What it takes to be a team driver

Dave:

Hi, this is Dave Compton from the trucker.com and joining me today is Laura Duryea, from Boyle Transport. Laura is the head of driver recruitment, retention and driver development. Laura, welcome to the show.

Laura:

Thank you, I’m happy to be here.

Dave:

Well, it’s our pleasure. So Laura, today we’re going to talk a little bit about team driving. And I mean just the description kind of tells us what it is, but in the trucking business, what is team driving and team driver?

Laura:

Team driving is when two individuals share the same truck, and they, in most companies, keep that truck moving and those wheels turning most of the time, 24 hours a day. It allows the teams or the freight to be moved more in a 24 hour period, instead of having to stop for the 10 hour break, that most truck drivers do have to stop for. So you can keep that freight moving more quickly and you can also, for us, it offers us increased protection and security to the freight that we haul at Boyle Transportation.

Dave:

Absolutely, so I can definitely see the advantage for the carrier. How about, are there advantages for the driver being a part of a team? Or what do you think?

Laura:

Well, the advantages for team driving for the driver, are things like actually associating with another person, as you’re going down the road, having that personal connection with another person is a great thing. Truck driving in general, is a lonely profession. Most of the time you’re sitting alone by yourself in the truck, and you’re not talking to anybody. You’re not having that social interaction, and team driving does allow you to have that social interaction with your team partner. So it’s a little less lonely that way as well.

Dave:

Yeah, absolutely, I can totally see that. So congratulations. Can you give me a little mini commercial about what Boyle is, and how it got started?

Laura:

Boyle Transportation, we’re really excited to be awarded the overall small carrier award for the best place to drive for, and we started in 1971 with Tom Boyle, started the company then, and over the years we started with transportation of military freight. In the past couple of decades we have also branched into pharmaceutical transportation, and Tom Boyle has since retired, and his sons, Andrew Boyle and Mark Boyle, now run the company. So we specialize in transport of military and pharmaceutical products, and we have all team drivers in our fleet.

Dave:

Very cool, so I hear you were a team driver also.

Laura:

Yes, I’ve been driving for 25 years before I took over the position of manager of recruiting, retention and driver development, with Boyle Transportation. I teamed for probably eight years of them with my husband, and being in the industry for so long, gave me a lot of experience with the industry, and different types of roles within the industry. And it set me up for a great opportunity to become the recruiter here at Boyle Transportation.

Dave:

So I definitely see the advantages of being part of a team, and being in a team driver relationship. Are there any challenges? Or does it take a special type of individual?

Laura:

Oh yes, teaming is a very challenging and unique relationship. You are spending a lot of time in a small area with another person. Sometimes it doesn’t work, sometimes it can crash and burn. It really can, but if you get the right team partner, it can be a very profitable and interesting relationship, and mutually beneficial to both team members. And it’s because you spend so much time together, and you have to get along with the person. If you don’t get along with the person, it really rarely works.

Dave:

Yeah, I can totally see that. So if I wanted to get a team driving position at Boyle, are there any special skills I need to have to work for you guys?

Laura:

We want you to have things like HazMat and tanker endorsements on your license. You have plenty of time to get those added on, if you don’t have them. But the skill set is basically the same as being a regular truck driver. We do have monitored freight. That’s something that we do specialize in, so you have to be willing to be awake and in the front seat monitoring that freight, because monitoring the freight is the greatest deterrent to theft. And theft increases year over year, in different parts of the country, so that’s really important for us to have that monitored freight.

Laura:

So the skill set is having a year of experienced driving, and having a team partner. That’s really important. You do have to have a team partner to come along with Boyle. We don’t build teams at this time. That may change in the future, but at this time we’re not building teams. So if you do have a team partner where you have more than one year of experience, we can work with you on everything else.

Dave:

Very good. Well there you have it. If our viewers are thinking about being a team driver, or our team drivers right now, please check out Boyle Transportation or Boyle Transport, I should say. Last plug, where can they go to find you? Is there a website?

Laura:

Yeah, driveboyle.com, but it is Boyle Transportation. It’s driveboyle.com, you can get to our career site and check a little bit out about the company, and pay packages and 401k and all that kind of information is there at driveboyle.com. There’s also a Boyletransportation.com, you can go there and that is more on the business side. It shows the services that we provide for businesses, but the career site is driveboyle.com.

Dave:

Perfect. Laura thanks for joining us today to talk about team driving.

Laura:

Okay, thank you very much for having me. I appreciate it and I thank you for the opportunity.

The Trucker News Staff

The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content for not only TheTrucker.com, but also The Trucker Newspaper, which has been serving the trucking industry for more than 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News Staff aims to provide relevant, objective content pertaining to the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News Staff is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.