Cities or towns a trucker might consider living in and building a life?

For a trucker driver -- Nevada is a MUCH BETTER choice than FL.

-- L

 

That's what I accomplished when I left Austin.

 

If all your Family is in FL -- but you want to continue on as a truck driver -- consider Valdosta or Tifton, GA.

-- L

 

“813” indicates a Tampa-ish area code. Is that where you’re at? If so, there’s no better area for a truck driver than around Lakeland. That place is a hotbed of distribution centers. You need to finish a year where you’re at, then, start looking for a distributor in Lakeland, who have their own fleet of trucks. This eliminates you needing a place to park the truck. It makes the job a JOB. You come back, get out of the truck, and go home. You want to work for a company who make their money doing something else like selling groceries, auto parts, manufacturing, etc, because the pay, benefit package, home time, etc, will be better. Also, look into LTL carriers. You want to find a carrier with a hub/break-bulk terminal around there. Linehaul for UPS would be my pick.

Do a rental car ($19.95/day U-haul pickup or Home Depot pickup) for the time you’re still OTR and trying to get sorted. They’re cheap. You’ll just have to rely on motels, for the time being. I lived in several, over the course of a month, until I figured out where I wanted to be and got back on my feet.

 

You should consider no income-tax states and locations where you can park your truck/trailer or bobtail. Lots of places barely tolerate parking commercial vehicles at all.

Like was mentioned how are you planning on getting around at the new location or are you expecting to bobtail, for example?

Housing & apartments are starting a slide but it's not big on media yet. The lo ger you can wait the lower the prices you may see. I wouldn't pay the apartment rents in my area they are 2-3 times my mortgage for a full house & garage.

Define what you see tjis future life as being, then consider things like temperature, activities, etc. Or just take time off in various areas using hotels until you find a location you don't want to leave.

 

I love Florida, but home prices have gone up a lot.
Maybe get a travel trailer and park it in Bushnell, Florida at the Escapees campground. This is a legal address for your cdl also.
Other than that:
South Dakota
Nevada
As you probably know, South Dakota & Nevada, no state income tax.

 

A mortgage is cheaper than Escapees lot rent.

 

How much is lot rent?

 

An RV park way outside Fort Myers, in 2017, was $1500/mo, when I checked. The last place in Fort Myers I checked, in 2022, was $2100/mo. 1br rent, in Cape Coral, starts at ~$1500/mo. Housing cost is partly why I left FL.