Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/947211
March 2018 | Overdrive | 39 ask them a lot of questions to help put together a good match, but sometimes you can get all the questions right and find the perfect match on paper, and it doesn't work." "We have a group that specializes in handling the majority of our teams, and they have pointers for conflict resolution and other things like that," Gibson says. If a matched team at Werner doesn't get along, the incompatible drivers can go back through the process to find a new teammate. What about pay? Because a truck can run twice as much with a team as it can with a solo driver, a team can bring home at least twice the revenue of what a solo driver can. Another key benefit, effectively raising the earning potential of teams, can be minimal detention. Gibson says about 90 percent of Werner's team freight is no-touch drop-and-hook freight, unlike the typical freight of solo drivers. On average, owner-operator teams make about $1.09 per mile, Gibson says. "Some make more, depending on their lanes," he says. "For independent contractors, the money goes to the truck. Their teammate is their employee, so they handle their own payroll." The pay rate also is often better for teams. Hatchett says team owner-oper- ators at Covenant make about 10 cents more than solo owner-operators. "The demands of the job warrant higher pay," Hatchett says. "Being on the truck with another person, and with the truck running most of the day, that can be more challenging than running solo." Teams also can benefit when leased to fleets that pay a percentage of revenue. Owner-operators Chris and Chante Drew, leased to Barlow Truck Lines of Faucett, Missouri, get paid 73 percent. Chante says they can deliver five to six loads a week compared to just two to three for a solo driver. The couple hauls mainly reefer freight and some dry goods on a triangle of Kansas City, Pennsylvania and the Northwest. Philip and Eva Keith, owner-operators leased to WEL Companies of De Pere, Wisconsin, grossed more than $267,000 in 2016 driving as a team. Hatchett says more than $300,000 (including fuel sur- charge) is normal for Covenant's owner- operator teams. Some fleets also are offering sizeable team bonuses. In February, Covenant began a Teaming Bonus program that offers $40,000 spread over several install- ments. It pays teams $2,000 for every 60,000 paid miles they run together. U.S. Xpress launched a similar pro- gram in February that offers teams $50,000 bonuses. For every 60,000 miles, they're paid in $2,000 increments with $500 in paid vacation time. Finding a balance Federal hours of service regulations are the same for team drivers as solo drivers, though one team truck has two on-duty and driving clocks. Each driver has a 14-hour on-duty clock and an 11-hour driving clock, and each driver is required to take a 30-minute break during their shift. Each driver also is limited to 60 hours in seven days or 70 hours in eight days, just like solo drivers. Most teams run set shifts that vary. Philip Keith says he and Eva have tried many schedules during the 20-plus years they've been team driving. They settled on 12 hours on-duty for each of them. "We usually run the clock from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 4 a.m.," Philip says. "That's been the most flexible for us. I usually get us unloaded, reloaded and headed in the right direction, and she takes over at night and gets us there." The Drews run more of a "super solo" shift where each of them will drive for six to eight hours and stop for the night. They typically haul reefer freight that could be handled by a solo driver, but they are able to do twice as many runs in a week. The Drews, who have been driving team for three years, began as a "true team," Chante says, with each of them using their full clock. That meant seeing each other only for the two hours the non-driver was allowed to sit in the front seat before the mandated eight consecu- tive hours in the sleeper berth. "I had the night shift, and he drove Chris and Chante Drew, leased to Barlow Truck Lines of Faucett, Missouri, say they have learned the importance of communication in minimizing the conflicts that inevitably arise on the road.