Living In Your Rig?

Has anyone here just lived in thier tractor for a year or more while on the road? It sounds crazy but if your out long enough, and maybe don't have much to come back home to, a guy could potentially live in some of these tractors.

Just curious the longest time you've been on the road or if anyone has used thier tractor as a "home" for the time being.

Living In The Truck

Some folks are sure to chime in with their own thoughts but, here's a link to that same topic if you want to check it out.

We all live in our trucks for the most part. I take a bag to visit home a day and a half a week at most.

John, a lot of people do this. There's no requirement that you have a home, but you will need a physical address. Some people use a relative's address or a trusted friend's.

You'll want to be able to take a break from the truck occasionally. I recently was routed into the Smoky Mountains and took a few days off while there. I got a hotel room and just enjoyed a little break from working.

It's easy to do. You can ask your fleet manager , "Hey, I'd like to take my home time down at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Could you manage to get me down that way for a few days off?" It may take them a few days, or a couple of different loads, but as long as you're a good driver who is regularly getting things done with a great attitude, he/she will do whatever they can to accommodate you.

Cutting your expenses like that is a really great way to bank some good money for the future. A careful money manager can really put some money away by living like that.

I started out with keeping my apartment, then after getting home for my 34 and writing a check for $800.00 a month was too much going out. So I gave my son $500 to clean out my apartment and got a storage space, for $275.00. Mind you that I hadn't gone through the apartment much. Anyway, I've lived in it ever since. I have all the comforts of home in a little space. But my Cascadia does have a lot of storage plus the top bunk. Anyone can do this. I'm having a blast out here. Don't get me wrong, it's not perfect, but who is to say what is perfect? Good luck, if you're single this is pretty much a good deal.

Raptor

Hello,

I had worked for a "Mega-Carrier" for 4 years, and I can honestly say I truly lived out of my truck for 95% of that time, even though I was "home" almost every weekend, outside the occasional time I visited a terminal or had lengthy trips that my dedicated accounts sent me on. I was on "Eastern regional" for about 3 weeks between accounts and didn't see "home" for those 3 weeks.

My wife and I are thinking about getting rid of the apartment and she'll move in with a family member for 8-10 months. There's a spare room she can stay in.

We pay around $1,450/month in rent for a crappy one bedroom and around $70/month for utilities/internet. We live in Los Angeles. I'll be out for around 6-8 weeks at a time. Between our combined salaries and money saved on rent, we'll save enough to get to around 75-80% of the down payment we need to buy a house in our price range. Then we'll move to an area with reasonable house prices, rent an apartment for 6-12 months, and save up the rest until we find a house we like.

Might move to South Carolina, North Atlanta or one of the states without income tax. Washington, Texas or Nevada.

She wants a kid in a couple years and wants to raise them in a house. I'll have to switch to local driving then. So, I'll also have to find an area with a decent amount to local work. Or just go back to restaurant management.

TL:DR

Gonna really live in my truck 100% for about 6-10 months to save money faster. But we all pretty much live in our trucks unless you're going home every/every other night.

I think it's much easier to live in a truck for a longer amount of time in a truck these days. There are all kinds of of appliances you can buy that plug into twelve volt let's on the truck, a lot of drivers have microwaves and refrigerators on their truck, this cuts down on eating out, because that gets expensive. Pretty much any other goods and services a driver might need can easily be found on the road. There are several super size truck stops/travel centers that have everything you need. Of course there is Walmart and other places that are either truck parking friendly or a short walk or Uber ride, where you can go to for supplies. So far since leaving out I have been on the road five weeks, as of right now I am probably not going home untill the end of November or early December. I think the toughest part for being on the road for an extended amount of time is the psychological toll it takes on some drivers. Being a solo driver Is kind of like a self impose solitary confinement. Sure your moving about. You can stop and park the truck go inside some truck stop and start a conversation with someone if you really wanted. But generally speaking 9-10 hours will be spent behind the wheel, just you, God, your thoughts, the radio and the road and miles and miles of highway. My last and final co driver was someone who wanted to be out on the road four days and home three. Because he felt he needed to be at home to make sure things would get done. He called his wife on a daily basis to give her a list of things that needed to be taking care. He even ran the four days out, three days home idea by our DM and our DM laughed at him. I think he (my former co driver) does local or regional work now and gets home more often.

I've been living out of my truck for 2 1/2 years now, and counting. My home is in another country, on another continent, so I don't really have a choice. I'm here to drive and make money, so living any other way would be counterproductive to that. When I need to get somewhere I get as close as I can with the truck, walk, and sometimes use Lyft or Uber. I'm saving a ton living this way. My approach may seem a bit extreme, but it works for me, I'm achieving financial goals already, and I've completely adapted to this lifestyle.

When I went OTR with my ex we didnt have a place at first. We lived in the truck. Got hotel rooms when we could or just slept in the truck. Bought a crockpot or got food that we could take in to the truck stops and heat up. It was the best time of my life to be honest. But I'm adaptable! The last year or two we ended up in a housetruck and that was even better. So for some I guess it works. Being a black sheep of the family and just wanting to go here and go there, see everything..made it easy to stay gone.

Has anyone here just lived in thier tractor for a year or more while on the road? It sounds crazy but if your out long enough, and maybe don't have much to come back home to, a guy could potentially live in some of these tractors.

Just curious the longest time you've been on the road or if anyone has used thier tractor as a "home" for the time being.