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Found a co driver

jjoerger

jjoerger

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
US Army
Awhile back I was considering hiring a co driver to fill the seat my wife vacated to become a full time Grandmother.
In that thread my next door neighbor contacted me. He has since qualified with FedEx Custom Critical and we will be going in service as a team on Tuesday.
We came up with a simple agreement (contract) and are planning on going on a 3-4 week trial run.
Here's to hoping this works out.
 
S

Scotimier

Rookie Expediter
I used to train new hires for a couple companies I drove for in the 90's. Most were newbies, but on occasion I would get a new hire who had some experience.
When I made the leap to owner operator, I trained a very experienced driver to take over my dedicated run that I was on at the time. It was more just to introduce him to the customers etc.
He was a really good driver, so we decided we would make some extra money and run the loads as a team. All was going good, and we had an agreement that no matter what, if one of us got tired we would stop and switch drivers or stop altogether. About one in the morning, I wake up to the sound of the truck hitting the rumble strips on the side of the highway occasionally and the truck rocking. I peak thru the sleeper curtains and ask him if everything's ok? He responds yes, that he's not tired. Meanwhile he can hardly hold his head up because he's falling asleep at the wheel... Lesson learned. It doesn't matter how much experience you may have if you can't make a common sense decision in the moment! We both could have died that night, thankful for those annoying rumble strips!!!
 
jjoerger

jjoerger

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
US Army
He is going to do the day time driving 10-10 or 12-12 just as my wife did. I will do the overnights that are much harder to stay awake.
 
redytrk

redytrk

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
The hardest thing for the night driver to adjust to, is resisting getting up to join co-driver for meals etc. Even with that done circadian [FONT=arial, sans-serif]rhythm demands you get very sleepy.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]I have always said, if those sleep sensors were ever hooked up to the resting driver, new rules would be sure to come out. It is one thing to sleep peacefully in a laboratory, and quite another to get adequate sleep while being constantly disturbed by rumble strips, weight scales, toll booths, etc.
I teamed for 13 years, and thank God that is over![/FONT]
 
S

Scotimier

Rookie Expediter
This makes me wonder, how many of the teams run a set schedule? I have limited team experience, and my plan is to hire a co-driver eventually.
 
tenntrucker

tenntrucker

Expert Expediter
Were running 12 noon to 12 midnite shifts, that way we both get some day & nite driving.

sent from my Galaxy S3
 
runrunner

runrunner

Veteran Expediter
A lot of people don't think so, but night driving is the most dangerous,there maybe less traffic,but there is less visibility too,which means less time to react when something goes wrong.

I think when teaming,one of the most important considerations for both drivers, is to get enough sleep,
so you are prepared to do your shift. You owe that to each other.
 
jjoerger

jjoerger

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
US Army
New co driver doing well. He drove about 2000 miles in 6 days. He can sleep in a moving truck. I can sleep while he is driving. He is learning the quallcom and HOS. No arguments yet. And we are making money.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using EO Forums mobile app
 
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