It's a Team's Life

Team Driving

There seems to be a mistaken idea that team driving means we are constantly together and while that is technically true it really is far from the truth. We share a business and our business is running a truck legally. This means that while I am driving Bob spends his time in the sleeper either sleeping or working on his own projects and vice versa when he is driving.

Bob's interest lies in making sure the truck is in tiptop condition mechanically and also in looks. His motto " A clean truck is a happy truck" is something he lives by. In order to keep our truck in tiptop shape due to the fact that it is often running up and down the roads 24 hours a day when it is stopped he is either cleaning on the truck or making sure everything is working perfectly.

When a truck is moving as often as our truck moves little things happen or shake loose and there is a lot of moving parts on this truck. In the wintertime he has to watch that salt or ice build up does not damage anything or get into the wiring. Our lift gate is something he watches constantly as it seems to catch a lot of the road spray. In spring it seems as if we see a lot more blown tires and campers sitting beside the road and those tire pieces can wreck havoc on our undercarriage.

Bob is also often found researching and reading to keep up with new technology as well as rules and regulations that could affect our business. We are also constantly learning as we know our next truck purchase is right around the corner and with new technology comes new ideas we want on our next Freightliner.

My interest is in the financial side of the truck and the interior. While I am not driving my work is to keep the monitary side of the business up to date, get all of receipts entered into Quicken, copied, and then filed away. I am constantly looking for ways to trim costs or maximize our options to earn more. During my non-driving time I also keep up with our various blogs and also our Trucker Buddy classes.

Two people living in such a small area also requires wiping down surfaces, making sure everything is kept in its proper place, and preparing make ahead meals. I am often driving when Bob is ready for lunch and having a meal that only needs to be warmed up is very easy for Bob to heat and eat. We never know how hard we will run from day to day and so we are always prepared to drop everything we are doing and not get back to a project for several days.

Another benefit to team driving with a spouse is we rarely are in a hurry to get home as we are able to enjoy our life out here on the road away from home. We get to enjoy the area of the country that we are in and the sites that we get to see. A great friend of ours Terry O'Connell wrote this piece and we really try live up to this:

Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle;
Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;
Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;
Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.

How do we stand being together all of the time? The same as any couple that has a business, Bob does his thing and I do my thing and then we have something to talk about when we do get a chance to sit down and relax for a spell. We still have our interests that we pursue on our off time they just often have to happen while going down the road in a moving vehicle.