In truck sleeping vs hotel

I sleep in my truck. I limit my idling to about half an hour at most at a time to cool/heat the cab. These new trucks hate idling. I had a reset in jacksonville last summer. Was about 100 degrees and I idled a lot. After about 5 hours I got the check engine light and the def system light and the truck had less than 10,000 miles on it. That was the last time I idled more than 30 mins. Luckily the lights went away after cruising at highway speeds for about 30 minutes.

I've been looking for an AC that would run on a 2k watt generator and won't take up so much space for months and no luck so far. I have a battery operated 8 inch fan that can run all night on a charge now and I make do. 30 minutes before I go to sleep I turn on the AC to full blast for 30 minutes and then run the fan all night.

I don't want to find or pay for a hotel every night that has parking for a semi.

If I had to do it all over again I'd shell out for a single axle semi sleeper with an APU.

My current setup:

 

Yelp that is the setup. I carried a 3500 watt gen. with a portable A/C and did not idle. A few times in the winter idle all night when in the single digits, of course older 7.3 powerstroke without new junk. I now use Points with Super 8 and get a discount when I stay out. Used the fuel points for showers. Staying in the truck gets old fast. After a while human smell lingers.

 

You might want to consider a mini split.

 

Showers are like $12. Some TAs are all pay only and they charge like $15 per spot. A decent hotel room is like $55.

 

I use pilots most of the time. Parking is free, every 50 gallon fuel up is a free shower credit. Also get 1-2 free drinks a week through the app among other discounts.

 

Now if you are leaving California and starting a hot shot business best to relocate to area that has the most opportunities. This will be up for debate as each region has pros and cons. I read something stating “ in order to be successful in the hotshot business stay north of Hot Lanta east of the Big Muddy and stay out of the Northeast “ there is a lot of truth to that statement as this is where a lot of manufacturing takes place. Wherever you to go it is important to be near outbound freight.

 

Most hotshot guys sleep in their truck I’d guess. Hotels are a pain in the butt and expensive.