Team Driving Newbies Seeking Advice: Which Mega Carrier Offers The Best Start?

Hello!

My wife and I are planning to become OTR team truck drivers.

Our Situation: We’re currently finishing up a nine-month unassisted walk across America, from Los Angeles to New York City. We don’t have a home base, so are willing to apply to any company located anywhere in the US. We understand that team driving will be intense and challenging, but we’re prepared for the hardship. For the past five years, we’ve been traveling the world and are very used to spending all day together, often living in cramped conditions. We’re also completely comfortable with life on the road, having spent countless months traveling across the U.S. and sleeping in the back of SUVs and a Prius at hundreds of truck stops and rest areas.

Our Plan: As mentioned, since we don’t have a home base or family in the U.S., we have no need to ever be routed “home.” We’re happy to take our mandatory time off wherever it’s convenient for the company. We plan to live in the truck full-time for a few years to save on rent. Our main goal is to maximize earnings over the next three years by taking high-mile loads, hitting incentives, and staying on the road as much as possible.

The Company: We’re looking for a mega carrier with extensive coast-to-coast routes that offers CDL training. While we’ve heard the advice and warnings about companies offering CDL training, we’re set on this route and are prepared to stick it out for the first year to gain experience before upgrading to a higher-paying company if needed. We’re not interested in driving flatbeds or tankers and would prefer no-touch freight when possible.

Given our situation and priorities, which trucking company do you think would be the best fit for us to start with? Based on what we’ve read, we’re leaning toward Schneider, but we’re open to other suggestions.

Thank you so much!

Do you have your CDLs yet?

If you want to team up, I suggest you check out this video about expediting.

How expediting exclusive use makes money

A good overview of a freight sector you may not have heard about. My wife and I are going to team up with Hyfield next spring. (The delay is a "ducks in a row" thing.)

Great sleeper, actually a small RV.

Small loads, go anywhere.

Welcome

There are many new carriers that offer a good start. No perfect ones and a lot will depend on you. Werner is the only big carrier that I worked for and they have a lot of team positions. They will pay for your school “road master” but you will pay them back for it . As you will for most companies.

After you both earn your cdl you will have to do a period of training with a company certified trainer. Most companies will not have you both on the same truck during this time. Be cognizant of that. I think CR England actually has 3 people on the truck during some stage of training. But don’t quote me on that.

Be prepared to show past addresses and explain any gaps in your work history. All companies will want to know ALL of it.

Good luck!

We started with Schneider. They have a lot of operation centers (aka. terminals) all over the country. Usually there are company cars there available for drivers to check out for free so that they can get some groceries in the nearby stores. There are also showers and internet too. Some places may even have a fitness room or a cafeteria.

I would give KLLM some serious consideration. They train and teams make .83 to .87 cpm. From my understanding they get great miles and you get bonuses for certain miles driven. They require 3 weeks out at a time but that doesn’t sound like an issue for you guys