Cost of living on the road in your truck

well, depends if your gonna eat in the truck or at the truckstops. Are you gonna stay in Canada or cross the border? Truck stops in Canada are not as nice as the ones in USA. HUSKY truck stops are sometimes called the dog house and they are generally in my opinion the dirtiest and worst out there...and the food is generally crap.

Flying J is starting to creep across Canada and they are generally the cleanest. Petro is also pretty good. Eating in the truck stops will cost you generally $8-14.00 per meal depending how hungry you are. Finding grocery stores is your best option if your gonna save money.

Parking is free in Canada at truck stops and only in the major cities will some truck stops in the USA charge you. Laundry at truck stops is generally $4.00 to 6 a load. Now buying a TV/DVD option your cheapest bet will be Walmart. CB radios you might find your best bet at FLying J, and they are cheaper in the USA

Cell phone to UK...good luck on that one.

 

IMO,
If you are crossing the border into the US
TV, ect... buy at an American Walmart- somewhere with no sales tax (montana)
CB- look around Loves in the US has good deals...
Calling the UK... maybe Verizon??? I think you're going to get hung on that one- I had a friend with Sasktel calling New Zealand a few times a month- $2000 phone bill- YIKES

If you're staying in Canada-
Walmart for all your TV entertainment needs, as well as shampoo ect...
CB, wow, buying a CB in Canada is so pricey- find a deal or get one from another driver maybe....
I would recommend eating in your truck- get a fridge or a cooler, maybe a portable bbq (like me- I have one for tenting that takes little tiny bottles of propane) I also have a microwave I got from Walmart for 30 bucks (in the US) which is pretty much priceless to own.

Otherwise, like universal10 said
8-14 bucks a meal (1.50 to 4.00 for coffee)
4-6 bucks a load for wash....and dry
Parking for the most part free, at times in the US some TA truck stops (and yes a couple others...) charge 12 bucks or so- but if you spend 20 inside the store it's free...

 

Im trying to stay in 20 bucks a day. I eat 3-4 bananas for breakfast ($2), mexican restaurant of chinese buffet for lunch ($10) and misc fruits and vegetables for dinner ($8) water melon, greens etc. It is very important to eat healthy or you going to look like most of truck drivers.

 

Heno,

Can you tell me who you used to move over to Canada. As I'm trying to get there as well but finding it really expincive to start off.
I'm using B.M.G at moment but have a seminar coming up with them to meet some companies. Sorry to hijack your post mate.

 

If you work for a good company you will have a truck fitted with a built in fridge and APU (mains voltage generator) or at least a decent inverter so it is easy to cater for yourself sometimes instead of always eating in restaurants.
However i suspect that your coming to Canada to work for a big company like H&R so you will probably not have the benefit of these things. In that case Universal 10 is pretty much right except that i would add that even the worst Husky is better than the best British or even Euro truckstops. The FJ's, Pilot, TA & Petro's as found in the US are in a completely different league to places such as Lymm, Alconbury etc. So much so that it is not even worth trying to make a comparison at all.
As for calling the UK from down the road?..You buy an international phonecard from any truckstop or shop and either use it with a payphone (the cheapest way) or use it in conjunction with your Canada/US cell phone.

 

There is a lot of long distance companies that you can join to, for calling europe for just few cents per minute. You can ask your cell phone provider, you can find them over the internet. Canada is a bit more expensive than usa.

 

Holy Mackerel FLORIDA52 !! Talk about breathing life into an old thread !!!! Here's a 'thanks' and a 'atta boy' for ya !! ..... so ......... how many pages back did you have to read to find this ...... ?

 

He was beat by someone who dredged one up from 2007. I wish they would lock them.

 

Double Holy Mackerel !!!!!!! 2007 ??? That's gotta be a new record !