If I just pack up and head out there...

Best of luck to you. FYI, I moved out here from Sanford, FL a year and a half ago. Say goodbye to trees and water, but hello to plenty of good paying jobs!

 

Housing in Midland/Odessa is hard to come by. I suggest buying a RV. Lots are popping up everywhere for prices ranging $350-$500 with electricity and water included. Much better than paying $800-1000 for a crappy 1 bedroom apt.

 

I agree. It only takes 2-3 weeks to get it and the price is nominal (about $130). It's a good investment even if you don't use it.

 

I have a TX DL (not a CDL) and it has a PO Box number for my address. However, when I first exchanged my FL licence for a TX DL, I had a physical address. When I moved, I spent some time living in my motorhome, without a permanent addy, so I got the PO Box, then changed my addy on-line to the po box. The state sent me a new licence listing the POBox as my address, no questions asked. I still use that addy, even though I have a new residence in So. TX.

So, I do know that you can list a PO Box on a TX DL. I do not know if you can do that on a CDL, and I do not know if you can use a PO Box number right off the bat when you apply for the TX DL.

Here's a source for some info:

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/index.htm

That's the site for the TX Dept. of Public Safety. IYR, they are the agency that handles DL's in TX.

Here's their HQ phone number in Austin:

(512) 424-2000

Also, there is a number for "Drivers License Customer Service.":

(512) 424-2600

This may be the number you really want to call to find out about the PO Box issue. If their opinion is that you can apply for your TX DL with just a PO Box, then go to wherever it is you want to find a job, and get a PO Box for three months. You DO NOT need to prove residency in the area at the post office. They will just ask for two pieces of ID. Your home state DL and proof of vehicle insurance will suffice.

Now, when I first applied to TX for my DL, I filled out the forms, took them to the clerk along with my credit card and she did her thing and I paid the fee. Not once did she ever ask for any proof of residency, such as a utility bill or lease.

Come to think of it, they never have in any state I have moved to. And I have lived in several. I don't know why these states always list those things as a requirement.

Sooo, if you can make a quick friend wherever you end up in TX, you may be able to use their address and just forget about getting a PO Box. Then once you find a place to live, change your address to reflect that. Or, if you are going to live out of the truck, just get the PO Box, and then go on-line and change your legal address to said PO Box.

Oh, and be advised that TX-DPS mails out your new license, and that it does take several (at least ten) days before you get it in the mail. You can't just get shot for it and get it on the spot in the DPS office. So plan for that too.

Hope that was helpful and not too confusing.

Semi-funny story: When I moved from Austin to Port Aransas, I lived on the beach in my motorhome for a time. I needed a mailing address, so I went down to the PO and asked for a PO Box. Filled out the paperwork, but left the current address line blank.

I took it back to the clerk and he told me that I needed a permanent address. I said, "I would love to give you one, but at the moment I'm living on the beach in my motorhome. Technically, I'm kinda homeless."

This guy didn't even look up; he just said, " Just write "On The Beach" for an address, and that will be 38 bucks for a full year."

I filled in the blank paid the clerk in cash and he handed me the keys.

Moral of the story? Sometimes life is just not as complicated as you think it is.

 

the twic background, and the hazmat background check are identical...just a scam to get more money from you, and a feel good law, look we are doing something.

 

Of course it is a scam. But it is low-level graft, and if you chose not to play along, there may be no soup for you at the end of the day. So, might as well get it and be done with it.

Besides, nothing says that you have to renew it five years later, assuming you don't need it for the job you have then.

I personally was happy to pay the $130 and get it. Once I had it, it was proof to me that nothing in my past was worth worrying about, job-wise. I figure if the FBI and the TSA are OK with you, then what can a trucking company say?