Husband And Wife Interested In A Serious Career Change, (Team Driving), Have Questions.

Hello, my name is Robert. My wife, Kristal, and I have decided to look into the possibility of going into OTR , Team Driving. We are trying to get a feel for what companies would best suit us. Neither of us have experience, so we will need a company that offers paid training. We would like a company that understands family, and does not work their drivers into the ground. We have done some looking, and we would rather not have to train apart, we are doing this partially because we enjoy being together, and not apart. We would like a company that offers some type of options, such as lease operator, or something like that, in which we would be able to have some control over our career. I would appreciate any advice that anyone has to offer on this subject. Thank you, and God Bless.

Welcome aboard Heavens Warrior!

Ok first of all the training....it's important to pick the company you want to work for based upon measurables like pay & benefits, equipment, home time, types of freight, etc. If you have to train apart, don't sweat it. It's actually a big advantage because you'll both get training from different perspectives. There are a million ways to handle a rig and life on the road. Every driver has their own ways. If you learn from two different trainers you're going to have a much broader base of knowledge than if you were trained under the same person. Under one person you would naturally inherit their way of doing things, including their weaknesses and quirks, with nothing to compare it against. Also, it can be very stressful trying to learn together at the same time. Often times it's easier to just focus on what you're doing and let the other focus on what they're doing and you'll meet again soon when the training is complete. If I were running a training program I wouldn't have husband/wife teams train together under the same instructor out on the road for the reasons I mentioned. It would be better for everyone in the long run if you trained separately.

We would like a company that understands family, and does not work their drivers into the ground

This statement could mean different things to different people. You're going to be running team and most teams only get home a few days a month. But there's no reason you can't be home for at least most if not all of the major holidays. There isn't a company in America that prioritizes family over profit or they wouldn't be in business. That doesn't mean they don't care at all about family. They'll certainly do what they can within the realm of normal operations for a trucking company to get you home when it's time to get home. But that won't be very often for most teams. I've heard of teams that run coast to coast during the week and they're home on the weekend but that's pretty rare. Normally you're out 3-4 weeks at a time and home for 3-4 days at a time.

As far as "running drivers into the ground" you'll be on electronic logs so you'll be running legally. But be forewarned....you're going to be expected to run as hard as you legally can which pretty much means keeping the truck moving about 20+ hours a day. Remember, each driver can be on duty up to 70 hours every 8 days. That's like having two full time jobs. You can't drive that much but you can drive 11 out of every 14 hours on duty so it's a ton of driving. You can expect to live your lives rolling down the highway. That's how you'll eat most of your meals, that's how you'll sleep, and that's how you'll do pretty much everything - while you're rolling. Team trucks are the real money-makers at most large companies and they really make sure to keep those trucks moving. You'll make great money but you'll certainly earn it.

As far as finding a company with opportunities to lease - forget about that entirely right now. You wouldn't want to even think about doing that until you have a year or two of experience under your belt. Hopefully within that year or two you'll do some thorough research and realize you'd have to be borderline insane to lease or own a rig. It makes no economic sense whatsoever. You're doing a lot more work having to run a business, you're taking all of the financial risk and burden upon yourselves for the success of the business, but ultimately you'll have very little control versus what a company driver would have. If you think you're going to get more home time you'll quickly find you're losing a ton of money every time that truck stops. A company driver doesn't make money while sitting at home, but that's a lot different than actually losing money. And if you start refusing loads because you're looking for only the best you're suddenly going to find yourself sitting around truck stops going broke. Companies will allow you to refuse freight but there's no law or agreement that says they have to keep you rolling. If you become difficult to work with, so will they. And you have a lot more to lose than they do. If you go broke they take the truck back and lease it to someone else without missing a beat. In the meantime you'll be digging out of a financial mess for years to come. So forget about leasing until you've done enough research that you understand why you'd never want to lease a truck. If leasing sounds like a good idea then you're either:

1) Kidding yourself

2) Failing to do enough research

3) Up for any sort of challenge whether it makes sense or not

4) The type that just loves to tell people you are your own boss (even though you're not)

Generally we tell people to look at refrigerated companies first when it comes to teaming. Refrigerated companies tend to have the most freight that goes coast to coast. They also tend to have fewer seasonal peaks and valleys than other types of trucking because they're hauling a lot of food. But there are plenty of dry van companies that offer training and run teams also so look into those also.

Have you gone through our Truck Driver's Career Guide? If not, be sure to do so. Go through it beginning to end and follow all of the links you come across. That will help you understand the industry better and make informed choices about the schooling and company you choose.

Thanks for the reply, and I'm fine with the out 3-4 weeks, my concern would be getting to actually spend time with my wife, and sleep with my wife and the like. Mostly we want to know what to expect, so we can make a well informed decision. I will look through the guide, and I appreciate the info.