Request Granted: How I Feel About Teaming.

One thing that I think would be valuable to see some kind of post by Million Miler how he feels about teaming. We know he loves working for CRST but seeing how his experiences with co-drivers are after training I feel that would provide valuable information to prospective drivers when trying to decide if teaming is for them.

Consider your request granted, Rob and thanks for the topic idea.

Anyway in my personal opinion, I feel as a rookie that teaming is the best way to go and I consider myself a lone wolf. I say this because people make way too many mistakes out here their first year and that is only one of any number of things that could be a career ender for someone's career in this industry before that ever important first year is done. Having a co driver is very essential your rookie year because it can help you through some sticky situations. For instance if you suck at backing having your co driver spot you in to the hole can help you lessen your chances of an accident. Also financially teaming is a lot better because you get paid for a lot more miles. Also that truck is always rollin unless you are in the shop or on a reset. We run hard enough to exhaust our 70 hrs every week. We welcome a reset every week. CRST has been so good to us so far that I truly believe that they are the best place to get your start. Also their comfort zone policy is legendary. I can go into more about that later. Anyway teaming is the way to go. There are sometimes I wish I was solo but I am glad I am not. Having a co driver is the best way to do things. My co driver is one of the coolest people I have ever met. We always try to help each other to the best of our abilities. Our FM has said numerous times that we are one of the best teams on his fleet. We do what we can and are glad to be of service. Anyway enough ramblin here. If anyone else has any questions about CRST or teaming up in general feel free to reply back here and I will try to keep this updated as good as I can however when I am on a reset I like to rest and the rest of the time I am super busy, hence why I am not around as often as I should be.

Anyway Brett and moderators, I sure hope y'all had a Happy Thanksgiving and I truly am thankful for this site and for what y'all and CRST has done for me. I wouldn't be where I am at now if it weren't for yall so thank y'all for your continuing service to this industry.

Thanks for the post, I was just curious because I don't hear much about teaming except from those in training. Was wondering how it was when your not having the trainer critiquing your actions. What would you say the biggest downside is? How do you guys figure out when to switch drivers? Do you plan where you'll stop or just drive til out of hours and use an on-ramp if needed to switch? How does home time work? How did you guys set rules to ensure things are fair?

Overall I'm satisfied with my job and don't plan on leaving for a while, but just wondering about it. Thank you for the post

Thanks for the post, I was just curious because I don't hear much about teaming except from those in training. Was wondering how it was when your not having the trainer critiquing your actions. What would you say the biggest downside is? How do you guys figure out when to switch drivers? Do you plan where you'll stop or just drive til out of hours and use an on-ramp if needed to switch? How does home time work? How did you guys set rules to ensure things are fair?

Overall I'm satisfied with my job and don't plan on leaving for a while, but just wondering about it. Thank you for the post

Just like everyone I am always to be glad to be done with training. Downside would be mostly not being able to listen to the radio or music unless at a low volume or through a headset. My co driver is active from 8AM CST to 8PM CST and I am active from 8PM CST to 8AM CST. We use our GPSs to help us plan out where we are goin to swap out. He takes his home time in his hometown and I take mine at the terminal. It works out good. We never do anything unless the other approves unless in regards to when we are off on a reset or he is on hometime.

I've always wondered if the pay really is that much better running as a team. I'm sure a couple sharing the money would be great, but I'm not sure about splitting. What would you say is the average anual amount for crst team driver?

I've always wondered if the pay really is that much better running as a team. I'm sure a couple sharing the money would be great, but I'm not sure about splitting. What would you say is the average anual amount for crst team driver?

That's a tough answer however at CRST we split the miles, not the pay. For example let's say you make 30cpm and your co driver makes 28cpm. The TRUCK drives 5K miles a week. You would make 30cpm on 2.5K miles that week and your co driver would make 28cpm on 2.5K miles that week. It doesn't matter how much YOU drive you will get paid on HALF the miles the TRUCK goes that week. What your individual com rate is will depend on the same things as it would at any truckin company: experience, bonuses, incentives, etc.