worked out so that they swapped every 12 hours so their schedule was always the same

Im teaming in a situation where we swap duties each week. Last week, he drove in the morning and I drove in the afternoon. This week, Ill drive in the morning and he will drive in the afternoon. Each side has its drawbacks. The morning has a ton of stops whereas the afternoon has 3, lol. However, the morning seems to go faster because of the stops, while the afternoon run seems to be a long jog back home.

Get into a routine as far as...its ok to stay up in the passenger seat for a bit to chat....but get your butt back in the sleeper for eveyones sanity and so that you or they get rest.

*radio...you going to paly it through the speakers or have ear buds?

*i use earplugs when I try to sleep...I find the ones that cut out the most noise

*matresses....see if you can make do with what the truck provides...does it have a top bunk with a matress? if so..combine them ontop of each other..s.ee if that works. Otherwise...try a 2-4 inch memory foam matress. IF you are hefty...SNI recommends a six incher, lol.

*fifth wheel is limited to what you haul. I've only moved mine to get it to the 3rd hole for improved aerodynamics and better fuel MPG.

*drive like someone is in the back trying to sleep.

 

We started with the standard pete mattress, we wound up getting an air mattress at some point for some reason I cannot directly remember, it turned out to be the best purchase we ever made. That cut down on the shaking so much it was uncanny, it made a HUGE difference. We have switched to always using air mattresses in the truck now.

You are going to have some issues at first, trust me, it takes time. For one, if you two get into an argument chances are you are not going to have time to exit the truck and cool down. I suggest driving an 8/8 schedule, me and hubby tried 10/10, 4/4, so forth and 8/8 worked out the best.

We never used the truck radio, well I did but he sleeps like a hibernating bear he doesnt wake up once he's asleep for a min of 6 hours. Make sure the speakers in teh back of the truck can be turned down or off, in the 379 petes there was a volume knob in the back so music on the radio didnt bother me. In the 387 pete there was not, and it was very annoying and nothing made the sound lower, so we disconnected the back speakers.

 

Decide what hours you're going to drive....hopefully one of you is a vampire. If not guess you'll need to split the daylight hours somehow.

I wear ear plugs like the use in factories (little foam things), I have a partner that on some nights just has to have AC/DC on as loud as she can get it. Most of the time when I'm sleeping I'm pretty much dead to the world anymore. Guess maybe because we've been teaming 25 years?

O/O...my mattress is custom made, so take notes from the rest.

Cooking...we take turns but I do most of the cooking and she does most of the cleaning. I clean the outside (windows, chrome, etc), she's the mechanic on the road she keeps us running with things look bleak.

5th wheel ours never moves but then again I have a split wheel trailer (reefer) and it never has to move. Depends on what you are hauling and how they load it.

Set some basic rules that you both can live by. Like we have no screaming in the truck. No cussing or pay the cuss jar 25 cents a word.

 

Instead of repeating my story about the month I once drove team, I'll just put the link here. A short time, but more than enough of an experience!

I can't tell you much about matresses, other than I use a 4" memory foam top. Works for me.

And earplugs, not a bad idea. Especially if you're driving an old cabover.

 

Ive actually thought about this...but I don't think it would work:
*a hammock is tethered in two spots...on each end. Doing this in the truck would still allow the back and forth motion of the mattress. So ideally, youd have to tether it in four spots.
*if you tethered it...the lines tethered would be tight against x spots on the cab / bunk of the truck. Any bouncing would transfer to the bed.

I think in order to reduce the bouncing...the bed should have its own independent shock absorbing system to minimize the trucks bumps.

 

Nope can't happen your suppose to belted in....so if the driver suddenly stops you don't end up a hood ornament. I think with a hammock you'd end up a hood ornament for sure.