How To Start Husband And Wife Team?

Hello everyone! Thanks for sharing so much valuable information! Well lets get started with a little back ground. I'm 26 years old stay at home newly wed and have 7 year old son with special needs. So my husband and I want to work together as one for a career. I love driving long distance or short I'm a driver period. We have never driven truck, nor do we have a CDL yet. My husband is willing to do anything to get out of the +20,000 annual bracket. But he pretty much hates driving. My thoughts are for us to drive a year or two and buy a truck or two; have people drive for us. Or use the money we make to start some other business. As for my son depending on what work we find I can have my mother care for him in our absence along with his arsenal of caregivers! We have funds saved to pay bills during start up of getting on the road. We just want to get established before our 30's. We find that we work best together, more in-tuned, less arguments or at least resolved quickly, but best of all happy!

Now the break down of my question how to start.... Should we pick a school to attend before getting our CDL? Should we both go at the same time? Which company's should we consider after attaining our CDL? Have any of you started from the beginning wanting to become a team?

Welcome to trucking truth.... If that is what you really want then go after it... You came to the right place to get started...

If this situation was mine then I would go to cdl school first and get a couple months in before my wife would start..that way its not two new rookie drivers in one truck... With that said whichever you decide I would check out Truck Driver's Career Guide that link will help you decide if this career is right for you and also check out Company-Sponsored Training that link is packed with all the information you will need to decide if you want to join a company sponsored school now if you would like a slower paced training I would check out Truck Driving Schools and How To Choose A School if you go to a private or college I would check this link out to help Understanding Pre-Hires and since you just started thinking about this you should start the High Road Training Program which will help you prepare for the written exams to obtain your cdl permit and if you have any questions you can always ask here and someone will be here to try to answer your questions as much as possible

There's a lot of companies that would love to have a husband and wife team just call and ask questions and make notes on pay/benefits, home time, type of freight they haul and also decide what division you want like refer, dry van , flatbed, tanker. That way you know what to look for in your starter company and also would like to add if you have some free time here's a link to Brett's Book a free online version its a really good read and makes you feel like your in the passenger seat lol

I dont understand, he hates driving, which means he is going to be pretty miserable most of the time, and it involves abandoning your 7 year old son. Is that what your child wants? To be dumped off with grandma indefinately so one of you can be happy some of the time and make a little more money which he wont understand and wont make a difference in his life? On top of that, you are going to be faced with sigificant strain, conflict, and resentment because he hates driving. Is it going to seem worth it to him when things start to get tough and he misses home and his son?

This seems like its going to be a massive disaster to me. Maybe you should get a cdl and drive yourself if you really want to, he could become a stay at home dad or pursue education, there are lots of trades out there that dont require advanced degrees that pay decent, welding, plumbing, electrician, etc.

Hello Cortez, and welcome aboard!

Scott gave you some very helpful information and great links to a lot of valuable information, make sure and follow all those links and spend some time studying the information there, it will be very helpful to you.

Now, let me just say a few things that come to mind after reading your introductory post. You have got a lot on your plate - newly wed, fairly young, with a special needs child, and a husband who hates driving! Seriously, I ask you to take a good long look at that list of things you told us and then ask yourself if you really want to be involved in a team truck driving situation? Teaming is hard, the truck never stops moving but for maybe a brief one or two hours per day. One of you will be driving for about ten or eleven hours, while the other is trying to get their much needed rest with that truck is bouncing it's way down the highway.

Then on top of all that you have already decided that you may want to own some trucks of your own!

First off please take the truck ownership off the table for now, and if you really want to give this a shot then each of you should go through the necessary training whether that be Company-Sponsored Training , or choosing your own private Truck Driving Schools. You will not be employable without being able to produce a certificate showing that you have received a minimum of 160 hours of professional truck driving training. Then you will need to spend at least one year driving together just to kind of get your feet wet in this business. Seriously, it takes that long to get to the point where you begin to know what you are doing, and are able to run in such a way that you can start making some real money. Cosider that entire first year as a commitment to learning the trade. Don't expect to make a fortune, because you won't. You will do okay, but it just takes a while to get to where you can do this efficiently.

Now, as a team driving couple who has one year under their belt, you will be in high demand by many companies, and if you learn the ropes well during that first year, I see no reason why you can't earn close to 100,000 dollars per year after that initial learning curve is over with.

As far as owning your own trucks goes, I'm not an advocate of that path - it is a slippery slope at best. I've owned several trucks, more than I like to remember - they are money pits - that is why so many of the trucking companies are trying desperately to get drivers to lease their trucks from them.

My advice is to give the team driving a chance as company drivers and see where that takes you - I know you can make some money doing that. You'll have a great steady income as long as you keep that truck moving - and these companies can provide you with all the freight you need to do just that. There is no guaranteed money in that truck ownership plan, it's a gamble that very few ever win at.

Thanks it feels good to hear you guys say my thoughts on my husband driving. As far as our son goes I have dedicated my life to him and I would never do something I felt he would be bothered by. I honestly feel I should step out first seeing as I love driving. He is not at all interested in being at home or not working full time. So its hard trying to find a joint career. Thanks for the advice it is solid and my husband agreed with all that was said.

Cortez, starting any business is a gruelling process. But let me say for starters I would completely forget about starting a trucking business. It's an awful business to be in. The profit margins are extremely low, the capital expenditures extremely high, and it's nothing but a bucket of problems all the time. So I would forget about starting a trucking business.

However......if you love driving but your husband doesn't you might consider getting into driving yourself and let him pursue his own career, and possibly start a business. The hardest part of owning a business is keeping enough cash in the bank those first few years to establish yourself. Well if you decide to drive a truck, that would help keep steady funds coming in while he begins putting together whatever business you guys decide on. If the business gains some traction and becomes self-sustaining you might have the option of running the business together full time or staying where you're at.

That's the route I would consider in your position. It might take you 6+ months of over the road driving before you find a local job that gets you home every night, but you'll get one before too long. Once you've managed that you guys will be in a pretty good position. You'll both be home every night together as a family and you can work together on your business ideas.

Some businesses are pretty good candidates for starting small on the side and building them slowly over time. If you're working full time in the truck and your husband also has a full time job you guys could "bootstrap" your business from the ground up slowly. Once it gains traction one of you guys could quit your job and work at it full time. Eventually both of you could do it full time if it gets to that level.

I'm a big fan of bootstrapping a small business. My philosophy is simple....if you can't figure out how to start off small and turn a small profit you certainly aren't going to start off big and make a big profit. I don't like the idea of, "Hey, let's get some funding to start this business and see if we can make it profitable before the funds run out." That's what a lot of people do. They beg and borrow from everyone they can convince, buy a whole bunch of whatever they need to produce their product or service, and hope to God they can figure it out before the money runs out. And the overwhelming majority of the time they fail. Companies don't fail because they can't turn revenues. They fail because they can't turn them at a profitable rate. That's what you have to figure out when you're small and then grow it from there. If you got into trucking and your husband worked while bootstrapping the business you guys might build it into something. And if not, you don't lose much but you still learn a lot for your next attempt.