new to trucking world

As in, buy a truck and run as a team with your son?

What would you be willing to pull (dry van, reefer, deck, tanks, etc)?

That's a pretty large (and expensive) dream............

 

57 wont be a problem but unless you know something no one else does being an owner operator doesnt pay very well.

 

Well as long as hes making enough to pay for it and the maintenance that will come.
I know more truckers who are getting out of their rigs than are buying into them. Just saying

 

I would like to make a suggestion to you.

Instead of putting out a lot of cash on an unsure thing, take that money, buy a small fuel efficient van, build a bed in it, buy some camping gear and hit the road for a couple months, or a year, whatever it takes to satisfy that itch, come back home, sell the van and carry on as before.

It's much more gratifying to be able to go where you want and stop where you want at your own leisure and without all the responsibilities and controlling bodies and regulations that go along with owning a truck.

I had a mid life crisis, bucket list incident back in 2005, always wanted to see both oceans before I retired as a trucker, but fate intervened, back injury, then the speeding truck rear ended me while stopped, yadda yadda.

Sold my house, put my possessions in storage, bought a small camper trailer, loaded up everything I might need in my pick up, then spent a year on the road, coast to coast and everywhere between, drove every inch of the TCH system from Sydney to Vancouver and spent the winter in the Okay Valley around the Penticton area.
Hooked up with some local musicians, played a lot of music, did a few gigs here and there.
Met some great people from one ocean to the other and ate a lot of great food and experienced the local cultures, life was good!
Who woulda thought a bakery in Melfort SK would make a great Jamaican meat pattie or that Parsboro NS would be such a cool place?

Got back home, bought a small house in a small town, sold the trailer and lived happily ever after, metaphorically speaking.

Cost a bit of money, but that yearning, my itchy trucker feet, that nagging desire was satisfied and put me at peace, I knew I wouldn't die with that thought on my mind, was the best thing I could have done for myself, physically and psychologically.
Where your physically and psychological well being is concerned, moneyshould take a back seat.

You can buy a truck with lots of headaches to go along with it and possibly financial losses or bankruptcy if things go wrong, or you can go on vacation and give that trucking thing some more thought.

 

IMO, that is about the most sensible bit of advice that anyone could give.
If the OP goes trucking, I hope his retirement funds and pensions are locked away. The old joke we all know is, "if I win a lottery, I think I will buy and truck and drive until it's all gone".

BTW, Your full time RV story is similar to mine. Sold it all and did the four corners of CDA and US and wintered warm. NO regrets.

 

Sounds like you have a romanticized vision of long haul trucking. If you dont need the money then the paid tourist plan may work but if you have to make payments then you wont get alot of time to visit. I enjoyed driving all over in the US and saw lots of interesting countryside at 65mph, cant find parking near the good places and ate a lot of unhealthy food. I need to live off what I earn so if your not moving your not earning generally. Just hate to see you learn the hard way. Your at a good age to get a trucking job even without experience, they value maturity.
If you got on with a company to start for a year or two, I was under the impression that you need at least a years experience before you can drive in the states, then give it a try on their dime. You will see as much countryside and they will let you and your son team if thats what you want. You guys could start practicing by living in the bathroom together for 6 day stretches and see if it changes your relationship.
Sorry for the sarcasm, Ive only been driving 3yrs and although I enjoy it now it was a major change and not one that I would gamble my hard earned dollars on these days.