Husband And Wife Teams Driving Hours

I'm wondering if there are any companies that will hire a husband and wife team but not make them run 22 hours a day? My husband and I want to drive but we only want to run approximately 16 hours a day so we can still have personal time? We will gladly run 3 weeks straight just want to enjoy it too...

I'll take a stab at this...

You won't always be running your full 22 hours (11 each) a day, but many times you will have to. There are plenty of times when you'll have days where you do almost nothing but sit around and wait on people or on situations which are out of your control, and you could view that as down time when you can take care of personal things. However, teams get paid more because they expect teams to be able to run twice the miles in the same time frame, so you can take more time-sensitive loads and get them there in half the time it would take a solo driver. Running a team truck only 16 hours a day may make your delivery window impossible to hit in many cases.

Because of this, every company (that I'm aware of) that runs teams is going to expect you to make the most of your allowed driving hours in a day whenever possible. If you want to run as a solo truck instead of a team truck, that could be a possibility and would leave you more time for personal stuff, but you'll only make what a solo driver makes for a paycheck. If you want that big team paycheck, you'll have to run the miles associated with it, and that means running your full 11 hour shift each whenever possible.

Unfortunately what you're really asking is, "Are there any companies out there that are willing to make less money so that their employees can have more free time?" The answer to that is almost always no. And team trucks are the most profitable part of any company's operation so you're really talking about taking quite a bit of money out of their pockets.

Now there are some companies that share a pool of trucks amongst a group of solo drivers or teams. Like you might run for two weeks and then take a week off. When it's time to return to the road you'll be in a different truck because someone else took the one you used last. It's called slip seating when you use whatever truck is available instead of having one truck assigned permanently. That would give you guys a lot more time off at home, but not more free time when you're on the road.

Almost universally the bottom line is when you're out there running they're going to run you as hard as they can. You may sit at times if freight gets slow or have an odd week where you get a day or two off here and there. But nobody is going to put any kind of cap on the hours they'll run you. If they have the freight and you have the legal hours available they'll expect you to run.

If I was you I would look into some of the dry van companies that run team - CRST, US Xpress, Schneider, Werner, etc - talk to their recruiters and see what they have to offer teams. The reason I say dry van is because you'll actually have a better chance of sitting a little more often than you might with refrigerated companies simply because they have fewer choices in freight and their freight tends to fluctuate more throughout the year. They also might have some dedicated accounts for teams where there's more sitting involved than there normally might be on most accounts.

If you want to run as a solo truck instead of a team truck, that could be a possibility and would leave you more time for personal stuff, but you'll only make what a solo driver makes for a paycheck

That's an interesting thought. Get dispatched as a solo truck and share the driving duties. I really don't know what a company would say to that. I suspect they might say, "Sure, no problem!" and in the beginning you'll be dispatched solo and slowly over time you wind up with more and more and more miles until you're running your brains out going, "What happened to being dispatched solo?"

Now that I think about it, have I heard the phrase "Super Solo" somewhere? Like maybe exactly what we're talking about here - a company that dispatches a truck like a solo truck but because there's two drivers they get more miles than a regular solo truck? Seems I might have heard that somewhere before.......

Now that I think about it, have I heard the phrase "Super Solo" somewhere? Like maybe exactly what we're talking about here - a company that dispatches a truck like a solo truck but because there's two drivers they get more miles than a regular solo truck? Seems I might have heard that somewhere before.......

I did a little bit of quick research on that and though I had never heard of it before, it seems there are a very few teams running what is known as "Super Single" or alternately "Super Solo" which apparently means each 24 hour day is broken up into three 8-hour chunks, with each driver driving 8 hours and the last 8 hours the truck is shut down for the night. This allows a couple to still sleep together for 8 hours while the truck is down, and each drive 8 hours. Seems exactly like what the OP wanted. Only problem is, I can't seem to find any info on which companies (if any) are currently offering this type of schedule. Could be a thing of the past, for all I know.

Thanks for your reply. I know that big companies are all about the $1 and I understand that, but running that hard makes trucking unsafe because who actually can sleep good in a moving truck. I was hoping there might be some smaller companies, not expedited companies, that might want some dependable drivers.

I'll take a stab at this...

You won't always be running your full 22 hours (11 each) a day, but many times you will have to. There are plenty of times when you'll have days where you do almost nothing but sit around and wait on people or on situations which are out of your control, and you could view that as down time when you can take care of personal things. However, teams get paid more because they expect teams to be able to run twice the miles in the same time frame, so you can take more time-sensitive loads and get them there in half the time it would take a solo driver. Running a team truck only 16 hours a day may make your delivery window impossible to hit in many cases.

Because of this, every company (that I'm aware of) that runs teams is going to expect you to make the most of your allowed driving hours in a day whenever possible. If you want to run as a solo truck instead of a team truck, that could be a possibility and would leave you more time for personal stuff, but you'll only make what a solo driver makes for a paycheck. If you want that big team paycheck, you'll have to run the miles associated with it, and that means running your full 11 hour shift each whenever possible.

I was hoping there might be some smaller companies, not expedited companies, that might want some dependable drivers.

Well of course they all want dependable drivers. But competition is fierce which keeps freight rates very close to the break even point. Therefore companies have to make highly efficient use of the assets they have. A dependable driver isn't just a driver who is safe. A dependable driver is a driver who can safely turn a profit for the company and you have to be highly productive in order to do that.

It is quite rare to find a "relaxing gig" in trucking. Everyone pushes to the max in this industry. You have to as a company or you'll die a quick, harsh death at the hands of your competition.

it seems there are a very few teams running what is known as "Super Single" or alternately "Super Solo" which apparently means each 24 hour day is broken up into three 8-hour chunks, with each driver driving 8 hours and the last 8 hours the truck is shut down for the night

"Super Singles" are also what they call those super wide tires that replace a tandem set. So I wasn't sure if I had heard "Super Single" or "Super Solo" or if I was making the whole thing up in my head.

We might have to get the TruckingTruth Research Arm on this and see what we can dig up......

...because who actually can sleep good in a moving truck.

I just found this part funny because I hear people say that so often, but actually I arguably sleep better on the road (with someone I trust driving) than I do when all is still and stopped. The sound of the engine and the motion of the road actually lulls me to sleep. Kinda like how some people can't sleep without a fan (or even a TV for some people) on in the room for noise. In fact, my parents told me that when I was a baby and wouldn't stop crying at night, the only way they could get me to calm down and go to sleep was to take me for a drive in the car. The moment I was in the car with that engine running, I would stop crying. A few minutes of driving later, I would be fast asleep.

So I guess it depends on the person, and it might take some getting used to at first, but I'd say many if not most people could adapt to sleeping in a moving truck without too much trouble. :)

...because who actually can sleep good in a moving truck.

I just found this part funny because I hear people say that so often, but actually I arguably sleep better on the road (with someone I trust driving) than I do when all is still and stopped. The sound of the engine and the motion of the road actually lulls me to sleep. Kinda like how some people can't sleep without a fan (or even a TV for some people) on in the room for noise. In fact, my parents told me that when I was a baby and wouldn't stop crying at night, the only way they could get me to calm down and go to sleep was to take me for a drive in the car. The moment I was in the car with that engine running, I would stop crying. A few minutes of driving later, I would be fast asleep.

So I guess it depends on the person, and it might take some getting used to at first, but I'd say many if not most people could adapt to sleeping in a moving truck without too much trouble. :)

It's because it reminds us subconsciously of being in our mother's womb. The constant whooshing noise, the gentle rocking with occasional bumps and bounces, it's all very "uteresque" (if that's not a real word, it should be).

No one ever slept as soundly as a baby in a womb. Except maybe a team truck driver.

Thanks guys for all your help at least I'll know what to ask the recruiters when I start calling around. But if you come up with a company that will hire super solos let me know. As far as sleeping I can sleep anywhere but my husband isn't so sure about my driving. Lol