I'd be willing to rent my basement to everyone on the board as long as you promise to not live there. If anybody asks ,you're from Nebraska.

Well, I'll chime in here and say I've been weighing the odds. I'm local only now, but have thinking of going OTR just for a time to spend away from everything in my life lol

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"Tude"

" A good attitude will get you through almost anything"

Most companies don't really demand that you take home time off in your home state.
Home time is another way of saying time away from your truck. If you know in advance where you want to take time off ... like if you want to attend the races on Sat and Sun...and your delivery is on a Fri am. Let you DM/FM know that you would like to take the time off and you'll be ready to roll again...most of them will (hopefully) work with you.
Consider that most companies look at time off as this...for every 6 days out you earn 1 day off.
I drive as a solo driver and I like it ... but driving solo is not for everyone...just as driving team is not for everyone.
If you have and friends or relatives see if you can go out on a run with them as a "RIDER" for the whole run...this way you can see if this is the right job for you before you invest any money in getting your CDL. This is what I was able to do before I
made my decision into taking up the actual driving.
You might have heard this before. "Driving takes a certain type of person and this type of job is not right for everyone".
Good luck in your venture

OTR = a mini vaction from home.... A lot more time away from home if you like being in a not rolling home every night.
LOL

RM I'm not sure what the current daily per diem is, but for me it sure adds up to a ton of money by the end of the yr.

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Thanks to all who have answered my questions.

Jack Frost: Good idea about carrying a folding bicycle. I’ve heard of drivers carrying full-size bikes bungeed somehow to back of their cabs. But when I see trucks on road it seems like attaching a bike to back of cab would be difficult. Folding bicycle makes more sense.

Aftershock: My nature is to stay home and not be adventurous. Ergo, I’m often bored. So I think implementing aforementioned itinerant trucker plan might force me to be more adventurous, which would be good for me. However, I might just walk around and be alone in a crowd, which might be worse than my present situation.

Native Dancer: I haven’t looked into possibility of renting my house but did have a realtor give me a sale price. She recommended asking $60k and settling for $55k, which was exact situation when I bought it seven years ago (in Alma, Michigan). She anticipated that those numbers will fall if I wait. Renting, however, seems to present its own set of problems. Biggest one would be, how do I (as an itinerant trucker) return to Michigan to address problems renter might have? I think I’d rather sell house. I own it outright (no mortgage) so there’s no problem with owing more than house is worth.

Roadmedic: Thanks for bringing per diem issue to my attention. Even after reading this forum for three months or more, this is news to me. If you don’t mind writing it, I would love to read a explanation of how per diem pay works. I could always list my parents house as my legal residence if it is necessary to receive per diem.

Kickingdeer: I have no trucker friends or family I could ride with to determine if lifestyle is for me. I have always had high tolerance for being alone. (Some would say a preference.) So I don’t believe trucker lifestyle would be as hard on me in that respect as it is for people persons. Still, I need human contact and worry that this might be a problem. I’m not sure if finding a conversation in a truck stop would be as satisfying as walking across street to talk to my neighbor is.

Currently, I’m a self-employed window washer and college sports photographer (D2 and D3). It’s not that my life is hell, or that I’m drowning financially. But I’m often bored because there’s not enough window washing work in mid-Michigan to keep me busy more than 20 hours a week. And the sports photography is more of a hobby than a source of income.

In short, I’m comfortable and not in debt but not making a terrific income either. And bored. Did I mention bored?

Finally, if I forsake window washing business for trucking there’s no going back. It took seven years to build my business up to this point, and it would not be waiting for me if I wanted to return.

So I’m trying to be careful and not chose trucking for sake of stimulating myself.

Now, granted I am looking 'down the road' to a time when i am solo, but I had the same way of thought. Right now, I live in an apartment with a roommate. I told my roommate that I would be attending a trucking school in a week or two, and selling all my stuff that isnt 'collectable'. Then just getting a P.O. Box for mail whever 'home' will be. I have a brother that lives in Houston, sister lives in NE Kentucky, parents in NE Iowa. Really dont matter there I am to take time 'off'. Figure I will see the inside of the sleeper so little, it will be like home. =)

I would suggest IRS pub 463. It explains the per diem under IRS. However, per diem that is in pay has been discussed at length on the forum. Do a search and type in per diem. It is not something that drivers should do, but many companies basically require it.

Even if your company doesn't require you to take the per diem pay option you can still claim it on your taxes for each night away from home.

Like I said earlier it can add up to a lot of money at the end of the yr.

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I agree. I am only referring to the companies that reduce your gross pay under their per diem pay plan. There is still a deduction for the per diem if they don't do the total. I just wanted him to review all of the posts on it.