Living In A Tractor Full-time?

I'll try to keep this as succinct as possible. I'm considering going to CDL school for a host of reasons but mainly to pay off debt. I watch a lot of trucker channels on youtube and lurk in other forums where truckers chat about their lifestyle and earnings. Some have mentioned that although they haven't started out making 6 figures, they were still able to pay off debt and accumulate nice savings. They didn't have to pay living expenses because they essentially lived in their truck. How feasible is this?

I do understand that if you are an owner/operator or lease then it would be likely that you would have your own tractor. But what about if you are a regular W2 company driver doing OTR? And if you are assigned your own tractor, but you do not have a residence to park it at, how likely is it that they would allow you to park at the terminal on your off days? Or perhaps you could park at a truck stop nearby.

The ideal situation that I would be looking to achieve temporarily would be to get assigned my own tractor without having to be an owner/op or lease (sounds too expensive from what I've heard). Forgo having to pay for rent because I would live in a tractor similar to an RV or vanlife. Ditch paying for a car also. I still would need to pay for food, cell service, gym membership, etc. But having a car payment with insurance and rent out of the equation, I could pay off my student loans within a year or two years at the most, and put some funds aside for savings and down payment on a home when I am ready to settle.

I'm just unsure how likely it is to achieve this with most companies as a rookie. I'd imagine most carriers need their trucks available for other drivers so they would not allow it to be used as a full-time residence.

My lease is up in June and I am considering starting the CDL training with Roehl in late April or May. So I need to have a good grasp on what type of living arrangements I have the options for.

Looking forward to hearing your replies and any insights!

I liv3d in my truck for over 6 years. Paid off a ton of debt. Not a problem.

I’ve known several drivers do exactly what your thinking and a few were at Rohel. It’s very doable.

I am working for Roehl you can do it you will more than likely start out doing flat bed

I liv3d in my truck for over 6 years. Paid off a ton of debt. Not a problem.

Is this something companies let you do as a rookie or do you need to prove yourself first for a few months? And is this only possible if they assign you your own truck? If you don't have private property to park the tractor at, where would you stay on off days?

I’ve known several drivers do exactly what your thinking and a few were at Rohel. It’s very doable.

Is this something companies let you do as a rookie or do you need to prove yourself first for a few months? And is this only possible if they assign you your own truck? If you don't have private property to park the tractor at, where would you stay on off days?

Zomer asks:

Is this something companies let you do as a rookie or do you need to prove yourself first for a few months? And is this only possible if they assign you your own truck? If you don't have private property to park the tractor at, where would you stay on off days?

Yes, indeedy. Once you get your CDL and some company hires you, the first several weeks or more you will be riding with an experienced trainer. That will polish you a bit better to drive your own truck (that you're company issues you). Your trainer gives your company a thumbs and you're good to go.

Then you pretty much live in the truck. If you plan to really go home, just find a truck stop nearby. You didn't need your own property to park at.

You might be interested in:

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

Zomer asks:

Is this something companies let you do as a rookie or do you need to prove yourself first for a few months? And is this only possible if they assign you your own truck? If you don't have private property to park the tractor at, where would you stay on off days?

Yes, indeedy. Once you get your CDL and some company hires you, the first several weeks or more you will be riding with an experienced trainer. That will polish you a bit better to drive your own truck (that you're company issues you). Your trainer gives your company a thumbs and you're good to go.

Then you pretty much live in the truck. If you plan to really go home, just find a truck stop nearby. You didn't need your own property to park at.

You might be interested in:

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

Thanks a bunch for the insight! I'm also curious about traveling. Say your company has terminals or OC (is that what they're called?) all over the country. Say after working three months you wanna take a week off. You were hired based out of the state of IN. Can you travel around on your own time with your tractor on your week off? And when it comes time to start your OTR trips, can you go to any terminal the company works in to pick up a load? Say you wanna travel to CO where the company has another terminal, can you do that or do you always have to return to the terminal you were hired at?

Companies all have established freight lanes they run. They will establish terminals or drop lots in high traffic areas for them. Running OTR they can send you anywhere. This is where alot of folks hinder themselves.

Planners are only concerned with moving freight. They don’t really care who does it, just that it gets done. When drivers want to be home on a certain date, planners use that to create the routes for that truck. If you leave it open, they can literally send you anywhere because they know you don’t need to be at a specific place on a specific date.

A friend of mine worked at Roehl in the curtainside division. He lived in NC but stayed out 2-3 months at a time. The planners sent him all over, mainly west coast right after he came off home time. He loved it and made good money. When he gave them time frames he needed to be back east they worked him back.

Drivers he worked with didn’t do nearly as well because they wanted to be home much more frequently. They kept them running in much smaller circles from home.

Your division also plays a part of the equation. Different freight goes different places.

Flatbeds tend to not work weekends as far as pickup/deliveries and not usually weird hours for deliveries. We’re more mon-fri during normal business hours. Based on the type of customers.

Van frieght has alot of customers that run 24/7.

Generally big companies will let you take time off wherever you want. Your travel will be on you though. Using the tractor won’t be allowed. They will probably want you to show it is parked in a safe legal place during time off.

Communication with your driver manager will be your key to success.

You're not going to be able to travel around in the company's tractor. The way to handle situations like you mentioned is to plan it with your driver manager. You tell your manager you want to take "home time" from May 15th to May 19th, or whatever your specifics are. You also tell them where you want to take it. Let's say you want to go to Las Vegas. You remind them as you get closer to the time and they will work on routing you to the area you want to be.

You don't have to go to a terminal or operations center. You can park at a truck stop, or some other form of secure parking. Then you can ride share or rent a car for travels or exploration.