Team Driving With Your Spouse, Boyfriend, Girlfriend, Best Friend

Having run team with my husband,, TSB, I think I can give you some insight into what to expect when you team with someone you love, and care about. TSB and I teamed/lived in our truck, for 2 years. We did West Coast Turn Around's = 2 1/2 days from VA to CA, and 2 1/2 days from CA to VA. We did this 24/7/365..with very little break time. Our truck was moving 20 hours a day. We drove 6 hours on, 6 hours off. And for the most part it was really great. But there's always "those" days...when you come to realize that your in an aluminium box with a Tazmanian Devil I learned the most extraordinary things !!! I learned that slamming a sleep curtain isn't nearly as satisfying as slamming a good hollow core door....I learned that throwing syrofoam dishes against a padded sleeper wall doesn't get the dramatic effect that one wants during an argument. I learned that when the argument gets to that point when you usually rip the front door open and go stomping out, and slam the door...is impossible in a moving 18 wheeler. I learned that being in a moving truck 24/7, its impossible to truly give anyone but the dog the silent treatment. I learned that if you really want to get paybacks, you hunt for an appropriate pot hole, hit it square on, and get a great result, when your driving partner comes zooming thru the sleeper curtain, and comes to rest wrapped around the gear shift. I learned that another sweet revenge was drinking ALL the coffee, leaving none for when its his turn to drive. But then, TSB learned to dynamite the brakes when he knew I was using the porta potty ( those things slide on carpet like they had skis !!). TSB learned to wake me up at a rest area to change drivers, and HE had drank all the coffee. TSB learned that if this redhead didn't get a shower every day, or every other day at the most, that her fangs grew, and she was gonna take a bite outta someone, and he was the only one there. But all in all, it was a great experience, and we learned alot about each other. But I will say this...If a marriage can survive teaming in a truck...it can withstand ANYTHING !!!!

Having run team with my husband,, TSB, I think I can give you some insight into what to expect when you team with someone you love, and care about. TSB and I teamed/lived in our truck, for 2 years. We did West Coast Turn Around's = 2 1/2 days from VA to CA, and 2 1/2 days from CA to VA. We did this 24/7/365..with very little break time. Our truck was moving 20 hours a day. We drove 6 hours on, 6 hours off. And for the most part it was really great. But there's always "those" days...when you come to realize that your in an aluminium box with a Tazmanian Devil I learned the most extraordinary things !!! I learned that slamming a sleep curtain isn't nearly as satisfying as slamming a good hollow core door....I learned that throwing syrofoam dishes against a padded sleeper wall doesn't get the dramatic effect that one wants during an argument. I learned that when the argument gets to that point when you usually rip the front door open and go stomping out, and slam the door...is impossible in a moving 18 wheeler. I learned that being in a moving truck 24/7, its impossible to truly give anyone but the dog the silent treatment. I learned that if you really want to get paybacks, you hunt for an appropriate pot hole, hit it square on, and get a great result, when your driving partner comes zooming thru the sleeper curtain, and comes to rest wrapped around the gear shift. I learned that another sweet revenge was drinking ALL the coffee, leaving none for when its his turn to drive. But then, TSB learned to dynamite the brakes when he knew I was using the porta potty ( those things slide on carpet like they had skis !!). TSB learned to wake me up at a rest area to change drivers, and HE had drank all the coffee. TSB learned that if this redhead didn't get a shower every day, or every other day at the most, that her fangs grew, and she was gonna take a bite outta someone, and he was the only one there. But all in all, it was a great experience, and we learned alot about each other. But I will say this...If a marriage can survive teaming in a truck...it can withstand ANYTHING !!!!

I have to remember the break check that would be funny,I can just picture tsb flying up to grab a gear shifter lmao

you hunt for an appropriate pot hole, hit it square on, and get a great result, when your driving partner comes zooming thru the sleeper curtain, and comes to rest wrapped around the gear shift

That was awesome!!! The moment I read that I had the most vivid image of someone lying groggy and completely baffled in the fetal position around the gear shift.

I'll be right back. I have to go get some paper towels and Windex for the monitor. Hadn't quite swallowed my sip of coffee when I read that

Star, as usual your post was entertaining, comical, and enlightening, but I'm confused just a little. After reading it through carefully twice, I still can't figure out which one of you is the Tasmanian Devil. But I do think I figured out that TSB got way more than he bargained for when he got you as his wife. Thanks for the post, it helps us all to understand the trying times that take place in a team operation, but it left me (a man with a wife and three daughters) still mystified by this wonderfully curious thing we call woman.

I was the Tazmanian Devil...Its tough having the ethnic mix that I have. I'm 1/2 Native American and 1/2 Irish. None of my siblings have a temper....cuz I got it all You need to understand that TSB hadn't ever teamed with anyone...and he had never trained anyone, either. Even tho I had driven alot of truck, it was all in a rural setting, not over the interstate highway system. So I had some really weird mind sets to overcome. But the one thing that I remember seeing and felt really bad about was watching TSB go from happy husband to being tired and wore out from lack of sleep. He couldn't sleep behind me driving for a very long time. The only thing he couldn't teach me was backing up. And since he is a walking Rand McNally, he never had to open a Atleas, but he made me trip plan forever, I think. He's a good trainer, and I'm sure I was a terrible trainee. But he couldn't get rid of me, so he just put up with me He knew I still had a few places I could bury a body.

One of the biggest problems we had was who ran the heater/AC. TSB is cold blooded, and I'm a heat freak. So after many fights over me freezing, or him cooking, we decided that whoever was driving ran the cab heater/AC...and whoever was in the sleeper ran the heater/AC in there. That way, when TSB turned the danged AC up to where you had frostbite, I'd go in the sleeper, close the curtain, and crank up the heater. And the radio was another sore spot..TSB would turn on the CB AND the radio...drove me nuts. I can only listen to one thing at a time. But as long as he kept it down low so it didn't interfer (sp) with my sleep, I ignored it. The one thing that you will need to do in order to successfully team with your other half is...AGREE TO DIS AGREE. Let each other have their opinion. The only thing that would vacate this is safety. But if you like your seat hi, and the other half likes it low...who really cares ?? TSB and I had the seat the same...flat on the floor. but I had to move the passenger mirror in, and put the steering wheel down 2 notches. But when I was done driving, TSB would reset it for him, and all was good. Its a balancing act anytime you put 2 people in a small space for a long period of time. We are kinda like rats. If you confine them in to small of an area for a period of time, they start killing each other to gain more space.

This made me laugh. Good post. While my future co driver and I wont be that close we did find each other on the bus on the way to school, and roomed together all through school and orientation. The important thing is, we know how to get along, and talk up front about any problems that do happen.

we did find each other on the bus on the way to school

It seemed every time I rode the bus I sat next to someone on their way home from prison. Seriously. It happened like 3 or 4 different times.

Haha I loved this post! thanks for sharing!

we did find each other on the bus on the way to school

It seemed every time I rode the bus I sat next to someone on their way home from prison. Seriously. It happened like 3 or 4 different times.

Yeah, I had the opposite..most times I was sitting next to someone GOING to prison..of course, I was the reason they were going there..