We spent several years in an OEM Freightliner sleeper and really made the best of it as we had an upper bunk that we used for storage and I had the ability to sit on the upper bunk surrounded by my “stuff”. When we bought our first truck as an expediter we wanted a little more room as we knew we would be away from home for longer periods of time.
Our first Freightliner was an M2 with a 96” sleeper with a small sink and a larger refrigerator. We had so much room it was unbelievable and we used every inch of that space. What a joy to have a sink with running water to wash dishes in. While I still did not have any counter space, I made use of the bed with a table cloth or used the top off of a TV Tray for a flat surface. Many meals were cooked on that bed which is something very few people that are not in trucking understand. We spent about eight years in our M2 Freightliner and perfected how two people and at that time two Cocker Spaniels could be very comfortable.
Our 96" M2 Sleeper the TV was removed and that area made into a cabinet
Our next truck had a 100” sleeper and it was as if we had moved into a resort! Funny how 4” of additional space and a Dine A Bunk foldup bed could give us so much more room. Having a table to work on was luxury at the utmost. Now I had a dining table as well as a desk and every day the bed is put away and the table used. How much easier it is work on our business receipts using a table to spread out all of my work. When we have friends stop in to see us they can visit and not feel as if they are visiting us in our bedroom!
Our third truck once again has a 100” sleeper and we are still perfectly comfortable to be on the road for months at a time. Funny when people ask us if we ever get hotel rooms we say “Nope, why would we want to leave our comfortable home and drag all of our stuff into a hotel?” we though really do enjoy though when we can park at a RV camp site. We have done this several times when we know we have a couple days before we pick up our next load. Our truck is able to use shore power and when it the desert not having the generator run constantly is nice. We also pick places that have laundry as well as a pool and many RV places welcome trucks that have shore power.
Our current sleeper
Each one of our trucks as well as our sleepers have been very special as they were our home and safe haven when on the road. The first OEM sleeper with the upper bunk was my sanctuary and I really enjoyed sitting up there when we were stopped working on my projects. Our next 96” sleeper with a beautiful wood floor was so homey and comfortable that it really made life on the road very bearable. Then we moved into the 100” sleeper with the murphy type bed and a table and counter top! Talk about having lots and lots of room. Now we knew we had arrived as our Freightliner with exceptional fuel mileage and this huge sleeper was over the top. Funny how living in 8 square feet can feel so luxuriously with two people, a dog, and a cat.
Now we are spec’ing our fourth Freightliner and we will have a shower and toilet in this truck. Our freight box will now be less then 20’ and are working on ideas so that space will all be usable if a customer needs it. We will have the truck lined with tool boxes that will hold all of our freight handling equipment as well as Bob’s tools, and polishing supplies. What will be left in the box will be our load bars and our pallet jack. More on this when we get the truck as we are trying some really different ideas with the truck spec’s as well as with our new ARI 124” Sleeper.