Team Driving

Do people that do team driving share the check? If so wouldn't I be better off going solo because it seems like you'll have to run double the miles to get equivalent of what you might have as a solo driver?

Do people that do team driving share the check? If so wouldn't I be better off going solo because it seems like you'll have to run double the miles to get equivalent of what you might have as a solo driver?

Teams run double the miles anyway, because that is what they are designed to do.

If you are a husband and wife team, of course you share the check, and that is a good thing, because all the money is yours and your significant other's. Some companies will pay the Team.xx cpm , and I then take the total miles driven, add up your pay, and pay you your half. Other companies will pay you .xx cpm, and your partner .xx cpm and then pay you according to the miles you drove.

On average, from what I have seen, a Team will bring in more money, and the drivers will make more than a solo driver, mostly because of the extra miles that they can put in, because the truck is always moving, vs being shout down 10 or more hours a day.

Cory, you are absolutely correct that a good solo driver can make just as much as a team driver, and have a lot better rest and less stress. A really good team can make some serious money, but it really only works best for a husband and wife team who are putting the money into a joint account.

Of course there are some team drivers who really enjoy driving team, but for most people it is just full of extra aggravations.

I did the math for PTL's team pay and it was pretty sad.

they pay 41 cpm for solo drivers whom avg 2500 miles a week. the pay is 42 cpm (split) for team drivers, who because they have 2 people int he truck can do 2x as many miles avg 5000 per week.

so .41 X 2500 = $1025 and (.42 / 2) X 5000 = $1050

That's $25 more their team drivers avg per week. Now of course if the 2 drivers in the team operation are family or spouses then yeah the team is gonna make some good money but for people who don't normally live together and combine income it's just not worth it to have to sleep while the truck is moving, share living quarters, etc for only $25 more a week.

Really gotta watch that pay rate for team drivers and find out if the rate they say is split or not, which it usually is. they make it sound like it's a great deal then when you crunch the numbers like I did... not really, no.

I've seen companies that pay a good 12 cents more per mile to the team (or 6 cents per driver) than they pay to solo drivers. So just from that you will make more as a team, then add in the fact that you will be turning more miles as a team, it adds up to over an extra $10K or so a year. This is from info I gathered from the companies own website, so it's by no means from first hand experience. I am considering going on a team for my first year, just so there is someone else available for spotting etc. Just have to find a clean and decent person though.

Here is a real example: Solo drivers get 43 cpm and team gets 55 cpm

So if the solo driver does 125,000 miles (0.43) = $53,750 per year

team does 2 x 125,000, so 250,000 miles(0.55) = $137,500 per year (for the team) divide by 2 = $68,750 per driver

Rob, if you make those kind of numbers as a rookie driver I want to hear about it. I'm not saying you can't, but you will really impress me if you do!

Sorry Old School, I should have stated that the cpm's quoted are for "experienced" drivers ... not sure what that means, but I would assume that it is for someone with over 1 year experience, at least.

Rob... your team mate will only be able to spot for about 2 hours... most of the time he's gonna be sleeping. that's how teams do 2x as many miles, truck is always moving, 1 person drives, other sleeps, when person 1's shift is up the next guy drives and so fourth. since only 8 of your 10 hours off duty have to be in sleeper he can sit in passenger seat for 2 of those 10 hours, but he's tech off duty and not SUPPOSED to be helping in any way. so yeah having an extra person to spot... not likely. this is why I don't like prime and PTLs team training setup... how are you being trained if the trainer is sleeping? may as well dispatch me solo for that matter. personally I think the truth of the matter is money... more miles in a 24 hour period means more money being made, has nothing to do with better training. better training is having trainer in passenger seat at all times you are driving.

And the day you meet a driver, any driver who spends 8 of his 10 hour break in the sleeper, please feel free to introduce them to me because I really really really want to meet that person.

And the day you meet a driver, any driver who spends 8 of his 10 hour break in the sleeper, please feel free to introduce them to me because I really really really want to meet that person.

haha I don't believe anyone spends all 8 hours there either, just stating the rules haha... I have to learn this stuff so I can get my cdl... then I can forget it and just go the easy way... 11 hours driving time max, 14 hours on duty max (including driving time) then go sleeper for 10 hours. KISS = keep it simple stupid. Of course I know now it's not all that easy but once can dream right?

Personally I really don't want to team drive but I may or may not have a choice initially.