Question:
I've been trying to get the real story on team driving since I started school 8 months ago. Lots of pros and cons, and so far it don't sound good. Veteran drivers tell me you can't make any money, but some who've done it said they made $1100/wk. Sounds like BS to me. Anyone enlighten me? Please, no responses from the perenial complainers and nay-sayers.

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Harry,
Here is my story...Going team was my very first driving job right after school with my boyfriend (ex now). We drove for TRL. Great miles and great pay. My paychecks would range from $1000 to $800 a week. I can still remember when I got my first pay check, I fell off the seat of the truck, it was for $1,024.
We ran from PA to Calf, sometimes NY to Calf, with stops in Chicago. I learned alot in the 2 yrs that I drove with him, but it killed our relationship. Being in a confined area was hard on both of us. Between getting tired and for sure not getting the right kind of sleep because as the truck was always running someone was in the bunk trying to sleep. Some of the roads that we traveled got very bump and you just can't get the kind of sleep that you need when you are bouncing around back there in the bunk.
Teaming does have it's good points to. For a female, I felt safe out there. Having someone to have dinner with was also nice. But I wouldn't do it again.

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I liked it, although I went to school with my best friend who was my co-driver so I was not trying to team with a total stranger. I would recomend anyone wanting to team to try to know the person beforehand otherwise you never know what you might get.
As far as the 1100$ a week....I never saw it. I started with CRST so pay was not real good anyway. But if you find a good enough paying job, and both drivers like to drive instead of trashin around at t/s then you will probably make some good money. Also a company with a high percentage of drop and hooks will also increase your chances at making more dough.
Just my 2 centsLive in St. Louis? Looking for concrete truck drivers....great pay and benifits...pm for details

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I hear you driver...I still havent gotten a decent reply on my airoplane jumping thread LIARS SUKK

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I drove team for 3 months and it totaly sucked. i did manage to make 1800 bucks in 9 days one time. Lost my team driver to a hooker in Dallas. Actually he left with one and wasn't back 8 hours later and I left. Her called after I did about 600 miles. I finished 5 days of team runs myself. it sucked. I had one team driver take a dump I wouls suppose in a bag in the sleeper. that really stunk. I think he tossed out the sleeper door because I saw and heardn it open. Another one thought he was a cheff. Fried food with an electric grill on the floor between the seats. That one smoked me out pretty bad several times and made one big greasy mess with all the splattering. That same guy came from Covenant and couldn't back. Not sure if he missed that class or what. Guess who had to get up and back in every where we went. Another guy had a girl friend in NY, L.A. and a fiance in Miami. He begged for loads to those areas. It did make for some good mileage. The problem was he would dissapear when we got there. Guess who had to do the unloading and some times go alone to get the next load. That winner also hit a rail bridge in NY. He parked it and his girl friend picked him up. I got to deal with the bent trailer roof and the boss. His girl friends brother is a cop in the same precinct or what ever they call it there as the bridge. Leaving didn't work out to well for him. I believe the brother is the one who gave him a ticket. For what I'm not sure. I had one co-driver I really liked. He quit because he made more money running solo.
That was just some of the fun stuff. i hated team driving because you loose control. You really can't stop when you want to because your co-driver may be woke up. You can't sleep when your tired if it's your turn to drive. You can't always eat where you want. The most aggrivating of all is the non stop driving. Forget enjoying an area or doing some thing. You have to go because your under a team load and time matters more than ever. Forget privacy also. You live closer to your team driver than you do your wife. Your never alone and always on the move. I would sooner run 2500-3000 miles a week solo and be in control of my truck than to have to live with another person and be in control for an extended amount of time.
Did I mention the guy that woke me up because the truck was bouncing all over. We were doing 90 plus through Nebraska.

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No problem. Find out for yourself.
Stuffs is probably lieing anyway.
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Nope, not lieing. Here is my first 3 co-drivers.
Another one down and a new one on the way.
Can't remember if I posted about the others.

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Stuffs, that must have been a tough 3 months!!
Hopefully your story will discouage anyone from even considering teaming with a total stranger.
Big

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stuffs...that wasn't for SRT was it??Live in St. Louis? Looking for concrete truck drivers....great pay and benifits...pm for details

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There are people out making very good money running teams, but not newbies.
A lot of mom and pop carriers pay their teams well and yes they DO RUN...the miles.
But not the newbies...

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Nope it was a small mom and pop reefer company in South Florida. The pay was good but the BS out did the money 100 to 1.
I would never again give one thought to team driving. You make as much or more running solo and alot less aggrivation. Teams can run between 5-6000 miles a week. 6000 would be a very good and a very rare week. Half that is what you can run solo without the BS.
If a newbie wants to run team there are some better jobs out there.
Old Dominion Freight Lines would be one of them. Most of their "road" driving jobs are team. From what I understand it is mostly drop and hook. The faster you drop and get loaded the more money you can make.
Company Driver Opportunities
Employment Qualifications Company Drivers Only - Local And Line-haul

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Job Requirements
Required to read, write and speak English.
Required to do extensive walking on a daily basis.
Must be able to lift a minimum of 50 lbs.
Must be able to type a minimum of 30 words per minute with five errors or less.
Must have extensive knowledge of the territory serviced by their service center.
Required to coordinate all general commodities to be picked up by pickup and delivery driver.
Required to speak with all existing or potential customers who wish to do business with Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc.
Required to have knowledge of and to oversee the proper storage of hazardous materials.
Required to maintain a log of all large shipments to be picked up and/or a log of all multiple shipments.
Required to observe and comply by all federal, state and local laws and/or Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. company policy concerning safety and claims prevention.
more companys need to do the read and write requirementsLive in St. Louis? Looking for concrete truck drivers....great pay and benifits...pm for details

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OLD DOMINION HAS A LOT OF TEAMS BUT THEY HAVE A LOT OF SOLO DRIVERS!! EVERY TEAM I HAVE TALKED SAYS IT REALLY ISN'T THAT BAD AND YES THEY GET MONEY FOR DROPS AND HOOKS AND NEVER HAVE TO WAIT TO BE LOADED THERE ARE ALWAYS SOMETHING TO PULL WEITHER IT IS LOADED OR EMPTY!!! OD WILL MAKE A SOLO DRIVER WAIT JUST TO GET THEM TEAM BACK OUT ON THE ROAD THEY COME FIRST.
KEVIN

Answer:
I drive for Old Dominion and have driven team since I started there. For me it's OK as I went in teaming with a friend that had a little seniority already. We ran the extra board or "wild" for a short time before his seniority allowed us a bid run. After topping out I easily make the money you ask about and that's always in less than 5 days a week.
Now we've always run 5 and 5 but after 66 yrs. of allowing drivers to do this some genius decided teams have to run 10 and 10. It won't effect us too much as we've changed our bid to a short run where we get home during the week. this way we always get to sleep in our own beds every other night.