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

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by Newdriver813, Sep 16, 2023.

  1. blairandgretchen

    blairandgretchen Road Train Member

    13,377
    71,914
    Dec 9, 2011
    South west Missouri
    0
    I'll agree - I was quite impressed by the landscape there. Remote enough to be away from the hustle and bustle, but really not that far from medium cities. And there are plenty of job opportunities in IA, SD,ND,MN.
     
    lual and ducnut Thank this.
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. LucyLogistics

    LucyLogistics Bobtail Member

    1
    0
    Sep 17, 2023
    0
    Check into the incentive programs for “remote” workers. Technically if you aren’t a resident of the area offering the incentive and are employed by a trucking company outside of that state (or are an owner operator, or contracted/leased on driver currently working outside the state that you are hoping to receive the incentive from) then you would qualify for anything from $500-$20,000 (in cash, price breaks on real estate and rental properties, memberships to various clubs, etc) to pay for “relocation” expenses from several different municipalities, counties, or state agencies that are seeking out new (tax paying) residents to move to their area. I’ve seen these sorts of programs in Kansas, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Indiana, Alabama, Ohio, and several others.
     
  4. roundhouse

    roundhouse Road Train Member

    3,169
    7,209
    Jul 11, 2018
    0
    Stay where you’re at to get at least twelve months experience

    Get your bills paid on time and get your credit score up

    and you’re gonna need some money for a cheap car .
    The last cheap car I bought was about five years ago , for $650
    And it ran for three years before the transmission fell out .

    Unless there’s some reason you don’t or can’t own a car .

    there’s plenty of advice above for finding a location

    the weather and politics and neighbors are big concerns along with employment opportunities.

    cheap houses are available as long as you’re at least an hour or so away from any city .

    I have lived in lots of small towns around Georgia

    as long as it’s not a tourist destination or attractive for Florida people to build vacation homes , getting 50 or 60 miles out of Atlanta or 15-20 miles from any smaller town is cheap houses .

    the House I lived in , in Manchester Georgia is currently worth about $25k

    The state income tax is also mentioned but it seems to me that states with no income tax just make that up with property tax or some other way .
    Texas gets it back in property tax
    Mississippi gets it back in vehicle taxes


    unless you’re not gonna own property and just need to rent a cheap place to stay , then a address in a non income tax state would save you $5k- $7k a year .

    And as others have suggested
    A job where you’re home every day is usually the least stress

    I kinda think the auto parts delivery would be much better than food delivery or LTL
    Since the auto parts is all at night
    You deliver to the store when it’s closed and no cars in the parking lot .

    And some auto parts company’s have the distribution center in rural areas for low cost living

    I think Advance auto parts has a DC in Lavonia Georgia or somewhere near.
    Which is far enough away from Atlanta and Greenville SC to still have not spiked the home prices too much

    if you’re wanting to work OTR and be home less , there are places 70-90 minutes out of Atlanta that are dirt cheap .

    but gotta get the credit score up or you won’t be buying anything unless it’s for cash .
    Which is doable .

    I got a friend trying to sell an old doublewide on 1.5 acres in north Georgia for $70k with zero people interested in it

    he’s gonna have to drop the price to $50k to sell it

    any location that has no jobs , has cheap housing .
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2023
    77fib77, ducnut and lual Thank this.
  5. TripleSix

    TripleSix God of Roads

    18,530
    129,769
    Apr 10, 2009
    Copied in Hell
    0
    Starting to build a life outside of trucking….

    For me, that would mean a local job, because if I am OTR, where doesn’t matter. First thing I would check would be the state and local gun laws. Next, the state divorce laws. Blue state? Nope. I’d rather deal with bad weather if I am to regularly lose everything I own.

    Local, small town with real gyms, planet fitness is for wimpy people to stay wimpy. If it were free, sure, but it’s against my religion to pay money to be wimpy and fragile. Gun ranges. Mom and pop restaurants.

    Every place has problems, but as long as I don’t have to pay for them, I don’t mind.
     
    kemosabi49, MACK E-6 and 88 Alpha Thank this.
  6. Newdriver813

    Newdriver813 Light Load Member

    73
    105
    Jan 8, 2023
    0
    I grew up in that area you are speaking on right across the border, I just can’t deal with Valdosta. Too many old friends that aren’t doing nothing with themselves that I’d rather not run into or deal with because it’s usually a favor they want.

    So, I know about everything you are speaking on. I could live rent free in my aunt’s place who just passed, but I’d rather not deal with the family and plus she lived out in the country along 90, so I doubt there’s anyway I could park the truck out there.

    And I love the humidity to be honest, I never knew that there was another way of life until I was living out in Nevada.

    I know everyone is moving to Florida, but not to Tallahassee, it has kinda been the same for a long time now, people want the beach and Disney and all that crap they see on TV.

    I do ever see myself leaving florida in the long run, but I would temporarily relocate to get myself together and eventually move back to Florida preferably Tallahassee area or north of Tampa.
     
  7. Newdriver813

    Newdriver813 Light Load Member

    73
    105
    Jan 8, 2023
    0
    I hate the traffic and the highways in Nashville, I think it has to be the fastest growing city right now, I think I seen 25 new buildings going up the last time I passed through. And I hate the mountains.
     
  8. Newdriver813

    Newdriver813 Light Load Member

    73
    105
    Jan 8, 2023
    0
    I can’t really find a local job now, since I’m still in a contract and I don’t think I would want to just up leave the company I’m with now. I don’t really have any issues, I drive they pay me and I don’t really have any problems. I would probably be interested in a local job when I can get things sorted out. Probably will have to buy a car cash and I can’t think about buying a house now. Looks like I’m gonna have to do some serious saving this next 10 months so i can try to fix my credit and see if I can find a place to rent somewhere that’s not too expensive because I’ll barley be there until I can find something local. This transition doesn’t seem like it will be easy and I can see myself being in this truck for another 2 years.
     
  9. roundhouse

    roundhouse Road Train Member

    3,169
    7,209
    Jul 11, 2018
    0
    When I first started driving I was working a slightly above minimum wage job , had no money and was living in a trailer park.

    I worked hard for two years and lived in the truck , I quit renting a place to live since I was never there .
    I sold my car too .
    Drove the bobtail everywhere if I needed to go somewhere

    if I had a few days layover I’d find a safe spot to drop the trailer and bobtail to a state park and stay in the campground .

    or I’d stay at my parents house or a friends house .


    but I was able to save up some good money

    keep your license and driving record spotless ,
    Get all the endorsements ; haz mat , doubles triples , tanker , and TWIC
    And get rid of the automatic transmission restriction if you have it .

    there’s a huge tanker terminal in Cordele GA . you can see all the trucks from the interstate

    I can’t think of the name of it though

    Fuel tanker delivery is a good paying local job , you’re still gonna be working 10 or 12 hours a day but you will be home every day to begin building a normal life .



    And I can’t think of the name of them but there are several websites that are like this one is for trucking but full of advice and ideas for getting your credit score up

    sadly , even if you pay cash for everything you need to have a good credit score
    But basically that’s paying off your debts and getting a few credit cards and use them regularly and pay them off every month ,
    Do not carry a balance over to the next month .


    finding a modest place to rent or buy in north Florida with room to park a truck shouldn’t be too hard if you’re not looking to be near a big city .
     
    Speed_Drums Thanks this.
  10. silverspur

    silverspur Road Train Member

    1,658
    7,394
    Sep 26, 2012
    0
    Joplin Missouri
    Not much visible from the interstate, but on Route 66 north of town, nice food offerings and cheap housing. Friendly people.

    Mahoning Valley Ohio
    I bought an emergency crashpad in Youngstown a dozen years ago for 25k. It was a good deal but I didn't realize I could have got it for much less. Lots of Italians in the area means lots of good food. No lines/questions about leases at all for Drivers License/ car registration. No yearly state vehicle inspection. Plenty of truck stops in the area. I met some nice people but was turned off by the "machine party politics" way of doing things. What's yours is mine type vibe permeates the place.

    Oklahoma City
    Tulsa
    Baytown Texas
    Toledo Ohio
    Gary Indiana metro
    Springfield Missouri
    Carlisle/Harrisburg Pennsylvania

    Choose a place that makes it easy to set up shop. New Hampshire was nice, but since they are the only state in the region with no income tax, they required too many bureaucratic hurdles to get the license (lease, certification letter from the town office etc.)
     
    Speed_Drums Thanks this.
  11. Chinatown

    Chinatown Road Train Member

    74,892
    170,704
    Aug 28, 2011
    Henderson, NV & Orient
    0
    @silverspur Post #39 - Those two look really good to me.
    ~
    Oklahoma City/Tulsa
    Baytown Texas
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.