New to mobile living

[steffykaye]

Hi! I have been wanting for several years to be mobile. It always made sense to me. At first, my husband and I looked into buying an RV. We were unable to do that for various reasons, one of them being my health. So those plans were put on hold. About 6 months ago, we started looking for a van that we wanted to live in. We did find one, and bought it. We were just starting to begin the conversion on it, and it blew up. I was devastated, and overwhelmed. 3 weeks ago, my husband got called back to a job. It was in the trucking industry. And as of last week, they allow me to be on the truck with him. So we now make our permanent home in a freightliner cascadia truck. I am still working on some storage and space issues, but I am thrilled! I know our situation is not a traditional vandwelling one, but I'm finding a lot of the same issues that are discussed on this site. Thanks for being here and for providing the useful tips for those of us who have seen the logic of having a house on wheels.

 

[SoulRaven]

I spent many years living in a sleeper cab, and you're right, in many respects it is very close to the same as vandwelling. The difference is in being able to travel as you choose, and not have a schedule. Now, I have that as well.

Good luck and enjoy your travels!

 

[cyndi]

Welcome to the CRVL forums, Steffiekaye! As they say, vandwelling is a state of mind and has little to do with your vehicle.

To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips & Tricks" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[CrazySister]

Welcome. Wishing you good health and joy in your new life.

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

I used to work for a trucking company as a database administrator.  The drivers who made money were the team drivers.  For one thing, they get paid more per mile because they can get the stuff there faster since there are 2 drivers.  For another thing they have a lot of fixed costs, so the second driver doesn't have to pay them.  For a third thing, with a husband wife team they can "cheat" and log each other's hours.  If the wife really can't drive very well and doesn't want to, she can take the wheel when they're on a long stretch of expressway.  Some wives handle all the book-keeping, while the husband handles truck maintenance.  We had some team drivers make out real well.  

 

[Milk Hauler]

I currently dwell in a 2014 International Prostar. Welcome to the club. I've been driving 21 years. I'll tell you one thing, todays truck are uber comfy and quiet. No much difference between van dweller and truck dwelling. Good luck. There is still good money to be made out here on the road. Asphalt is in my blood. If I ever find a good woman, we will team drive. No rent and big bills means you can work at your leisure... Retire early.

 

[Bdog1]

I'm curious, if you drive a company truck, how much down time do you get? During this time do you stay in the truck or do they assign another driver to the unit? Can you choose your routes, or are you stuck on the interstates?

 

[steffykaye]

I don't drive the truck, I am just a rider, so we are restricted to my husband's driving hours. The truck is permanently assigned to us, so we don't have to worry about sharing it with another driver. We have a regional job, so we get 34 hours of straight down time a week in addition to the 10 mandatory hours in a 24 hour period. We are blessed with a driver manager that gets us where we want for our down time. We either spend it in the truck at a weekend vacation destination, or we spend that time with our families.

 

[Queen]

Interesting set up. I used to drive a rig but it was regional, hauling a lowboy with farm equipment for seed research; they put us in motels at each stop since we had to unload equipment and do field work for a couple of days at each stop. Think I'd rather have stayed in a sleeper than some of the doozy motels they found for us in the middle of nowhere