Florida a good base of operations?

Depends on what you are looking for. Florida can be a great place to live and truck from [ I have lived in North Florida all my life }, but mostly trucking is marginal at best. Lots and lots of container work at 95 cpm + fuel adjustment, maybe a buck a mile. Produce hauling can be great about 8 months of the year, if the weather is good.Not much manufacturing in the state, and the freight rates going out are low.Many trucks just dead-head out to find freight going north.Some freight companies do not hire if you live in Florida, as it is hard to get a load out when a driver has home time.
South Florida is greatly hispanic, and lots of cheaper trucks running local / intra-state. The larger cities in Florida can be jungles.
Trucking is not tightly regulated in-state, no rights needed. DOT ain't too bad compared to other states.
If you look around in the countryside, cheaper places to live can be found. Lots of empty homes for sale / rent, after the real estate boom 5 years ago, but prices are creeping up.
No state income tax, we depend on tourists coming to visit and paying a 7 % sales tax. Most regular jobs are minimum wage, service type positions.

 

I live in n fl, while not the freight mecca of the world its very possible to do well and a great place to live.

Id probably move to nc if I was making a move strictly fora good freight area and nice place to be as well.

 

No.just flood insurance if you live in the flood plain homeowners insurance is ridiculous though...especially where I live

 

Tennessee is a no income tax state. You would be right in the middle of everything. If your liberal though...lol....please stay up there. Liberals can really destroy a good state. California, New York, Illinois just to name a few.

 

Hurricane insurance comes with regular homeowners insurance package. Live in a 150,000 valued home, insurance is about 1100 a year, that includes hurricane, but not flood. North Florida is more like Georgia than South Florida in lifestyles.

 

Just on those tolls in the GW bridge in NY, i would get out of there. It's going to get worst in taxes just like California.

 

As others have stated already, it really depends on what you haul and where in Florida you are. Lots of cheap freight going out of Florida, so it can be hard to find something worthwile. I've waited a few days sometimes until I got something that paid decently, and other times I've taken something low paying just to cover my expense to get out of Florida. Then there's been a few times where I've head to deadhead as well.