Solo Or Team ?

Would it be easier for someone just starting out to get a job as a team driver or should they just go solo? All I want is to get experience under my belt.

Well in the beginning you're going to go out on the road with a trainer and run team for a little while to get some experience. Usually it's anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months. During that period you'll learn quickly whether or not you like running team. Most people don't like it. They'd rather have the privacy and all of the decision-making power you get when running solo.

Most of the major trucking companies have both team and solo operations. So you could go out with a trainer and then decide if you'd like to go solo or have the company find you a partner to team with.

But it really won't be easier finding one type of job versus the other. It's really just a matter of personal preference and most people prefer running solo.

When you first start out any company hiring a new driver will send you out with a trainer for a few weeks, and many of them will have you and your trainer run as a team for at least a portion of that time. That said, after the initial training whether you want to team or not is entirely up to you, and you will get experience under your belt whether you team or drive solo. A lot of drivers seem to hate driving team, after all you will be living in a tiny box with another full grown adult 24 hours per day. However, if teaming is something that interests you there are lots of opportunities out there.

I realize that was kind of rambling on, but the short version is this: Do whichever you want, there are opportunities either way and neither one is much easier to get started with.

Just beat me to it Brett.

Thank you for the quick response fellas I really do appreciate it . Money is always an issue but what I really want is the experience . So let's say I do decide to go team driving after going through the training period will most companies allow me to change my mind and go solo with them or would I be stuck as a team driver?

They'll let you change your mind. It's normally pretty easy to move around from division to division within your own company, assuming you qualify. Some companies will require a certain amount of experience to get into certain divisions. But that's what I always felt was a big advantage of the major companies - they have a wide variety of opportunities available. If you get on with companies like Swift Transportation, Prime Inc, or Schneider National you'll find they have different types of freight, various regions of the country you can run, and a long list of dedicated accounts to choose from.

Again thank you for the help. I greatly appreciate it in helping make my decision. Thank you.

Keep in mind that team driving and training team driving is different too. In training it's the trainers truck and they are most likely lease ops.. so it is really their truck. They call the shots on when and where to stop.... even when I was driving and they were sleeping I was usually told what stop to make.

This made me feel like a child having someone tell me when and where to eat shower use the restroom. After upgrading a few newbies from my class went teaming together as company drivers and it was better than training. It was a company truck, they got along as friends so enjoyed the company.... but didn't dictate to each other what to do. Also there was a little comfort knowing someone was there to spot them while backing and they could compliment each other's strengths and weaknesses.

Team runs have close Appt times to keep the truck rolling so there is not the same downtime. Which man's if your partner annoys you you can't go for a walk...if you are just tired of being cooped up you can't just take 2 hours off and hang in a truck stop... most of the time you can as a solo.

Today I woke at 3am and pulled over at 6am. I'll take 2 hours off duty grab some food take a nap n roll when I feel like it.

People also think teaming automatically makes you more money..which isn't always true. Two sets of classmates went team right out of training. Both teams got under 4000 miles a week. Split that between two people and that is 2000 per week. As solo I was not only running more miles but I was making more money. The one guy just jumped off the team truck to go solo and already made more his first week than he did teaming. Again.... they were new... and maybe dispatch was trying to ease them into teaming. IdK. Maybe it was because both teams had gone lease right away which brings a whole different set of issues.

In the end. . It is a matter of preference. Having the right team mate and disparcher can make you more money... but is it enough to offset the negatives? For me it wasn't. The company team told me what they were making compared to me and I didn't think it worth it. Someone else might.

Ok now I got the impression that no matter what company you go with you'll always start off with someone else now my question is is it with a trainer or is it really team driving and what's the difference how can you tell ?

The first few weeks, possibly months are road training. Depending on the company many times this is team driving with your trainer. Once you satisfactorily complete the road training, you will either be elevated to solo status or a team driver.

You will easily know the difference because training has a defined beginning and end.