How do you truckers treat yourselves?

Why not try to start with local ltl,.......

Many will start a person on the dock and help train them for the cdl,....

 

There is 10 hours min between driving shifts and longer if the schedule allows it is not just drive,sleep,drive,sleep(although for some I'm sure this is true) I only sleep 7 hrs or so.so that leaves 1.5 hrs on either side to eat,check emails,get coffee in the morning you know or whatever.Bring your computer and you will be plenty entertained,plenty of downtime and plenty of work,its what you make of it.Good luck and godspeed!

 

I have a four day on, three off schedule. Those four day are pretty well spoken for. I go to the same regular customers and rarely have to wait.
My passion is reading and always have time to read during my meals and sometimes an hour before I go to sleep.
I collect my thoughts while driving for my other hobby, which is writing. Sometimes I formulate entire chapters in my head and type them out when I get home.

 

Not alot of time or space to have hobbies when you live in a truck, Im not a PC gamer kinda guy. But I would have to say read alot...be it books or on PC. While at home I enjoy firearms. By choice Im gone 25 days a month so I like the other person replying....I gather my thoughts about my home time hobbies. I really enjoy the solitude of OTR life.

I enjoy a wide variety of radio programs I can slam onto the old IPOD and playback the podcasts, also I burn alot of movies and trade them around the truckstops for other movies I dont have. So while many use the CB for the ladies of the lot I use it for some trading...to date I have collected over 900 " yes 900 movies".

So aside from driving and paperwork thats about it. Hope this helps, or gives ya some idea what goes on out here.

 

There is more time than you think, depending on who you go to work for. Once you get away from the driver mills you generally run hard. That doesnt mean you have no time. But what it does mean is that you have to make WISE use of your time. There is always time for yourself you just can't get carried away with it. As far as home time that varies from company to company also. Like Walleye said, if local ltl is what you are looking for look for a company that can help you get your cdl etc..... good luck to you

 

The last two buildings I bulit, a garage and a shop, I did in my head while on the road.
I would envision one section at a time, never writing anything down. When I got home I would buy the lumber and supplies and put it up.
It took two months or so to build my little 8x10 shop, just working on weekends, weather permitting, but it was gratifying.

I'm a handgun guy. I don't have a big collection, 2 revolvers and 2 semi autos, but I enjoy them. They are a good investment and will last forever.

 

Sounds like a well planned out building..Keeps the mind busy and productive while out here. I guess a similiar thought process keeps more than just me going out here, I own 15 guns...scoped rifles,shotguns pistols and a few pellet guns. I purchased some desert mountain land yrs ago and the firearms will help me do some hunting out there when i retire. Maybe 20 yrs till i retire but little by little i will add to the land...Like mustang planned while out here driving.

 

I was always writing music on my off time. I play guitar and always had one with me in the truck

 

I loved the new hours! We now actually have time to do things that need to be done when off duty. You get sleep you need or want. Screw those old hours of 10 on only 8 off!

Now seeing how you're a gamer I'll tell you now I was maybe one of the first to put a built gaming tower in the truck with an inverter to handle the 500 watt PS and the monitor! Then Wifi came along and that made online gaming great until someone drove between my antenna and the wifi! Nothing like playing DOD and jumping over something to get frozen in the air and become a sitting duck! Old Cpl. Wilder got killed more times that way than I'd care to count! Still park and view was better by hooking the phone line up into the puter! Wifi actually sucks! Use caution with them and those hijacked WiFi sites! What a way to loose passwords!

Any way you won't be "out" any gaming time! You'll have more times than you know! It's not only when you take your 10 but there's loading times, waiting for load times, in the shop and breakdown times and now that wonderful 34 reset time!

As you have no home, wife or kiddies this is a great time to save money (especially if you keep that little buddy in your pants and use that raincoat when you do!) If all you have going out with no rent, power bill or home repairs this is actually a good life for the single free person! You'll of course have a food bill per week, the cell bill per month and add to that the UNLIMITED broadband and you're good to go! What other payments other than laundry and if you're wasting good money smokes then soda and snacks do you have? And broad band has good speed for online gaming!

Go home when Mom wants to see her kid! Or you want to stretch out and zone out or see the buds!