escaping

So, get out.
It is not that hard.

Save enough to get a room and some food for a month or two, then get out.
Be a waiter or bartender, work in a warehouse, get a job at IKEA.
Whatever.

Getting into a lease agreement is NOT the way to do it. You won't make any more than being a company driver unless you are very gifted at running a business. And it doesn't sound like that is the case.

 

Having gone to university and graduated with full intentions of attending graduate studies, I would encourage you to seriously step back and consider what you decide to pursue.

Most university graduates are over qualified for the work they find when graduating and under paid compared to those who attend trade schools. Most degrees are not the investment they once were.

If I were 18 again, I would only consider university if my major basically guaranteed employment with a 4 year bachelor degree. Those are few and far between but engineering and pharmacy come to mind.

Good luck.

 

YES, YES, A THOUSAND TIMES YES!
Don't go to college just to see what happens. Go to college only if a degree helps, not maybe helps, but ACTUALLY helps get the job you want to be hired for. Most college students go to college because it's like High School Grades 13-16, it's just the next step in the process. Then they find a subject that is easy enough or popular enough and never think how a degree in Social Justice/Watching Movies will do anything but jack up their student loans. You are better off owing the IRS money than owing money for student loans.

My local university fleeces thousands of Gomers every semester that think they will either become the next TV Network Anchor or Athlete/Entertainment Agent. I'll sell you my degrees for a steak dinner. It took me about 20 years to pay them off and I haven't worked in "my industry" in decades.

 

As others have noted, avoid a lease.

I'll riff on your statement that you want to save bank by "cutting home costs". Are you single? If so, ELIMINATE home costs. The only things you need to pay are food, phone, and incidentals.

As a company driver you should easily save a couple grand a month if you cast off the financial anchors. Why pay for an apartment or house, car, utilities, etc. if you only use them a few days out of the year?

I know several drivers that eliminated "home" costs and accomplished their financial goals. One married couple drove team and retired $100K in debt and are poised to pay cash for a house in five years on the road. Another single man drove three years, fell in love with a small town in Tennessee and bought a house, paid cash.

Getting a college degree guarantees nothing but debt. It doesn't guarantee a job or higher income. If you are passionate about a career and know EXACTLY what you want to do AND it requires a college degree, THEN go to college. Otherwise college is an expensive babysitter, the catch is it's the baby that pays.

 

Signing a lease to bank money and get out of trucking is akin to getting out of a hole by digging out the bottom.

 

Nearly all ltl companies are up over $.060 cents a mile now. Actual miles, not zip code garbage. With paid everything. Vacation holidays sick days etc

Lease drivers normally log over 150,000 miles a year at a buck thirty a mile.
It cost a buck twenty one to operate a truck

 

Id try getting a team driver, youd be paid more per mile and generally run more miles vs solo driver

 

Not wanting to drive truck I understand. It's not enough to move/run away from something. You have to move TWOARDS something.

You mentioned coding boot camp. From what I hear those will get you enough skills to work in Quality Assurance and that's about it. QA work makes driving truck look like an all expenses paid Polynesian vacation.

I have a BA in History and Education with part of a masters in Sports Management. My mom keeps telling me to get an MBA in logistics. Only problem is entry level salary start about $50,000 and top out at $120,000 (in the midwest at least, you can make more in NYC/LA but cost of living is proportionally higher). Doing the math it would take 15 years to break even with my current earning potential with a large risk factor. Plus I would still have to deal with idiot truck drivers, idiot customers, idiot managers, and have a large amount of work travel. Truck looks pretty good when you look at the whole picture.

If you budget, work smart building a nice little nest egg shouldn't take more than 6 months as a company driver. Use that time to really think about what you WANT to do, then research the best way to fill that desire.

 

I'd say just see about getting a local gig that pays hourly(with some sort of set hours or days) and use the proceeds from that to fund 1-2 classes at a community college, or university each semester.
I'm looking at going back to school myself for paramedic sciences, or respiratory therapy, or just go all out and go towards a BS in Nursing.

My reasons for wanting to finally move away from it; I've wasted my 20s and want to have a bit of a balance between my work and social lives.
I'm not going to let my 30s fall to humdrumness.