Driving with a baby and wife?

Okay, i'm not even going to answer you. I'm going to ask you a question and i dont mean to be mean or rude. What the !#$% are you thinking even asking a question like that? and what the !#$% are you thinking even considering bringing a baby on a truck with you....that any way to raise a kid? not to mention how distracted you will be when the kid starts crying for 4 straight hours, etc. It isnt safe for the child, PERIOD.

 

Bringing a non-driver spouse along to ride shotgun

 

Most companies will allow family members along...10 years old and over. (some require 18 years old)

A truck is no place for a baby...

 

Hello and Welcome to the Forum

 

I know that you want to truck and I know you want to keep your family with you. But nowadays, it aint gonna happen.

There used to be a time where some truckers took their wives and babies with them ( I know one guy that owned his own trucking company and trucking school that had his daughter in the truck from infant til she started school). Of course, that was back in the good ol days before insurance companies and lawyers put the fear of God in everyone.

 

[FONT=&quot]Add to the fact that babies get sick A LOT! At least once a month and they need a REGULAR doctor who knows her/him! Being 1000 miles away doesn't help and hospitals charge a LOT for ER care and that will drive your company insurance up and then the cost will be passed on to your fellow drivers! Then you need to get close to the hospital! That's not easy either as you're NOT going to park in their parking lot with the truck and trailer!

Case in point: In August I had to get to the ER in Victorville CA. it cost me $750 in the ambulance to get there and then because I was short on cash I had to figure out the bus system (it sucks! NOTHING like NYC!) till I got close to the Pilot there and then a taxi! Cost me almost $15 to get back!

And as stated earlier a truck is NO place for a baby long term! Yes a day or so is fine but you said you, wife and baby. OK I see you're young and I'll say it, dumb, still!

First look at your wife. Does she wear 2 or 3 shirts to be fashionable? Does she need a lot of makeup? How many pairs of shoes does she need? does she have to have a shower everyday?

Then look at yourself. How many shoes will you have? Do YOU need a shower everyday? Then look at all of the stuff you must have to do your job and next..

The baby! Believe it or not babies have a LOT of stuff! They need several changes of clothing a day. They go through diapers like crazy till about 2 1/2 or 3 years old and they only sell diapers in packages that take up a LOT of room! Then the smell of diapers in the trash will stink the truck up terribly (I know people, most will throw them out the window but I'm hoping he's responsible about the trash deal!) Babies need a bath everyday! A shower isn't a baby bath! Are you going to carry a plastic baby tub with you in the truck? More lost space! Then there is the food for the baby alone! There is a cooler just for baby! Then toys and books and on and on! Look at most mothers with a baby out in the real world! Stroller, you also need a baby seat for the truck, a diaper bag! Those things are HUGE! Need I say more about what a little tiny baby needs! I didn't even mention all the water needed for cleaning a baby during the day! I'm a daddy! Trust me on this! NO! Been there! Got T shirts, vests, hats and metals!

On AVERAGE we get a shower every other day! Unless you're one of those who have a BO problem and MUST take one each day then have at it but remember dirty clothes for you, wife AND baby take up more room for some reason than clean clothes (it's a law of physics or something) not to mention having to find TIME to do a wash and a good place to do the wash. Truck stops do have a laundry room but washing clothes after someone who got a lot of diesel on them isn't the machine I would put my clothes in, so you need to find a laundry matt and then again there's the parking! How does your company you hire on keep you running? Hard? If so then you're going to have to figure out squeezing in about 3 hours to do the wash!

And shopping for baby! WHERE? Yes, Wal-Mart's and some stores allow that truck but those places are drying up because of the MORON truckers we have that trash the parking lots and are making it harder for the rest of us!
as BoDarville put it:[/FONT]

I second it! Wife needs to be HOME with baby for the first 6 years then she can get a job when baby starts school (no I'm NOT a bare foot and pregnant thinker!) My wife insisted she do this with our kids and we never had a problem! Just don't rent or buy a castle but something that the three of you can live in till she gets back to work then move up and this lousy economy will be straightened out.

You're still young. You were smart to ask the question and you got a couple of good ones and you'll get a lot more from beating you up to good advice! But in MHO babies are for home! There are to many ways a baby can get hurt IN the truck when they start crawling around from the way seats are made (loose a finger under there pretty fast!) to pulling brakes and switches when you least expect it and pulling the shifter out of gear and falling out of the door when it gets opened! Falling off the bunk. Nope, Baby needs a safer environment that a truck!

Then that list of yours for companies to drive for. 4 of biggest bottom feeders on this website. Did you actually read any of the threads about them? Or did you just do this post to see what the reaction would be?

 

Ok if your age is correct, your getting the cart ahead of the horse. Companies from what I have seen will not look at you until your at least 23. Aside from other posts you should consider this, your not familiar with the truck as well as learning all the things that go with it. Trip planning, getting lost, delays at shippers/recievers, having to park where there are no facilities. You should know the job before you plan on taking anyone with you.

 

You can't be serious...Okay...I give up....what is the punchline?

 

There are some companies that will accept him at 21.. Millis for example will take 21 year olds if they go through their school.. 23 if they have prior experience and don't need to go through the school.