Driving Teams

I have posted once and yall who read it know that me and my husband are both going to attend classes the end of the month to drive teams, I've heard all the stuff about how it sucks and blah blah, we won't have time for each other I just want to know who out there drives with a significant other because I have some questions specifically for you.. 1. On average how often do you talk? I understand that the truck is usually always moving with the exception of fill ups and necessary stops so one drives while one sleeps but both getting 8 hours is 16 hours leaving 8 hours of time with each other, my question is how often does that 8 hours happen? 2. Sex? If the truck is always moving is there any time for sex? This may come off as a perverted question, but we are all adults and it's a very serious question because lack of sex leads to all kinds of marital issues as well as health problems and self esteem issues, so is sex non-existent, or do you pull into a rest stop and have a quicky every now and then? 3. fighting? How often do you get into the "I'm spending to much time with you so you are getting on my last nerve" fights happen? If you spend as little time with one another as people say then they shouldn't be very often, but I'm preparing for what I am going into so be brutally honest... and last question I have is because we won't be able to shower and use the best hygiene practices because loads are time sensitive, and I have heard about peeing in bottles and cups when there are no where to stop as well as plastic bags for tampons and such, my question is after driving together are you turned of by your significant other at this point like I've seen him in life be gross but im usually pretty kept and don't want to have him find me disgusting after this so do you have more respect for your partner now because they rose to the challenge and traded in their cushy life for trucking or are you repulsed buy them because you know what they had to do to become a trucker...

This is mainly for those who drive teams with a life partner, but if you have a wife or husband who comes on solo trips with you some of the questions may apply to you as well. All answers are welcome. Nothing that you say will change my mind about it so be as honest as you can because I want to go into this with open eyes and not ignorance...

Howdy and good luck to you! You can make some good money teaming with the hubby. I have teamed with my wife since October of last year.

There are times when you are running and gunning that you will both be tired and seem to not talk much to each other, pretty much sleeping the entire time the other is driving. Most of the time you will sit in the jump seat for an hour or two either before or after your nap chatting and what not. I guess it really depends on you.

Sometimes we'll get a solo load and tend to keep the same sleep schedule (which can screw you up when you get the next team load). It works for us because my wife has such an easy time sleeping in a moving vehicle and I have an almost inhuman ability to stay up for long periods of time so we can get back to opposite sleep schedules.

Sex hasn't been a problem, lol. You will find plenty of time where the truck is shut down and you have time to get intimate (getting unloaded, waiting on a load assignment, etc...). The only thing I'll say is don't do it on the top bunk, the truck will start swaying severely. Made that mistake once, wish I had turned the CB off first.

Teaming for us involves lots of 34 hour rolling resets, we don't work much off of recap hours. So we burn our hours down fast but then one person skips a drive shift to get in a reset. That means the truck will shut down for 10 hours while the person running takes their break.

There will be times you will probably get on each other's nerves, but this greatly depends on your relationship. My wife and I will get grouchy at each other every couple months or so for a day, then we start ridiculously getting catty and will both bust out laughing at the absurdity of it all. We did that before trucking too, so don't think it's much different. It's something of a joke to us, but neither of us take much seriously.

You can generally find bathrooms, but my wife has peed in a cup in the truck a couple times out of necessity. She closes the curtain though so I'm not sure exactly how that works mechanically lol. I will certainly pee in a bottle here and there if I have to. Baby wipes are your friend in the truck. She's dealt with lady time back there as well while I'm driving and I honestly don't even realize it.

You can get separate showers for the price of one (co-driver shower) if you want some privacy from each other. We always just get one shower and grab an extra towel from the place.

We've been married nine years, and I love her more than ever. It definitely hasn't hindered our relationship at all. We were good friends before we became romantic, so maybe our relationship is different than a lot of others though.

One more thing on the bathroom issue, we have found even places that do not have facilities for drivers will usually accommodate a woman. So don't be afraid to ask if the shipper/reciever says no restrooms. Thankfully those are pretty uncommon anyway.

Thank you that was all really helpful information. I feel like we will have a lot of fun with this. Like I said I just wanted to know what to expect going into it and posting on reddit is like the most unhelpful thing ever, because I swear everyone on there hates their job..