Working on the road?

[thejumpsuitman]

I was going to post this question in the thread about the Minnesota incident, but didn't want to get too far off topic.

Does anyone on here work on the road at all?  If so, how do you deal with the issues inherent with that?  How about work camping?  Wouldn't that fall into that category since you would always be on the way to make money?  How is an online business affected?  Working and living on my bus is something I thought about doing for a season, but may want to reconsider if it is too much of a hassle. 

Marc

[thejumpsuitman]

I guess either nobody works on the road or nobody wants to admit to it.

[bevans6]

We're  all retired with bags o'cash, or our buses won't start...

Brian

[fe2_o3]

Brian;  Where did you get the bags of cash. I missed that memo and could really use some right now...Cable

[thejumpsuitman]

I guess either nobody works on the road or nobody wants to admit to it.

I guess I'd better start on my bag so I can be like you guys.

[bevans6]

Just to be clear, it's under 40  degrees so my bus won't start...   

Brian

[Dreamscape]

I sent you a PM.

Paul

[bobofthenorth]

There's several of us here who work from our busses.  Maybe everybody else is out working.  We were busy playing today. 

The hardest part when we started out was teaching our contract employers that we were actually available even though we might be in Miami or Mazatlan at the moment when they called.  Virtual offices are becoming more and more common but it still takes some education and attitude adjustment.  I always make sure my primary contact knows the score but if I am engaged with other people in the organization I may or may not tell them where I happen to be at the particular moment.  I recall one time when I was working from a beach south of San Blas doing a contract for an Alberta crop supplies company.  When I finally connected with a particularly difficult to reach employee it was a bitter cold January day where he was so he naturally asked me what the weather was like where I was.  The business card he had for me indicated northern Saskatchewan as my address and I simply answered "oh it's a pretty nice day here" - which it clearly was.

We have a simple office set up in the bus with a multi-function printer/fax/scanner on a network.  If you are going to work you need to be available and we accomplish that with a Hughesnet satellite internet system.  If you stay where cell phone access is strong then 3G coverage might be an option.  One issue that we have struggled with a bit with less sophisticated clients is payment.  If their only payment option is mailing me a cheque then it can take a long time for that cheque to wind its way from my PO box to wherever we happen to be and from there by mail back to my home bank.  That's only a problem when we are out of the country and unable to make ATM deposits.

The campgrounds in western Canada are often full of oil patch and pipeline contractors now.  Some of them stay open year round to cater to that clientelle.  I can't imagine 40 below in a bus but those guys are doing it in RVs so it must be possible.

[Gary '79 5C]

I agree with Bob as more and more employees are working from home, Work / Life Balance is projected by my employer.

I just do not want to see a virtual pic of BOTN, bathrobe, fuzzie bedroom slippers, butt & beer answering my call......

Enjoy Everyone,

Gary

[Van]

I'd like to see that one LOL!

[rv_safetyman]

Marc, we "try" to earn money while on the road.  When I say try, it is not a problem with being on the road, but of the terrible economy.

Like Bob, we have a pretty good office set up in the bus.  We use an Efax service, as sending a fax the normal way can't be done without a land line.  We use both the satellite Internet with an aircard as a backup.  We often find ourselves in areas which have little or no cell service.

On one consulting assignment, the customer called me and asked me to get on the Internet quickly.  We pulled onto a side road in Nashville, and I had the dish up and we were connected.  We needed to finalize a report and they wanted to edit that report "on the fly".  We had software that would allow both of us to work on the report simultaneously.

I make these observations to emphasize that technology has advanced to the point that we can do almost anything while on the road.  Having said that, you can't have a Skype video conference on the satellite.  The slow upload speed  speed coupled with the latency kills any video option.  You could do a voice Skype conference, but with the typical "public" service, you have to talk like you are on a radio and say "over" when you are done talking.  I would suspect that both options will work with a GOOD aircard connection.

There are commercial satellite services (big dish and lots of $$$), but I am told that voip is pretty good and there is no problem transmitting huge files.

If you get back to more practical possibilities, then something like Workamper ( http://www.workamper.com/ ) seems to work well for a lot of folks we have talked to.  I think you have to work your way up the latter to get good assignments, but it sure seems like a good option to cover a lot of your costs and make a bit of money.

Jim

[Melbo]

BTW, in many states and under federal law this is also true if the coach is used to carry, for example, sales samples, tools, or any other items that are used in business or trade (as opposed to items strictly for personal use).  Even signs or the name of a business or professional music group on the coach can cause it to be adjudicated as commercial.

Note that cash money does not have to change hands for a coach to be determined to be commercial and fall under all the requirements for commercial vehicles and drivers.  For example, a coach owned and operated by a church to transport church members on outings, even with no money involved, is a commercial vehicle de facto.  There have been several high-profile accidents in the last few years where churches who did not realize this were found to be in violation.

Many states have exemptions written into their laws that allow passenger cars and sometimes even light trucks to be used for certain commercial purposes without them becoming commercial vehicles.  However such exemptions almost never extend to heavy vehicles such as coach conversions and even off-the-shelf RVs.  And it is certainly the case that there is no such exemption under federal law, which becomes operative as soon as the vehicle crosses a state line.

FWIW.

-Sean

I think this is what Marc is referring to -- I have a computer in my bus and we run an office from the bus while on the road --- We carry business papers and everything across state lines.

And I even use wrenches at my job and carry some of those in my bus -- haven't been busted yet but it could happen at any time I'm sure

Melbo

PS A DOT inspector told my cousin that he can find a violation on ANY vehicle even a brand new one just off the lot.

[thejumpsuitman]

Yes, this is more along the lines of what I was talking about.  I have worked remotely in the past, but stationary.  From what I was reading, it sounds like a nightmare to get DOT compliant.

[Melbo]

Marc

They pass laws to make EVERYONE a criminal that way they can harass anyone they want

Melbo

[redbus]

My Wife and I went on the road in 1997 at 50 years old. We have worked Full time or Part time in Indiana,Tennessee,Florida,Kansas,Texas,Arizona,
and California. Some jobs have been fun and some not so much but on the hole it has been fun. Do not expect large paychecks. If you have monthly payments I would not advise trying it as there are some very lean times.