Getting My Wife OTR With Me!

Hello all,

I have been talking to my wife in an effort to finally get her to go OTR with me, at least for a decent span of time. She said she would if only I could find something(s) for her to help with or do truck or non-truck related to keep her productive and occupied while I'm driving at times as she feels despite my company she would eventually just be to bored and/or feel useless.

Any ideas on what she could do?

Thanks!

She can be your navigator and camera person. She can spot you while backing. She could cook, help keep the truck clean. Oh yeah, you could also spend hours talking and laughing together.

Welcome, Alex. That's a tough question to answer, as only you know the things your wife enjoys.

My wife rode with me for over 2 years, and is currently on the truck with me now while I take a break from training students. She had various hobbies that kept her occupied, and truly enjoyed the OTR lifestyle with me. She'd still rather be on the truck, but the desire be around the grandchildren is stronger right now.

Your wife will never really know what it's like until she tries it. Have her develop a new hobby like knitting, writing, etc. Heck, teach her to trip plan. She can map out your route, fuel stops, rest stops, etc while you're driving. She can be a part of checking in with customers, calling ahead to schedule appointment times, and that sort of thing.

You too can play a part in her enjoying this. Secretly have your dispatcher schedule a load near a vacation or tourist destination. Then surprise your wife by renting a car for a day or two to explore the area. I've done that countless times. It breaks up the routine, and turns the job into more of an adventure for you both. That's vitally important, in my opinion.

So you have some options to try. But in the end it'll be up to her. She'll love it, hate it, or maybe somewhere in between. She owes it to herself to give it a shot though. Good luck!

Think of everything you do that isn't driving. Paperwork, talking to customers, calling your dispatcher. All time consuming. I'm sure she'd increase your productivity and income.

Mine takes her cdl road test friday and will be my trainee then my “clock extender” lol i wouldnt go so far as team but she will help me finish trips i cant do within my clock she has rode before and actually loves it enough that after 20 yrs as a bank manager she gave it up to hit the road

Mine takes her cdl road test friday and will be my trainee then my “clock extender” lol i wouldnt go so far as team but she will help me finish trips i cant do within my clock she has rode before and actually loves it enough that after 20 yrs as a bank manager she gave it up to hit the road

Out of curiosity - how's this going to work?

If she's on as a driver, then your company will expect team miles out of you. If she's out as a passenger, then she's not allowed to drive (and most companies won't even allow a CDL licensed driver as a "plain old passenger", for fear that they WILL end up behind the wheel).

Just curious...

Rick

Just curious...

I share Rick's curiosity. That's a most unusual situation.

lol i wouldnt go so far as team but she will help me finish trips i cant do within my clock

In an asset based business, the folks who own the assets are gonna want to maximize their capacity with each asset. A truck with two drivers in it will most likely end up being pushed into team driving.

Alex, Turtle gave you some excellent advice when he said this...

You too can play a part in her enjoying this. Secretly have your dispatcher schedule a load near a vacation or tourist destination. Then surprise your wife by renting a car for a day or two to explore the area. I've done that countless times. It breaks up the routine, and turns the job into more of an adventure for you both. That's vitally important, in my opinion.

Jeremy I understand what your looking to do. In fact I’m in the process of doing something very similiar. My girlfriend is a new driver. In November she will hit her 1 yr anniversary. I’m bringing her over her with me and I’ll train her. Then we can run however we wish. The plan will be to turn regional loads that take a solo driver 1 1/2 days to complete. Together we can run them and be back the next morning for another. Basically my clock extender as you put it.

Pj thats exactly what i meant by that or when we do florida runs we can get there in 1 day instead of 2 im sure eventually as she gets more comfortable and more importantly as i get more comfortable too we could end up closer to full on team if my company can even accomodate that this is as new to them as it will be to me. For the record im training her first which means me in passenger seat 100% of the time she is driving until again we both get comfortable with driving a loaded truck she has a ton of unloaded miles as ive been takkng her out every weekend and she completed her 180 hour course today and tests at 11am crossin my fingers for her