Living On The Road ..,.,.,..

I plan on doing this exact same thing if/when I get started. My brother is a regional flatbed driver and I can use his address for a permanent address while using a mail forwarding service for my mail and packages.

I am going to keep my (paid off) car at first to make sure things pan out but will probably sell that after a few months if all is working out. I would love to do 3-5 years saving money and then buy a home with a huge downpayment.

I also plan on taking some time off every 5-6 weeks and would just rent a car and sightsee or go visit family or friends etc.

Man, I wish I could just leave my office now and get started lol!

 

My wife divorced me and kicked me out of the house. I happen to also get layed off at the same time....

I've always wanted to be a trucker but never did because I was a family man. Now that she blew that all apart and I needed a place to lie AND a job. I pursued my lifelong ambition to drive big ### trucks.
It's been great. I'm loving ( almost ) every minute of it. I haven't felt so " alive" in 20 years.

Now I live in my truck 3-4 weeks, save up as much cash as I can, and then go see my kids for a week and stay in a nice hotel.

I'll bring them with me during the summer.

Once I graduate out of rookie pay and pay off my debts....I can see myself saving up to buy a RV and small fishing boat.

 

So what's your time frame as far as getting started? Once you sign up for school and get the ball rolling it all happens pretty fast. Probably faster than you would actually like! You will be sitting behind the wheel of your own truck in no time and wonder to yourself, " Am I ready to do this on my own?"

 

Great thread.

I'm in a smiler boat as many here. Burnt out on my IT business (30 years), tired of being a slave to my possessions.

Doing a different route though. Liquidating my "junk", and most likely investing in a TT (all cash - 2 year old with warranty intact), and leasing on with a friends company for the first year (went through CDL school 3 years ago - but fear of "leaving all this" kept me stuck). The flip side, is that going "all in" means no truck payment (and the attendant stress), and I can "pimp out" the sleeper with all the toys/necessities to stay out for an extended time.

For the time being I'll probably rent a room from a friend (and have a place to keep my computer stuff and motorcycle/car - all paid off) - and a place to crash. I have one contract computer client (mainly phone/remote support) that's good for $3K a month guaranteed - so a few days home every month (to pick up my check) and run up a few billable hours is all I really need. Worked this similarly when I was out with a band a few years ago - 3-4 weeks out, 1 week in.

By year 2, I can either pick up my own trailer and get my own authority (after banking both gigs for a year to build up capital reserves) and just float around where the freight takes me. Or lease on with one of the "majors" for the 2nd year and go full O/O in year 3.

I lived in a 45' motorhome (on tour with a band, my motorhome), and hid in the bedroom most of the time we weren't rolling anyway. Even when we had friends to stay with, or a paid hotel, I stayed on the bus ANYWAY.

I LOVE the road, might as well get PAID for it. Have friends all over the country, from being on the road with the band - so there's no shortage of couches to crash on for resets and the like. The idea of taking a few days and renting a car is great too.

I'm a Special-K bar/Healthy Choice Microwave/Salad kinda guy for the most part anyway. Long as I can find a place to tie my Mr. Coffee down, I'm in good shape.

On target (cash-wise) for the buy-in in December - looking at 2 year old Volvo 780's. $100K oughta buy me in, get my bob-tail coverages, plates, etc. and set the truck up for living. Hit the road beginning of January...

The number of people that are doing this lifestyle, tells me it's possible for ANYONE who likes being alone, loves being "out there" on the road, and doesn't mind (properly setup) tight quarters - can do likewise.

Rick

 

Little risky to buy a truck right off the bat, but sounds like you don't have too much to lose. At least you don't have a family or spouse. Just make sure you have a good $20,000 or so in the bank AFTER buying your truck! This is very pertinent to your survival out there!

Good luck man!

 

Spoke with my accountant - worst case scenario: I hate it - and I sell the truck a year later - cash out - take the depreciation loss on my taxes, and move onto something else.

Starting out with $5K in the maintenance account, putting in .25 a mile until it gets over $10K than back down to .15 a mile to keep it building. Truck would still be under warranty, and I'd be purchasing extended to 6/500K from Volvo (part of the reason to get one under warranty is to minimize maintenance exposure going in). I'm also a mechanic (among other things) and have a friend/clients shop I can work in - so lubricant changes, maintenance, etc. I'd be doing myself - party to save $$, and other partly because I love working on my own stuff.

Going "on your own" is way riskier - and really requires a full maintenance account and at least 3 months operating capital (not to mention additional licensing, liability insurance, TRAILER, etc.). I figure 3rd or 4th year until I decide to take that route.

Keep in mind, doing it this way also gives me a guaranteed income stream from my support contract of $3K a month - so, leased on, with a paid for truck - I can park for a couple of weeks and it doesn't hurt/stress me, worrying about making a truck payment.

It's a semi-sound/semi-insane plan - that hinges on going all in with no debt service. Which I'm well on my way to my target number. It would be COMPLETELY INSANE to go out cold, with my own authority - even though I do have a few close friends that are brokers/freight sources. I'm a BUSINESSMAN first.

WHY - would most folks ask, if I can stack 100G's in a year, would I want to go out and make substantially LESS in trucking?

Because I'm BURNT OUT, and really at the edge of my sanity on computers. Balancing the two gives me two income streams, and gets me out of the house and AWAY from the computer business enough that I can still deal with it part-time. I could be netting $150K a year PLUS, if I still wanted to hustle the computer stuff. I'm happy just maintaining my one big client, and not chasing the small fish.

Rick

 

I know I am thinking of starting school at some point in July. I have a vacation planned for early July so I don't want to start anything before that.

I am still on the fence how to do it. One of the companies I am thinking about offers a good school from all that I have read. The thought of saving thousands of bucks and going with them has crossed my mind but that is for a different thread!

 

Well, it looks like DH will be headed off to school in July. After that, he will need to land a job. I'm kinda jealous of him...he hits the road and I have to stay at home for a little while longer before getting my CDL and teaming with him. I've always been a gypsy at heart and if I had to do it again I would've started us down this path a few years sooner, as we both love each other's company better than any one else's and we both absolutely love to travel.

Good luck to everyone going for it right along with us!

Ellie