As a new driver I've considered running with a team company and I would like to hear from you gals and guys about your thoughts and suggestions of teaming right out of school with no solo experience yet. :?: I knew it can be cramped in the truck sometimes but is it worth it to team???

 

You are gonna get a million different answers to this question and invariably it all boils down to you, your personality, and who you get to spend all that time with. I have been teaming almost 2 yrs now....I hate it. Spent the previous 6 years driving solo....loved it. If God had meant for me to sleep bunping and bouncing down the road someone would have invented a bed that did that by now.....

Teaming totally depends on the individuals involved.

 

Slowmoe,

Are the beds suspended like hamocks or a cushion on top of sheet metal pan or matress box springs like a bed. Either way you are going to bounce and wake up. Right hand lane potholes would be a bummer for sure. How do people drive teams for years without deep sleep? Roads are in constant repair everywhere! Even in Tampa and Orlando, some bridges in FL would throw someone out of bed unless they were tied to it.

OTR drivers must be masters of cat naps at drop offs and pickups. Bet they can go to sleep real quick sitting still. Can both fit simultaneuously in the sleeper?

Finding a compatible driving partner seems as difficult as being happily married. And even worse, finding a partner you do marry. Wow, talk about being compatible.

Thanks for all the questions. This is a critical subject for newbies since this is most of them's fate in the near future. Finding ways to cope and understand seem critically important.

Please share some of your expert knowledge.

 

I just concluded 2 months of driving team. I hated it. Sleep was fitful since I'm a light sleeper. Our routes pretty much kept us crossing I69 and I94 in Michigan where they don't know how to build highways.

My co-driver and I don't do things the same and by the end of two months we were sick of each other.

 

the good: nothing

the bad: everything

 

Michigan roads do suck but they have an exuse with all the freezing and salt and snow. I've got to say one thing about Michigan, they tend to do the roadwork at night when traffic is light. These jackwipes in Florida do the roadwork by day and make rush hour a living hell. Took me an hour to go 15 miles about 4'oclock pm last week, you woulda thought thier was a major accident with the gridlock, but no, a couple of workers fixing little potholes in one lane,it boiled my blood.

 

i agree i never teamed and never will

 

I cannot think of any benefit to team driving, IMO the only one to benefit would be the companys.

I am as certain as I can be that an individual in a team truck will not make any more money than a solo driver, perhaps even less if the team miles arent met.

A true Husband/Wife team truck, where the money is pooled into the same family, would be the only benefit to the drivers.

Why would a driver want to be tied to another driver in all you do 100% of the time you are on the road.

Solo driver has much more freedom while on the road vices the team, plus the benefit of sleeping in a stationary truck.

It would take a tremedous amount of trust to share such a small space with another individual and to trust their driving while you try to sleep.
Even while your driving, think about your ability to listen to the radio/music etc, may have to leave it off or down low that you cannot appreciate it.

I just never could see any benefit to the team concept, except to the company.

Im a solo driver, always will be, so much more enjoyable that way. IMO

 

I wouldn't mind teaming with maybe a girfriend/wife and drive it "super single" as I call it. I'd drive my 11 hours, and she could drive anytime she wanted. Maybe 3-4 hours a day or sumthin'. Would make for a better income and not wear each other out.

 

I forgot to ask in my reply:

Why are you thinking about teaming??? and which company???