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Running team with your significant other can be one of the most rewarding ways to drive a truck. You get to spend days together instead of hours, you always have help when you need it and, if things go wrong, your partner is there to give you a hug. There are drawbacks, though, the worst one being trying to determine what will happen if your partner goes down sick and has to stay at home. You have to make the decision to either leave the road until your partner can return or to take the truck and run by yourself. For an owner-operator team, there is no option if there are truck payments to make and bills to pay.

This happened to Barry and Jeanna. Barry had skin cancer near his eye and started having eye problems. His doctor told him he feared that the cancer had spread to his eye. Since Barry could not see clearly out of that eye, he had to remain at home. Being an owner-operator who ran with his wife, Jeanna, the team had to make a decision. In Barry and Jeanna‘s situation, everything else was paid for but medical bills had to be paid out of pocket. The truck needed to keep moving; Jeanna stepped up to the plate.

"I was a little scared because I had never run solo before," Jeanna said. "Barry might have felt a little fearful for me, but he never showed anything but confidence in me. The worst thing I feared was that something would break and I would not know how to fix it. That happened, too, on the first trip out. The truck developed an air bag problem when I was against the dock. I was lucky, though, because I called Barry and he talked some other helpful drivers through clamping the line off so I could limp to the repair shop. Then another time, the fuel filters clogged up when I tried to start the truck after my break. Again, there were kind drivers around that assisted me in changing the filters out."

Learning that truckers will help other truckers if asked has helped Jeanna immensely. "I just explain the situation to them and they are always willing to help."

Working together, even by phone, can go a long way towards solving problems faced by women who find themselves alone on the road while their partners are at home. There are some things, though, such as backing, that cannot be helped over the phone. "I had always let Barry do the backing," Jeanna said. "He tried to have me back, but I didn't have the confidence to even try it too often."

Jeanna is working on her backing and on being wise in those tight spots. She will ask for assistance if there is someone around to help spot her from the ground and, if not, she gets out and looks often so she does not hit anything.

Barry has stepped up to the plate, also, while in his house-husband role. Jeanna reports that she comes home to find that he is keeping the housework done, cooks her supper when she gets there and even baked a cake! Barry says that he refuses to wear an apron, though.

Jeana prefers to drive at night, even when Barry is with her, but driving during the daylight hours while she is solo just makes good sense to Jeanna. "That way I can find a parking place before the truck stops get full and I can park safely."

When asked if she is afraid for her personal safety, Jeanna replied, "No, I am not. I walk briskly, keep aware of my surroundings in truck stops and parking lots, and have our dog, Roaddog Fred, riding along with me. I did have kind of a scare, though. A man in a car passed me and slammed on his brakes, pulling back along side of the truck. When I looked down wondering what was going on, he was exposing himself and was waving at me to pull over. Of course I did not do so. He then pulled in front of me and slowed down, turned on his four way flashers and continued motioning me to pull over. He finally exited the interstate and I sped up a little to get some distance from the exit in case he crossed back onto the highway. Next time I will call 911!"

Jeanna has this advice to give to any woman who team drives with her partner: "Learn everything you can, from mechanics, paperwork, backing, loading - it does not matter, learn it. It took several days for me to get my confidence built up; it would not have (taken this long) if I had learned everything I should know while Barry was on the truck to teach me. I know now I should have paid closer attention."

Jeanna is just one of the many women who have found themselves in the position of having to step up to the plate and run without the physical presence of their more experienced partners. Do not wait to prepare yourself for that eventuality. Start learning what you need to know now in case you, too, have to step up to the plate.

Ya'll be safe out there!