Team driver dispatch that keeps the truck rolling while each log stays legal
A team truck earns its keep by moving while one driver sleeps. That only works if the freight is worth two drivers and the handoffs are planned so each driver stays inside their own hours. Our team dispatchers book long, time-sensitive freight that pays for a team, and plan the driving shifts so both logs stay clean. Every load still reaches you as a rate confirmation for your yes or no.
RATE CON · 02:15
LA -> CHICAGO · TEAM
2 DAYS, 2 LOGS
CONFIRMED
Two drivers, two separate logs, one shared day
Below are two EXAMPLE logs for the same truck on the same day. Driver A drives through the early morning while Driver B sleeps, then hands off just after noon. Each driver has one 10-hour driving block with a 30-minute break after 8 hours, and a long sleeper rest. Scrub through the day to see who's at the wheel at any moment.
DRIVER A
DRIVER B
At 09:00: Driver A is driving, Driver B is in the sleeper. The truck is moving.
EXAMPLE logs. Each driver keeps a separate record of duty status with their own 11-hour, 14-hour, 30-minute break and 60/70-hour limits (49 CFR 395.3); sleeper rules in 395.1(g).
The truck moves about 20 hours, and neither driver comes close to their own limits. That's the shape we plan for: long, steady shifts and full rests, not two tired drivers trading the wheel every few hours.
How team drivers handle hours of service
- separate logs, one per driver
- 2
- driving limit, each driver
- 11 hr
- sleeper splits totaling 10+ (395.1(g))
- 8/2 · 7/3
- 7+ sleeper hours with up to 3 in the passenger seat
- 7 + 3
There's no shared team clock. Each driver keeps a separate record of duty status and follows their own 11-hour driving limit, 14-hour window, 30-minute break, 10 hours off and 60/70-hour cycle (49 CFR 395.3). What a team changes is that the truck doesn't have to stop when one driver's clock does.
The sleeper berth rules in 49 CFR 395.1(g) are what make team rest work. A driver can get the equivalent of 10 hours off with at least 10 consecutive hours in the sleeper, or by splitting it: one period of at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper and another of at least 2 hours, totaling at least 10. The rule also allows at least 7 consecutive sleeper hours combined with up to 3 hours riding in the passenger seat, immediately before or after, to make up the 10.
Splits help teams line up handoffs with fuel stops and appointments, but they're easy to get wrong. We plan the shifts so each driver's qualifying periods are clear on the log, and we'd rather book a load with a simple schedule than one that only works with a split nobody has checked. The sleeper berth split · HOS rules for team drivers
Planning the handoffs between drivers
The handoff is where team plans usually go wrong. If the driving driver runs out of hours somewhere the truck can't stop, or the resting driver gets woken early because a fuel stop moved, both logs get messy and both drivers get tired. We plan handoffs at places the truck stops anyway: a fuel island, a scale, a shipper or receiver, a truck stop with parking.
We also line handoffs up with appointments. If a delivery needs a driver fresh at 06:00, we plan the shifts so the driver who'll be at the dock has had a full rest, not the end of a 10-hour drive. Small timing choices like that are the difference between a team that runs well for years and one that burns out in a season.
Rest that actually rests the driver
Sleeping in a moving truck is harder than sleeping in a parked one, and every team driver knows it. The rules count the sleeper time; they can't make it restful. That's why we favor long, steady shifts with full sleeper rests over short, frequent swaps, and why we avoid plans that only work if both drivers are pushed close to their limits. A team that's rested is safer and, over a year, earns more.
WE PLAN
2 long shifts, full sleeper rests
WE AVOID
4-hour swaps, broken sleep
Freight that pays for a team
A team costs more to run than a solo truck, so the freight has to pay for speed. We look for:
Expedited and time-critical loads
Long cross-country lanes
High-value and secure freight
Dedicated team lanes
What we pass on: short loads a solo could run, and freight that pays a solo rate for a team's work.
Team pay and splits
Teams usually split revenue or pay per mile between drivers, and how you split it is your business. What we can do is make the numbers clear: every load's gross, the fee, and the miles each driver ran, so the split is easy to check. If you're working out a fair split, the free team driver pay split calculator runs the math both ways. Team driver pay split calculator
Team setup, done once
Two drivers means two sets of paperwork: two CDLs, two medical cards, two drivers in the qualification files, and both names where brokers ask for them. We set it up once and keep it current, so a broker setup never stalls because the second driver's details are missing. When a team changes partners, we update every broker the same week.
What a team dispatcher handles
Team-worthy freight
Shift planning
Two logs, one plan
Home time for two
A team week, planned for two
EXAMPLE, a husband-and-wife team with a 53 ft van based near Columbus. Monday: an expedited load to Los Angeles, planned with handoffs at fuel stops and each driver's rest in one long block. Wednesday: delivered in LA a day and a half later, with the reload to Chicago booked while they were still in Arizona. Thursday: a slow receiver held them three hours; detention was filed and the next handoff moved so the driver taking the wheel had a full rest. Saturday: home for two days. Every load reached them as a rate confirmation first, and one fast load that only worked with short, broken rests was turned down.
Team dispatch fits teams running long, time-sensitive freight who want shifts and handoffs planned so both drivers stay legal and rested. If your team mostly runs short regional loads, a solo-style plan may earn just as much, and we'll tell you that. Both drivers can see the plan before the load is confirmed, and the team decides yes or no.
What team dispatch costs
Team trucks pay the same fee as any truck: 5% of gross for one truck with authority older than 6 months, 7% for a new MC under 6 months, and 4% for fleets of 2 or more trucks while the fleet rate lasts. The fee is per truck, not per driver. No setup fee, no minimums, no contract. Full pricing
Two clocks, one truck, always moving
Apply in about 2 minutes. The fee is per truck, not per driver.
Start team dispatchEXAMPLE · 49 CFR 395.3 · checked 2026-10-05