Comments By Zach

Food costs will vary dramatically based on where you get your food from.

If you were to eat meals exclusively at truck stops you'd be spending $30+ per day. Most drivers have plug-in coolers or refrigerators with them and make trips to Walmart or grocery stores to buy food to bring with em. If you'll do that it's easy enough to get your meal costs to $20/day eating reasonably. If you're stone cold broke you can get em down lower than that but you wouldn't be eating all that well.

What he ^ said.I managed on appx $25 per day on the road all inclusive of coffee ,tobacco and food .I kept a RV style refri/freezer stocked with perishables purchased before i hit the road each trip .Using a microwave and a portable coleman propane grill ,most meals were prepared by me .Buy food in bulk .A case of campbells soups with poptop lids ,a case or two of bottled water and sodas,buy your smokes by the carton .In addition to saving a ton of cash ,you already have onboard everything you need to satisfy that hunger when you get stuck at a shipper or cosignee for hours at a stretch and they won't let you drop and bobtail somewhere .

Okay I have a question that I hope y'all can answer (or attempt to). I cannot open a bank account right now due to a unpaid bill that keeps my account frozen. No its not a government or student loan thing. My girlfriend has her own account and I usually just sign my checks to her and she deposits in her account to pay our bills. I know most companies use Comm-data cards.

My question is this: Can you get paid on Comm-data and transfer part or all of your pay from said card into another bank account? I cannot be on the road with no money, but I cant be on the road with all the money and unable to transfer some to her to pay our bills.

All help IS/WILL be appreciated.

I can't imagine what sort of fix you got yourself into ,unless its a garnishment one ,but...opening another account somewhere else shouldn't be a problem so long as you don't use the same EXACT name .I'm not advocating you lie or break the law here .Most people have 3 names such as John Alan Doe.for arguments sake thats your primary "frozen" account .Open a new account with another bank as "Alan Doe" or "J.A. Doe" or "Alan John Doe"and your problem should go away til they(whoever "they" are) track you down again.

I trained in a volvo. Only down fall is the blinker doesnt stay on. I drove a freightshaker for months both columbia and classic. Loved the space put it pulls like crap on mountains. But Its an awesome starter truck. Really easy. Now I drive a KW T660. No damn room and it has tons of blind spots but it drives oh so well and backs up in a pinch just gotta open the door to see. Not a rookie truck for sure but its a nice truck and made for men lol Cause a woman needs more space;)

Take the bodies off of most trucks and you'd have a hard time telling them apart ,even amongst the same make and model.Large fleets will order dozens or hundreds of trucks all spec'd the same.But spread out over months/years ,each batch may be spec'd differently from the last . While Volvo,International and Mack have their own engines you could just as easily have Catepillars ,Cummins or Detroits in them too.Same for transmissions,rear ends ,brakes etc.The biggest differences between truck brand names is the overall fit/finish and care they take into building each one .Basically ,you are comparing red apples to white delicious to pears and oranges.

So yesterday was my first day back from a week vacation in my home state of Louisiana:) I got to the terminal Thursday to prepare myself for the following day (remake the bed, organize and such). My load didnt pick until 180p so I planned a nice relaxing day in bed.........NEVER MAKE PLANS LOL. About 9:30am my phone rings, its my DM wanting to know where I was. I told her in my truck at the terminal. So she says "Really? ???? (All enthused) You can be a big help to us today.......Me: ummmmm ok (so hesitat) Her: A driver fell off a load, got drunk and is to hung over to drive. His load picks at the same place as mine but is scheduled for 1400. Can I please run over quick grab it and drop it back at the yard then pick up teailer 53556 and gwt loaded and head to WI (trailer needs regular maintenance). Me: Ok.........Her: You rock!!!!!! Shes so good wirh the compliments:) So up I got to shower, find a trailer and start my day. Get a brand new spiffy trailer and head out. Get to the shipper and its like an EXPLOSION of trucks:/ I mean they are EVERYWHERE! Go to check in at 12:45pm and explain that I also have a 6pm, he tells me you wont be outta here by 6! So I go to the truck and message the dm. They call and the shipper assures them ill be loaded by 4. At 5:30pm im finally released! So again I explain there is no way im making it back by 6 (30-50 minute drive in dallas rush hr both wsys) They promise to pull the load and have it ready when I return to get me on my way. I get to the terminal and drop the ld and hook to my assigned trailer.......the tandums wont slide so after fighting for 30 minutes (they are air relaese tandums and no air:/) I get them to slide. I look in the back of the trailer its DISGUSTING! Nearest washout is 30 minutes south of the pick! And its all torn up inside. (Evidently it had been at a receiver being used as a storage trailer for months!!!!!! Then I flip on the reefer and it almosy shakes off the trailer! Squeals, spurters blk smoke and dies!!!! Now I have to drive 40 minutes to a trailer repair to get it fixed then wsshed out and then loaded cause there are no more empty trailers:/ I finally make it back to get loaded by midnight get loaded by 3am and have to sleep at the shipper cause I was out of time. Ahhhhhh the life lol

First thing you should learn from that experience is never answer your phone / DM while you are "off duty".Second thing ,she probably already knew you were in your truck and on the yard before she called ,having either seen you when you got there ,or if your truck is equipped with satcom(qualcom/highwaymaster etc)as soon as you turned on your key/started the engine .Everybody wants to make brownie points with their boss and you can do that by picking up and deliverying your loads on time consistently every time .By making yourself "available" before you had to ,you set yourself up for a lot of extra hassle for little compensation.Learning to say "no" goes a long way too.They cannot force you to do extra duties.