Couple MAY questions:

company pays for scales, you can get an inverter installed, has to be done by the shop, and you can get it deducted from your pay for as little as $25 a paycheck, yes you can have a fridge and microwave if ya want. I havent had luck with fridges, i had 2 and then i didnt get another i now just use one of those plug in coolers. next time i try one out im gonna put it on my passenger seat and see if that makes it better than just being on the floor
we do not have apu's, so just make sure you aren't idling all nilly whilly, when ya do just put in a request. cost to live on the road depends on you... what you buy from wally world beforehand, what you eat, how much you eat, etc... when i DID have a fridge, i would spend like 150 or so on groceries, that would last me about a month. stay out of the truck stops, which now im in there all the time lol but I'll be trying to get a fridge again so that should help. anything you need regularly for work, will be paid for by the company, which really isnt much besides fuel, def, scales, tolls, we have prepass and ezpass, of course ezpass doesnt work out west, so if you're going 11 western you better keep cash on ya for those bridges, not sure how often you go across them since I dont go to cali much but when i did i made sure i had like $50 on me, heard it went up but i never knew how much it was before so yeah lol

 

Only toll in western 11 is that one bridge only in one direction .. It went up to 18 bucks in 2012. Keep receipt and you get reimbursed.

if you are a non smoker 100 bucks a week covers everything you need.

 

Of course it does .. Where the hell else would I eat at? 7-11? Cant eat at the sit down restaurant every day unless you were a millionaire. You have to be smart about spending money out on the road.

 

T/A, Petro have restaurants, Pilot, Flying J and Loves have fast food. A lot of subways. Buy at wally world for boxed foods and drink, much cheaper than truck stops. I dont cook in my truck. I get food at truck stops .. Still at about 100 a week.

Make sure you get rewards cards and use them every time ya fuel so ya get the point. Can use the points for food or stuff.

 

I spend about $100 a week on food, getting it all from truckstops as I don't have a fridge. I get my coffee in the morning, and only really eat at night.
The exception is when I go to the sit down resturaunts, usually $15 each meal I eat including tip. Now cigarettes are what kills my money.

 

those asian kimchi ramen that come in a bowl yes lol, tuna ready to eat in those pouches, ham and cheese sandwiches, uncle bens makes heatable rice in containers that are like a buck each, can get mashed potates also for a buck just add water in single containers. hormel makes some dinty moore things that are like 2 bucks, they arent all that tasty but eh. my 'good' nights would be me eating a hungry man dinner lol, I only ate once really, in the am i would buy coffee and eat some yogurt or oatmeal i had in the truck and not really eat anything else until dinner

the truck stop isn't TOO expensive, right now for breakfast i get coffe and one of their breakfast sandwiches its like $4, their dogs are 2/$3, pizza 2/$5, they have salads and sandwiches around $3-$5 (each not together), few other things they carry on their hot bar section like tenders, cheeseburgers, etc... I tend to stick to pilots/Flying J's so not sure what the options and such are at the others, but when i know i want to actually eat out, i try to find a T/A, they tend to have more options outside of subway or arbys that you tend to find at the pilots