No Home Time Needed?

The dispatcher's LOVE folks that can run during the holidays. There's freight to haul and most drivers are home.

It's totally realistic to live out of the truck and do as you plan. You should be able to salt away a couple thousand a month by cutting out your overhead.

Whatever company you go with, find out what their home time policy is regarding whether you will need to take your things out of the truck. Some companies will be okay with up to 4-5 days home time without making you give up your truck and be reassigned another truck. Most companies will allow you to take "home time" anywhere you want.

If you budget a little for hotel and rental car every 4-6 weeks it will be good for your mental outlook. Go see places you passed in the truck but didn't have time to really explore.

 

Eddy the only thing that I could see being a problem for you is mail. First off, you must get your CDL in your "state of residence" and in at least many, if not all states, they won't send it to a PO Box, but require a physical address.

And then I would guess that you might have some bills that you receive on a regular basis. Both of these can be worked around though. A couple of ways, is to use your companies mailing address, (as long as they approve of you doing this. Smaller companies probably won't have a problem with it, larger companies probably won't let you do it.) The other way of dealing with it is to have a friend or relative that will let you use your address and will either hold mail for you, or forward it to you. Of course, for them to forward it to you, they need to know where you are going to be at a certain time, so they can send it to you on time.

Most hotel/motels will accept mail for a guest who is either staying there, or has a reservation to stay there.
Living out of your truck is not a bad way of going, to save money. Particularly if you have no family to take into consideration. We have at least one member here, (and probably a lot more,) that lives out of her truck, taking her "home time" wherever she feels like it.

 

Use a UPS Store box as your address. I received my CDL with it just fine.

 

Ack, that is one I forgot about. Of course you have to get to the UPS Store to retrieve your stuff. Or arrange for them to send it to you.

 

That's a great point. You can change your address to a state without income tax.

 

Live out of the truck? yes. No Home Time? no. One of the benefits of being OTR is seeing the world or at least the US. And as nice as the money is sometimes you are going to want a break, even if your staying in your truck. But if your running through Vegas and think hell I can stop 2 days park my truck at The Orleans (or one of the other truck friendly casino's), and see a movie or a show and all it's other delights don't deny yourself. My man was able to hit up the Corvette Museum in Kentucky (before the sinkhole) and many other sites by taking just a day or 2, because he was there. Like many others home time is where you put it not your "home". With Mom in WA, a daughter in IA, a cousin in ID another in CO and an ex wife and dear friend in TX he stops where he wants. He even puts in for CA and we meet him there for vacations at Disneyland and San Diego.
Go ahead get a P.O. box and have someone keep it up and live out of your truck, but don't drive until you die. Enjoy your freedom and explorer. Go get a girl in every port

 

I did this years ago. Had just gotten a divorce, had lots of debt. Went OTR for a few years. Carried a small propane BBQ and a couple of fishing poles. Took some breaks in beautiful places