Best Company For Husband /wife Team?

me and my wife are really considering starter drive long haul we just want to change our lives and something different so does anybody have any good companies that they would recommend for teen driving for us to start with thank you

Welcome aboard Thomas!!

Ok first of all the training....it's important to pick the company you want to work for based upon measurables like pay & benefits, equipment, home time, types of freight, etc. If you have to train apart, don't sweat it. It's actually a big advantage because you'll both get training from different perspectives. There are a million ways to handle a rig and life on the road. Every driver has their own ways. If you learn from two different trainers you're going to have a much broader base of knowledge than if you were trained under the same person. Under one person you would naturally inherit their way of doing things, including their weaknesses and quirks, with nothing to compare it against. Also, it can be very stressful trying to learn together at the same time. Often times it's easier to just focus on what you're doing and let the other focus on what they're doing and you'll meet again soon when the training is complete. If I were running a training program I wouldn't have husband/wife teams train together under the same instructor out on the road for the reasons I mentioned. It would be better for everyone in the long run if you trained separately.

You're going to be running team and most teams only get home a few days a month. But there's no reason you can't be home for at least most if not all of the major holidays. There isn't a company in America that prioritizes family over profit or they wouldn't be in business. That doesn't mean they don't care at all about family. They'll certainly do what they can within the realm of normal operations for a trucking company to get you home when it's time to get home. But that won't be very often for most teams. I've heard of teams that run coast to coast during the week and they're home on the weekend but that's pretty rare. Normally you're out 3-4 weeks at a time and home for 3-4 days at a time.

But be forewarned....you're going to be expected to run as hard as you legally can which pretty much means keeping the truck moving about 20+ hours a day. You can expect to live your lives rolling down the highway. That's how you'll eat most of your meals, that's how you'll sleep, and that's how you'll do pretty much everything - while you're rolling. Team trucks are the real money-makers at most large companies and they really make sure to keep those trucks moving. You'll make great money but you'll certainly earn it.

As far as finding a company with opportunities to lease - forget about that entirely right now. You wouldn't want to even think about doing that until you have a year or two of experience under your belt. Hopefully within that year or two you'll do some thorough research and realize you'd have to be borderline insane to lease or own a rig. It makes no economic sense whatsoever. You're doing a lot more work having to run a business, you're taking all of the financial risk and burden upon yourselves for the success of the business, but ultimately you'll have very little control versus what a company driver would have. If you think you're going to get more home time you'll quickly find you're losing a ton of money every time that truck stops. A company driver doesn't make money while sitting at home, but that's a lot different than actually losing money. And if you start refusing loads because you're looking for only the best you're suddenly going to find yourself sitting around truck stops going broke. Companies will allow you to refuse freight but there's no law or agreement that says they have to keep you rolling. If you become difficult to work with, so will they. And you have a lot more to lose than they do. If you go broke they take the truck back and lease it to someone else without missing a beat. In the meantime you'll be digging out of a financial mess for years to come. So forget about leasing until you've done enough research that you understand why you'd never want to lease a truck. If leasing sounds like a good idea then you're either:

1) Kidding yourself

2) Failing to do enough research

3) Up for any sort of challenge whether it makes sense or not

4) The type that just loves to tell people you are your own boss (even though you're not)

Generally we tell people to look at refrigerated companies first when it comes to teaming. Refrigerated companies tend to have the most freight that goes coast to coast. They also tend to have fewer seasonal peaks and valleys than other types of trucking because they're hauling a lot of food. But there are plenty of dry van companies that offer training and run teams also so look into those also.

Have you gone through our Truck Driver's Career Guide? If not, be sure to do so. Go through it beginning to end and follow all of the links you come across. That will help you understand the industry better and make informed choices about the schooling and company you choose.

Good question. My wife and I are also starting the same journey. We start CDL school in June. We are also in the middle of choosing a company to work for. (isn't it great to have so many choices?) The top runner for now is Schneider. However we are not finished looking. Any facts or opinions will be helpful from anyone. We have read thru the Truck Driver's Career Guide and found it very useful. One thing we have learned from here and had reinforced by other sources is we will never lease a truck.

My wife and I are doing the same. We have decided to do the team driving. We have read all the articles on schools we are now trying to decide on best company. We were also looking into Schneider, would love to hear what anyone has to say about this company! We have heard of couples going to Schneider but, are concerned with the TDI Schooling (not great reviews online). So if there are any husband & wife teams out there and can give any advice on best husband & wife companies to start at we would appreciate your input! BTW We are not worried about home time, we want to make the best profit we can with a reputable company! Thanks!

As my partner and I have student debts and no savings, we didn't think that we could afford the housing or the food for an 8 week driving school. If we could afford it, we probably would go to a Sage trucking school 2 hours from home and then sign on with Schneider (I read a book by a married team, and they loved their time with Schneider) and then use their sign-on bonus to pay ourselves back for most of that housing.

Instead, after doing more research, we plan to do company training with Prime Inc. Their pay is very competitive but more importantly their training is thorough and their employee satisfaction seems very high. Because our health and driving records are good and we have easy-going attitudes and good work ethic, we believe Prime will be happy to have us. All things considered, we'd be happy to stay with Prime indefinitely.

By the way, we'll be foot-loose & house-free. Into our savings accounts will go the money normally spent on: mortgage or rent, car loan, home/auto insurance, utilities, and fuel. We'll pay for our phones, life insurance, a little more for entertainment than we otherwise would, and occasional rental cars. We'll leave our paid-off car with family and let them pay for insurance & maintenance. We have family in the far southeast and scattered across the midwest.

We realize that we'll be out on the road for 1-2 months at a time and running hard because teams are so profitable, but we'll have each other. There will be major sacrifices and a certain amount of Pure Human Suffering (haha) but the pay-off will be a nest-egg within 2 years that we otherwise could never have amassed in 10.

Hopefully this explains my decision process so that you can glean a small amount of guidance for your own.

Good luck to you.

For those interested in Schneider & the "diary" I read, it's called Mother Trucker: An Urban Couple Downshifts to Life on the Road, $3.99 via kindle. It seemed to be on the up&up.

My wife and I have been talking about this. I will be first as we still have a teenager in the home. I will start driving and in 4 years when the 14 yo is in college then she will get her cdl and join me.

My wife and I have been talking about this. I will be first as we still have a teenager in the home. I will start driving and in 4 years when the 14 yo is in college then she will get her cdl and join me.

My understanding is that there are some companies which will allow you to train her yourself, by the time you have that much experience.