A Couple Questions From A Pre-greenhorn

Using your old address for your license may be a problem. If I bought your house, I'd take issue with you still using it as your residence for your license and I'd made a stink with the DMV about it.

Lots of posts to reply to!

If you don't have a fixed address [...] Escapees RV Club [...] They'll provide you with a domicile address and mailbox in Florida, South Dakota or Texas (all states without an income tax) that's perfectly legal to use as your state of residence on your CDL.

Escapees in Florida is no longer a viable address. Florida DMV will not accept it as proof of residence within the state of Florida. This is information current, as of earlier this month.

My current state of residence, and the only place I've ever owned a home is, is Florida. It can't just arbitrarily change to something else so I should still be state income tax free so long as my temporary base (which, right, I'll also need to get the CDL) is also in Florida.

Yiu really need to figure out the address issue before you do anything else. States are becoming hip to the game about having an address but not living there because people have been doing this to evade criminal charges, child support, and back taxes. We know that you are not doing this. State DMV doesn't know this and really doesn't care. I would suggest finding the absolute cheapest thing you can to rent and declare that your residence, whether a room in a boarding house, a trailer in a trailer park, a crappy apartment, whatever. If you don't plan on actually spending any time there, doesn't matter, right? The other option is to use a family member's address and declare that is where you "live." You 100% cannot proceed with anything else in getting a CDL until the address is figured out.

The gap in employment can EASILY be filled by persons of stature, community, et al, by having them write a letter that's preferably notarized; explaining what you were doing, to contribute to society!

That gets a bit tougher to do when it involves creating a series of vaporware (my previous career was in software), burning savings and with virtually no outside help. I was neither a drain nor a paragon, but I was definitely invisible. At this point I'm hoping my aging contacts from the office world can rescue me.

I will check out the companies you listed as well when my search begins in September.

Using your old address for your license may be a problem. If I bought your house, I'd take issue with you still using it as your residence for your license and I'd made a stink with the DMV about it.

I'm only going to use it while at the hotel, applying and determining where I should go. I'd be shocked if even one of those companies snail mailed me. I will not even apply for the CDL permit without a proper address, though.

Yiu really need to figure out the address issue before you do anything else. [...] I would suggest finding the absolute cheapest thing you can to rent and declare that your residence, whether a room in a boarding house, a trailer in a trailer park, a crappy apartment, whatever. [...] You 100% cannot proceed with anything else in getting a CDL until the address is figured out.

Renting a single room from a homeowner defined my entire pre-homeowner life. That's probably what I'll end up doing while I'm getting my CDL. I'll have so few possessions with me that I'd be happy living in a closet, as the rest will be sitting in long-term storage. I've read that even greenhorns tend to be out for 2-3 months at a time, and I don't like wasting money. I hope to be a trucker for a number of years and would like to have a nice little fund for when I decide to resettle somewhere.

P.B. ~

When Laura (IDMtnGal) gets time to stop in here, (I mentioned it...!) she has some great ways around that, due to her late husband with a TBI. In your case, did you get any 1099's even?

Heck, the guy that OWNS that corner store, in Tampa... he's a BUSINESS owner, yes? HE could help. Think about it. Florida is aplenty with folks like that.

I'm thinking on more, as well....StevoReno had some creativity, too!!

Hang in, P.B. ~ we'll get it!

~ Anne ~

P.B.,

On the matter of any sensitive documents:

I thought of this while driving. Get a safe deposit box at a bank. Yes it will cost some money, but to secure those documents while on the road, it's worth it. I would suggest having an emergency stash of money with those sensitive documents, too. Just a thought.

When Laura (IDMtnGal) gets time to stop in here, (I mentioned it...!) she has some great ways around that, due to her late husband with a TBI. In your case, did you get any 1099's even?

Nope, because in the software world, the greatest expense is by far labor. There certainly wouldn't have been expenses to itemize that exceed the standard deduction. In all official capacity I may as well have been doing nothing during the entire gap. (and it's exacerbated by the fact I was doing nothing for a period of it)

I thought of this while driving. Get a safe deposit box at a bank. Yes it will cost some money, but to secure those documents while on the road, it's worth it.

Honestly, it's going to be a safe in the back of storage, extremely difficult to get to, and utterly worthless to anyone else. Anything of value to the general public went out in my eBay spree. If the unthinkable happens and my worthless indoor storage room with cameras everywhere is raided, I'll have other documents and contacts to rebuild my identity.

I would suggest having an emergency stash of money with those sensitive documents, too.

I have a worthless CD account with my bank which I use to hold any cash not needed within the upcoming month. It can only be accessed online or in person, so that's plenty safe. (I'll probably extend it to 2 months, though, since my bank will surely hate my IP address constantly changing)

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I have a worthless CD account with my bank which I use to hold any cash not needed within the upcoming month. It can only be accessed online or in person, so that's plenty safe. (I'll probably extend it to 2 months, though, since my bank will surely hate my IP address constantly changing)

I use online banks, and I find that a bit more suitable to be on the road quite a bit. I have accounts with both Chime and Varo. My Varo Savings earns 5% when I have direct deposits totaling at least $1000 in a calendar month, which is always. Just some things to consider.

About the company training...one reason to go to a company is saving time and money. You could pay thousands for a CDL school then not get hired at a company because of the employment history. Makes that CDL worthless.

Good luck. And I agree to be careful with that address forwarding service. They are illegal in most states. The legal definition of "domicile" involves returning to the area. If u don't move bills, banks etc to that area you look deceitful and in violation of state law.

As far as the safe being "in deep storage where it is safe" .... make sure it is easily accessible to you. You never know when you will need it again. TWIC card application, CDL renewal... whatever. For any future readers... as women we need the birth certificate and marriage certificate as well as divorce certificates to prove our name changes.

When my mom died last year I needed my birth certificate in triplicate for all of the estate and life insurance issues.

Would a P.O. Box in the area of your “domicile” be a suitable address to provide or would it have to physical address?

Would a P.O. Box in the area of your “domicile” be a suitable address to provide or would it have to physical address?

P.O. Box will most definitely NOT work. Has to be a physical address. Some states have a bank of addresses that are commonly used but not valid for the purpose of establishing residence.