Home » About Truck Driving as a Career » The Life of a Truck Driver » Team Truck Driving Jobs for Married Couples
The truck driving industry’s workforce is dwindling and carriers are constantly searching for reliable, trained tractor-trailer drivers. While team truck driver jobs have been a popular option when traveling cross country, in recent years a somewhat surprising demographic has started to fill these employment gaps: married couples.
Married couples have started to make up a large percentage of the truck industry workforce. Most of these couples are around 50 years old with either an empty nest or lackluster lifestyle after retirement. Couples look to truck driving as a way to keep an active lifestyle. The money associated with team truck driving jobs is also an added benefit, helping to cushion their retirement fund. Experienced couples driving across the United States can make a combined income of $100,000 a year.
This type of team truck driving is ideal in a few different ways. For starters, it removes perhaps the most unpopular aspect of truck driving – time away from family. Couples as team drivers are also safer than the average driver, as they are less likely to speed or take other hazardous risks.
Like with other team truck driving jobs, driving with a partner also makes the workload easier on each member. If one person gets tired, the other can take over driving to prevent falling asleep at the wheel. Alternating sleep schedules allows the team to cover more miles at a faster pace. While a solo driver can drive 10 hours a day, a couple can drive for 20. Products are delivered in half the time of a single driver.
Employers tend to send their team drivers to the most loyal customers to ensure fast deliveries. This makes a dedicated driving couple much more valuable to employers than a single driver. Older workers who have had previous careers are also seen as more dependable, mature, and already have proven work ethic.
Couples with grown children and/or with few obligations are likely to enjoy time on the road. The rewarding career gives them the opportunity to travel to new places and work as a team.
Some of the other possible benefits that attract couples to a truck-driving career include health and life insurance, rewards for safe driving, vacation pay and a retirement plan.
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