I'd want to take advantage of down-time once I get on the road. The last thing I want to do is sit around a truck stop, rest area, whatever. I will not be asking for hometime very often - being at home too much just doesn't suit my personality. I'm single (divorced, no kids at home) and one of the reasons I want to drive OTR is to experience the people, culture, attractions of other parts of the US. To me, nothing feels better than working my butt off then rewarding myself with something like a new experience, new sights (not just from the highway), and new people. What do you guys/gals do? Does anyone rent a car from time to time to explore?

P.S. I know from the get-go that just getting around can be a problem. Can't take the rig to a ball game, museum, etc.

A lot of it will depend on your company, and how the loads are being handled.

I have ZERO down time through the week. And take mine at home on weekends.

As an OTR driver, you can pretty much do as you want during extended down times. Provided you have the money

I've went to the movies, casinos, fairs, crossed the border....a whole range of things.

Of course, you still have to be down somewhere you can actually do something. Spending a 24 hour period in BFE isn't pleasant at all.

__________________
Insuring polititions fear that
which goes bump in the night.
Seek out their personal homes
and family members. -- SU 83
__________________

1. Fishing. Run by the local Walmart, pick up your license and whatever else you need. Alot of places you can bring the truck.
2. Break out the grill. Want to party? Get on the radio and annouce that you are firing up the grill on the back row of the truckstrop.
3. Cab ride...take it to get to interesting points where you cant get a truck. I'm into sportscar racing. Theres tracks everywhere and the SCCA normally has little races all over the place (scca.org). Ive been to the Grand Ol Opry, Ive seen ELO, John Fogerty, the Eagles, and bunches of other all time great bands play.

Hey TripleSix,
Sounds like you've got it goin' on! That's just what I wanted to hear. Although I want to be on the road as much as possible, I don't want to be tied to the rig when I'm off.
Thanks again,
ONWB

Hey Danc694u,
Between you and TripleSix there's 43 combined years of experience telling me I don't have "pipe-dreams" of what life on the road can be like. Surely there will be down-times that will just plain suck but that's just the way it goes.
Thanks for taking time to respond,
ONWB

I have fun. In another thread, another trucker said that he gets out of the truck for 34 restarts. I do too. I have the internet in my truck and I use it to find activities in the area that I am in.
Yes, trucking is a lifestyle, but what law says that we cant have fun?

Got a trucker friend that lives in northen Michigan who bought a big boat with dual 454s for fishing on the Great Lakes. Have another driver that goes ice fishing in Minnesota in the winter. Gonna take a couple weeks off to go hunting around Christmas.

Work hard. Play hard.

My boss designed a special attachment onto the back of his flatbed trailer that lets him load his harley onto it. It doesn't sit on the deck, but rather behind the deck. I think the attachment has lights on it to replace the ones that are blocked by the bike. He loads his bike on board, takes his wife along, and since his son is the dispatcher they line up trips to take them wherever they want to go with a few days down time and they go for a ride!!

I have seen pedal bike on numerous trucks, usually at the headache rack. Just a thought. I like triplesix's idea about going fishing.

__________________
LIFE IS GOOD

And if you ever get your downtime in Ontario, CA.... They have a car rental station at the TA east. Never used it myself, but that would be a lot better then bobtailing to the beach, Hollywood, Disneyland, or wherever!

__________________
"Flatbeddin' ain't for sissies"

"I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking that I think that you're thinking I'm thinking because if you think that I think what I think I'm thinking then we've got a problem?"

"You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me."

Goodmorning, when i wanted my downtime i call my dispacth , let him know whats up, that was my first step, i tell him i got my phone,call we he finds me a load, late afternoon, i knew i was good , becuse there would be no loads till morn, i'm not a drinker so no worrys,but i grab my sony, and walked down too the beach at va, its was only a 3 miles walk, heck i usda too do that on farm , getting the cows home for milking,, once i get there i take lot's pic's of the beach, it's was empty, mid week,then i then wacthed a big boat, tall as some buildings in Iowa,a guy walked past me and looked at me real strange like, o -well i never seen a boat that big,it's floating smoothy thru the ocean, a very big oil tanker , then the pillers and dock's, becuse i never seen em before, being from Iowa, i never seen the ocean, let alone walk in it, now i have and it's cold, not like the pretty pic on tv, i seen all the coast line all around the usa, and took pic's of them all, some i even gave too the postcard company, too use , they like that,i take pic's of birds on the fender of a pete 379 , just sitting there, or a bird plucking bugs off a grill,or just taking pic's of kids as they help dad and mom wash the show truck getting for show, lots times i hate in down time is at the dock, they have there load, yet i cannot leave the place, so i just eat and sleep and bs with the other driver's, Everett.