How To Determine To Team Drive

Helpful feedback! Thank you to all.

Teams usually get higher cpm than solos and more miles but consider that you will need to learn to sleep in a moving truck along with the other cons mentioned above. It is very stressful starting out for most people in this industry as a solo driver. I wouldn't recommend adding the stress of teaming on top of that.

If you are looking for income + hometime I would consider a solo job involving freight loading/unloading. Some companies will allow you to go directly to one of these type of accounts IF you train with a driver on the account. Ask your recruiters whats available.

I would also recommend spending an afternoon at a truck stop near your home. Most drivers are downright nice people. If you walk up and tell them your a new driver looking for a bit of advice most will help you out. You might find the job you need this way. Good Luck

Andrew, I think if you need more home time Roehl has got all kind of options you can choose from - they even have a seven days on and seven days off, but you've got to slip seat on that one. I didn't mean to discourage you from flat-bedding I just wanted you to know all the facts about what you're getting into - heck, I'm a flat-bedder and I love it! Flat-bedding is a good way to get better home time. Both TMC and Maverick offer to get you home on almost every weekend, and if I remember right Maverick will pay you extra if they can't get you home for the weekend. Best of luck to ya, and keep us posted on how it's going.

At this point the subject is off of the original topic, but thinking about waiting/down time with the different types of hauling (Dry Box, Refer, Flatbed, and Tanker), which type has the highest percentage on average?

(Dry Box, Refer, Flatbed, and Tanker), which type has the highest percentage [of downtime] on average?

Refrigerated (refer) for sure. You spend a ton of time sitting at grocery warehouses and produce farms waiting to be loaded and unloaded. But don't use that as a way of measuring your income potential, because it's not.

Obviously you're only making money most of the time if the wheels are turning. But every type of trucking has its advantages and disadvantages and it all tends to equal out in the end.

Tankers have to be live loaded and unloaded most of the time. There are very few drop and hooks to help keep you moving. You also have to have the tanks washed after most loads.

Flatbedders need to tarp and secure loads, and most of their loads are also live loads and unloads.

Refrigerated trucks don't do a lot of drop and hooks and they also spend a ton of time waiting to load and unload. They also have to have the trailers washed out a good bit. But the average miles per load tend to be the longest of any of the types of trucking so you can keep rolling once you're loaded.

Dry van tends to have a lot more drop and hooks to help keep you rolling, but the runs tend to be shorter on average and the mileage pay a little less than other types of trucking.

When you do decide upon which type of freight to haul, don't do it because you think you're going to make more money with that type of freight. Do it for the job duties, the lifestyle, the areas of the country you'd like to run in, and things like that. Find the one that seems to suit you best. You can make about the same money in any type of trucking if you're hard working, safe, and reliable.