Help with Advances

Get a cooler, for cold drinks and eats. A fridge if they allow you to use a large enough Invertor. A microwave too.

Live straight out of your pocket for a couple of weeks. To let your paycheck settle down. Then, limit yourself on what you spend.

Use those points for coffee and such. As often as you can. Or does CRST still have you guys running without the points when you fuel for a deeper discount?

A cooler or fridge, can save you a lot of money. Either will pay for themselves within the first 3-4 weeks. A microwave speeds the proccess more.

Keep healthy snacks handy. This helps curb your appetite, and prevents you from making hunger based purchases every time you stop. Just like when you're home. You never go grocery shopping while your hungry.

Keep track of EVERY dime you spend. Check the menus for deals. I stopped in a truckstop just the other week. Didn't see how I was going to get out for under $20..I looked a bit more on the menu, found their "specials" for under $8...worth every dime too.

NEVER buy a drink with your meal. Bring it with you. I usually buy Mtn Dew by the case, and carry them on the truck. It saves me $20-$30 a week.

1 Dew in a truck stop = 1.39
6 pack at Wal-Mart = 3.00

Box of crackers -- $2.00
6-pack of vienna - $2.00

BEEF JERKEY (my favorite)
$6.00 at a truck stop.
$3.00 at Wal-Mart

Fruit Snack Bowls 6 for $3

The list goes on and on.

You just have to MAKE yourself get it under control. And stop somewhere you can shop and save money.

 

i know where you're coming from man, it catches up to you quick. ive learned to leave my debit/credit cards at home and only carry my comdata and driver payback cards. as crazy at it sounds, i leave 50 bucks on my personal acount on my comdata out of my weekly pay and i direct deposit the rest, just in case i get that hankering for taco bell or i need to buy groceries over the road or something.

if you have a fridge, buy tv dinners (i buy lean cusines, im trying to stay "somewhat" healthy out here hahaha, that fast food/truck stop food catches up to your belly as bad as your wallet), and stock as many as you can. get familiar with your most popular route and take note of wally worlds that you can park in to buy groceries. keep plenty of water and drinks in stock and munchies to keep you going if you're the type. you would be suprised after a month, how much cash you'll have in your bank account. good luck!

 

This is another one of my questions about being an OTR driver. It appears that their pay is sub-standard at best. Not only do they have to contend with being away from home for so long but the out of pocket expense for medical and retirement also eat into their take home pay. Now you add in the cost of living on the road. It must be astronomical. You only mention food. That obviously takes up a lot of money. You need to also figure in the cost of everyday necessities such as toiletries, laundry and medicines etc.

I just don't know how they do it. Best of luck to them.

Drive safe

 

Believe me, all of the above will eat you alive. Especially if you're not prepared.

A simple tooth extraction on the road, cost 2-400 dollars. Where I can have one capped/filled for less at home. DENTAL is the most expensive thing a driver can incurr on the road. Other than a major medical issue.

The OTR pay is "sub-standard" in my opinion. Even at .40 a mile.

 

As others have stated, get a cooler and fill it up. cans of soup/stew, dry cereal. As far as microwave, every truck stop should have one. After a couple of tries, you will find what you need to hold you until you make it back to the house. Typically, I would leave the house with 50-75 in my pocket, and still have some left when I got back in 2 weeks.

 

I got caught out on a long run last fall, and run into trouble. I thought I was gonna die before I could get to a dentist. Me and tooth pain do not mix.

Luckily I found one in a small town, he didn't try to rape me. Although I fully expected to be.

It was the first time I had a dentist tell me, If the swelling isn't gone within 24 hours go to an ER, not another dentist.