Team Drivers

pantherii · Mar 30, 2006

My question is what is alot of miles per week for team drivers, our top loaded/paid miles was 3,800 and let me tell you we were out of it. I loved the load offers and money but by the end of the week I had enough and we got a hotel for a night and relaxed.
I'm not sure if the old,uncomfortable truck wore us down or if were still not used to driving that much, but I cant see us driving more than that a week!!! am I wrong? Do you think we should be able to put more miles in, or is that good miles for team drivers in expedited freight?

Thanks,

RichM · Mar 30, 2006

Thats a pretty decent week.Remember you can chase that dollar just so far. I have done as much as 5 K in one week and it takes 2 days to get over it. When you hear these teams from JB and Schenider talk about 6K every week I wonder,what kind of life do you have?

brentwb2 · Mar 31, 2006

I agree. 3800 is a good week (for teams) in expediting. You have to have a paradigm shift when you get into this business. When you make .85 cpm running general freight (JB, Swift)you have to run 5500-6000 per week and you'll just about wear a truck out in 3 years. With the money you make in expediting, consider it a blessing if you run 5500 miles per week...but it will probably rarely happen. You'll make the same money as the 'general freighters'...probably more...

jaminjim · Mar 31, 2006

It's not just the miles, it's how they fall. We have done fewer miles and thought we were going to die. and done alot more and felt rested. We have run near 5000 miles and somehow they were mostly daytime runs with plenty of good sleep in between.

ATeam · Mar 31, 2006

Diane and I (married team) average 10,000 to 12,000 miles a month. That number has been consistent for the last couple years. It varies within that range with the amount of time we're in service. The number includes all miles (deahdead, loaded, personal, and any other type of miles you care to name). It's end-of-month odometer reading minus start-of-month odometer reading. Note that our carrier (FedEx CC) does not pay a fixed cpm (cents per mile) rate. We get paid a percentage of the load's gross; and the pay varies from one load to another.

For fun, I took a quick look at this month (March, 2006). Total miles: 12,472, including a few days off for the truck show, and some time off early in the month to reset our hours. (See "Forced Tourism" http://www.expeditersonline.com/dcforum/DCForumID2/1797.html) Otherwise, we ran the entire month.

brentwb2 spoke of the need to make a paradigm shift if you get into this business. He is right on with what he said about pay per mile. A paradigm shift is also needed regarding sleep. Sleep management is an ongoing necessity and challenge in expediting.

themagicoen · Mar 31, 2006

Well I just got done doing 4500 Thursday-Thursday, then got a load out thursday afternoon for 550 miles, another 523 friday morning, now were sitting in Denver, CO. If we would be somewhere with more frieght another 4500 miles wouldnt be out of the question. When I was in training with Covenant Trasport we did 7200 miles 2 weeks in a row NOW THAT SUCKS. That truck didnt stop moving for those 2 weeks, only to eat and gas... Worse part bout it was that I was on training wage of only .13/mile and the trainer was .34/mile, he made $110,000 last year. There is no way I would drive that much week after week even for $100k.

grog111 · Mar 31, 2006

I used to run a team with my cousin, we'd do 3000 to 5000 miles, depending on the week, but, maybe only 75% of those were paid on average. I had an FL70 at the time, ( 72" sleeper not air ride), we were at each others throats...miserable. I figured out later that after i paid him, and the truck note, fuel,insurence,etc. the wear and tear was eating up all my profits! bottom line is, i make more as a single, and get better rest because of the ten hour rule.

tom tinker · Apr 1, 2006

Hi Grog Was the team driving in expediting or o.t.r.
what are you running now as single. Thanks Tom Stradinger
aka Tom Tinker G.R. mi.

grog111 · Apr 4, 2006

hey tom we were running expedite, mostly automotive from ford and visteon, our own customers, (a mid size co. in taylor mi.), but after the initial run out, every thing depended on that dreaded NLM master of puppets. spot bidding being the call of the day, our dispatchers had limited success with suppliers shipping back towards detroit, and it worked best for our co. to bring us back to service boss mans customers, which was nice for the home time

but maybe not the most fiscally condusive option :+ never the less i continue to drive the same fl70 :-( for the same outfit but i'm leaning heavily in the direction of landstars express division, but i desperatly need to upgrade my equipment. after much bally-hoo trying to figure out how to make a straight truck out of a class 8 reasonably and responsibly my frustration has me leaning towards a T300,(the standard 315 hp cummins wet sleeve and super 10 set up with the 72" bentz sleeper)maybe a 2004 if i can find one

Pappy · Apr 9, 2006

Lots of weeks, I run 3200 to 3500 miles single. The last time I ran team was in the early 1970's and we did 5,000 miles a week plus back then and in a 60 mph truck!
So--- I really ca'nt understand being tired after only 3800 miles running double----SORRY!

Pappy

35 years OTR T?T