5 1/2 Years

$38,000.  That's how much I had saved after my first year of trucking, working as a company driver for Schneider.  Many drivers like to share or talk about their earnings their first year.  Mileage is another popular topic of conversation.  I honestly don't know how much I made, gross or net, after my first year.  Didn't record the mileage, either.  Neither seemed too important to me.  The only thing I really cared about was how much I was saving.  This is what was going to get me home, back to my wife.  Looking back at my initial entry in this blog, I'm not sure, or rather, didn't share the plan my wife and I agreed upon with regard to my returning to the U.S. to drive a big truck, and how that plan was going to allow us to remain in Ecuador and retire at a very early age.  Much sooner than expected, actually, considering if we'd kept the restaurant we would have been working well into our 60s.  

Our plan was this:  I go back to the States, enter a truck driving school and earn my CDL, get a truck driving job, save everything, invest those savings, and retire and live off the investments, making this happen in 5-7 years.  The investments would be three $100k investments, each or the average of each yielding no less than $600/month, which would be more than enough to cover our living expenses here in Ecuador plus allow savings for vacations or trips plus emergency expenses, such as the replacement of appliances as needed.  *Brief side note:  it has always amused me when retirees here speak of 'going on vacation' when they go on cruises, or return to the States or whereever they're from, etc... ... as I see it, if you're retired, you're on permanent vacation.  Every day's a vacation or holiday.  What exactly are you taking a vacation from?  Our investments would be a mix of financial and real estate.  We overshot a bit on investment #1, when purchasing our first property to rent, but it was one of those unicorns, a rare deal on a condominium that we simply could not pass on.  It's a phenomenal condo, one that after seeing with my own eyes led me to tell my wife that when I returned home from driving, we were going to move in to that unit and rent out our current home. 

I'd eventually change my mind on that, as our home,

while it may not have the balconies or awesome

design that the newer condo has, does feature amazing

views of mountains and the valley, and rainbows.

Yes, rainbows.  We can see a whole lotta sky from our windows, affording us spectacular sunsets, a few nice sunrises, and lots and lots of rainbows!  

NOT a rainbow, or a sunset, but nonetheless
a very cool sight!

 

Our first investment, the 'unicorn' condo, was such a fabulous purchase that when we went to register the sale with the notary, the notary hesitated an awkwardly uncomfortable amount of time before approving the sale, as the city's assessed value and the sale price were in such disparity.  I say we 'overshot' on the investment because we spent considerably more than $100k on the property, but our return is equal to the purchase; the value of the condo is more than $200k, and the rent we're getting from its occupant is significantly more than $600/month.  Investment #2 became a CD we purchased in a bank here, one of if not the largest bank in South America offering an insanely high % on our CD.  Our 3rd investment isn't really complete... it started out as another condo we purchased with the intent of renting it out, but after buying decided it would be best put to use as a studio for my wife, who has become an extremely accomplished artist (more on that later).  To offset its overhead, my wife has been selling artwork and teaching art classes out of it.  We did purchase another CD in a different bank here, one that was offering another crazy good % on our investment, which is allowing us to continue to earn some savings or fun money, just not as much as we'd planned.  I don't know how the banks here are able to offer such a high rate of return on their CDs... allz I'll say is it's worked out really well for us.  

That's my wife.

This post was initially going to be about my transition after my first year driving from Schneider, into another avenue of trucking, but it morphed into a summary of our investments, which allowed me to return home after five-and-a-half years of driving.  My goal when I started driving was to accomplish this feat in 5-7 years; getting it done in five-and-a-half wasn't easy... I missed out on many of the perks other drivers enjoy by not taking any time off or allowing myself too much fun, but the payoff has been more than worth it.  I'm now sitting at home, where I get to spend every day with my wife, for the rest of our lives.  This is what I worked and saved for.  

My wife & I enjoying an afternoon
 coffee at a rooftop café

Favorite morning pastime:  coffee with Popa & Cuchuflí on my lap!

Big trucks & the trucking lifestyle.

Writing in an earlier post, I made reference to a "big truck."  To be clear, truck drivers refer to 18-wheelers as "big trucks."  If we see a jacked-up 4X4 pick-up on the road that's got a 3-ft lift on it, towering over all the other cars & trucks on the road, it's still just a truck to us, or in other verbiage, a "four-wheeler."  ALL cars and trucks and assorted vehicles on the road that have only four or six wheels are all lumped into the same category:  four-wheelers.  I always wondered how those guys with the lifted trucks, blowing black diesel exhaust, outfitted with giant knobby tires, would feel knowing that we considered them no different than, say, a Ford Festiva or SmartCar.         

  +  =  same thing.

Another reference I made in my previous post was to the trucking lifestyle.  There are, however, truck driving jobs to which this does not apply.  Local truck driving jobs, for example, do not really apply: jobs where drivers clock in, drive for the day, clock out, and go home.  The lifestyle I'm referring to is that of the truck driver who goes out over-the-road (OTR) for 3-5 days at a minimum.  Regional truck driving jobs will typically have you out for a week and home for the weekend or for several days; traditional OTR jobs entail the driver leaving home for two-to-four weeks before getting several days off.  These types of trucking jobs, regional and OTR, are where you encounter the lifestyle of truck driving.  

This lifestyle is about driving your truck hundreds or thousands of miles away from home, or in some cases, like mine, using your truck as your home, while utilizing all of the available conveniences and opportunities you can find to maintain good hygiene, good health, and everything else that a 'normal' life might encompass.  

I was very fortunate in that I drove for the mega-carrier Schneider.  Schneider has operation centers (OCs) and truck parking sites all over the country.  All of the OCs I encountered had showers while most had free laundry machines as well as cafés or well-stocked vending areas.  The parking sites I used were just that:  lots available for truck parking only with zero amenities, but often could be found located near a truck stop where showers and food were readily available.  My top two priorities were showers and laundry, and I rarely fell behind in either.  Priority #3 would be groceries.  A huge benefit of working for Schneider was that at many of their OCs, Schneider had a company car that could be signed out and used for grocery shopping or running some other short errand.  The excursion did need to be quick:  there was a one-hour time limit which did not leave for dilly-dallying.  In lieu of relying on a company car that wasn't always readily available, I would, en route to a delivery, stop at a WalMart that were often conveniently located at exits along the interstates.  

Two other sources for showers included the obvious... truck stops, and the other and much less obvious:  tank washes, a resource unique to me as a tanker driver.  The truck stop chain I frequented 99.9% of my time was the Flying J/Pilot Travel Centers; their company gave my company discounts on fuel, and I felt they were the most trucker-friendly as well.  In fact, when I first began driving for Schneider, when I received my company fuel card, I received a Flying J/Pilot Rewards card as well.  Because I got so much fuel there and used their rewards program, my showers were free, and I often had accumulated enough points to use their laundry machines at no charge as well.  Some of these Flying J/Pilot truck stops greeted the drivers better than others; here's a few examples of how some went above-and-beyond by dressing up the shower room for truck drivers:

Lamar, CO

It's amazing how much small gestures like these made life easier living on the road.  I should have done a better job of remembering where I took these photos; the only truck stop I can say for sure that did this on a consistent basis was the Pilot in Lamar, CO, which has at this point terminated its relationship with the Pilot/Flying J Corporation and is now either a T/A Express or simply known as "Lamar Travel Center."

Driving tankers, after every delivery I needed to return my dirty, empty tanker trailer to a tank wash to be cleaned.  The tank washes I frequented were always a great resource for parking; amenities varied from tank wash-to-tank wash.   Most of these tank washes, like our OCs, were conveniently located all over the country, and had showers that were available to the truck drivers.  Some had free laundry machines.  A few had well-equipped drivers' lounges with comfortable sofas and chairs, big screen TVs, and microwaves.  And as you might imagine, the quality of said amenities varied greatly, especially with regard to the showers.  The only shower which was totally out-of-the-question that I ran into was at the Quala tank wash in Chattanooga, TN.  It was so bad the staff there didn't even want to let me in to see it.  An above-par shower could be found at the Quala in Neenah, WI, where towels were provided.  Most fell somewhere in-between.  Towels weren't usually part of the bargain, but I was just happy to have a place to bathe.  With hot water.  

Three tank washes that stuck out include the Qualas in Vancouver, WA, Walnut, CA, and the Kankakee Tank Wash in Kankakee, IL.  The Vancouver Quala featured showers and free laundry, had amazingly friendly staff (which usually begins with the facility manager), was walking distance to a Fred Meyers grocery store (upscale Kroger) and an exceptional pizza restaurant, and near a fitness trail that was good for a 5k run.  Their parking lot was also 100% paved; this was a huge plus during inclement weather.  The Quala in Walnut, CA also had nice showers as well as a long fitness trail that ran for 15 or 20 miles in either direction.  The Kankakee Tank Wash was a real treat:  showers with plush towels, and sometimes meals.  Several of the tank washes would offer hot dogs to the drivers, but the Kankakee tank wash would have barbecue slow-cooked in a crock pot available.  Like I said before, it's the small things that go a long way. 

Kankakee Tank Wash

Kankakee