single drivers
- Thread starter tnpride
- Start date
Your not likely to find a fleet owner that will let his equipment sit idle 50% of the time...if your looking to drive for somebody else.
If you have cash to buy your own truck, you could possibly make it happen, depending on where you live and what company your leased to. I still doubt that it would work out very well though, especially if you want exactly one week on, one week off. In this business, you seldom know where the next load will take you. Your not likely to be within a reasonable distance of home on any particular day. It may be a week...or a month....or longer before you find yourself close enough to deadhead home. If you start deadheading more than a couple hundred miles every other week, your gonna find yourself working for free if your not careful.
The guys who live in certain parts of OH seem to get home the easiest. With some carriers (like Load One) living in MI or northern OH is a pretty sweet setup. A lot depends on the carrier.
One option you might find (but it would be like finding a needle in a haystack) would be to find someone else who wants to be off every other week and work out a schedule....but then ya still gotta get the loads that keep ya close enough to make it workable.
It's a VERY long shot in this business...in my opinion.
If you have cash to buy your own truck, you could possibly make it happen, depending on where you live and what company your leased to. I still doubt that it would work out very well though, especially if you want exactly one week on, one week off. In this business, you seldom know where the next load will take you. Your not likely to be within a reasonable distance of home on any particular day. It may be a week...or a month....or longer before you find yourself close enough to deadhead home. If you start deadheading more than a couple hundred miles every other week, your gonna find yourself working for free if your not careful.
The guys who live in certain parts of OH seem to get home the easiest. With some carriers (like Load One) living in MI or northern OH is a pretty sweet setup. A lot depends on the carrier.
One option you might find (but it would be like finding a needle in a haystack) would be to find someone else who wants to be off every other week and work out a schedule....but then ya still gotta get the loads that keep ya close enough to make it workable.
It's a VERY long shot in this business...in my opinion.
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For a guy with a female body part on his shoulder, Rocket comes up with some very spot-on opinions.
I couldn't agree more, one week on and one off just wouldn't be practical in this business. If you had your own authority and had local customers to work with, you may be able to make something like that work if you had another driver to do the every other week. But, I'd be surprised if you could manage to put something like that together.
I couldn't agree more, one week on and one off just wouldn't be practical in this business. If you had your own authority and had local customers to work with, you may be able to make something like that work if you had another driver to do the every other week. But, I'd be surprised if you could manage to put something like that together.
Here's a website for single drivers: Date a Truck Driver - Truck Driver Dating - Trucker Singles - Find a Co-Driver
Good luck!
Good luck!
runrunner
Veteran Expediter
Aside from the obvious problems of being in service 50% of the time and the possibility of being far from home when YOU want to be there, the most difficult thing for ME driving solo was trying to optimize my driving hours while staying legal (which I do out of necessity, because of an EOBR).
Team is easy...you just put the truck on cruise and step out of the driver's seat while the co-driver slides in - never even a need to stop...nor a concern about where you are in the pick-up/delivery sequence!
As a solo you need to be thinking at least 24 hours ahead to figure out the next move(s). I never realized what a challenge that would be until I ran four consecutive nights and woke up the following mornings for numerous load opportunities coming in over the qualcomm....to make decisions about the next load.
If I had a day or two to rest between loads it would not have been nearly as strenuous, but that's not how money is made in this business!
Team is easy...you just put the truck on cruise and step out of the driver's seat while the co-driver slides in - never even a need to stop...nor a concern about where you are in the pick-up/delivery sequence!
As a solo you need to be thinking at least 24 hours ahead to figure out the next move(s). I never realized what a challenge that would be until I ran four consecutive nights and woke up the following mornings for numerous load opportunities coming in over the qualcomm....to make decisions about the next load.
If I had a day or two to rest between loads it would not have been nearly as strenuous, but that's not how money is made in this business!
Depending on how close you live to a larger city, there are sometimes opportunities to run "out and back" types of loads for certain local carriers. Not a lot of us on this board that do that, but that stuff is out there. You would still likely have to have somebody to swap weeks with ya though. That freight, I think, is going to be more dedicated... meaning that it won't wait for ya while your taking that week off. You'll need a fill in.
jimlookup
Seasoned Expediter
A big problem is you can't get part time insurance. While you and the truck are stopped that insurance cash register is going ka-ching, ka-ching. If you have your own authority you may be able to bite this big bullet, but a fleet owner or carrier will find this business plan unacceptable.
EasyDoesIt
Active Expediter
Schneider has that option , not sure but maybe England too.
Suds43
Seasoned Expediter
If you have deep enough pockets and own your own truck you can do anything you want to. I can't see it working in expediting. Unless you have those magical 'bottomless pockets'. Expediting is like the wind, you chase it and go where it takes you. We always planned on staying 'out' for 3 weeks, then home for a couple days, then back out. Occasionally we'd be out for 7 to 8 wks. at a time. Gotta make hay while the sunshines.