Just finished my expense report for last month, and for work alone I ran up 2,355 miles. Overall mileage was basically 3000 miles. In a month. 
And I didn't go anywhere.
Anyone else live/work out of their car? How do you keep sane? Stay comfortable? Keep up on the maintenance? Has it changed how you view cars or drive? Stories from the road?
Back before I landed work in town, it was 4000 miles a month. God smiled upon me and showed His mercy in that this trek was only two months in duration.
Some of those guys have been doing that for YEARS. 90 miles there, 90 miles back.
I have no idea how.
One fella got near run over by a semi, flipped and rolled, and was hospitalized for like a month. He just picked up work in town.
I'm doing 70 miles a day now, down from 80. BIG HELP: 98 LS400. I'm much less tired when I get home. And I'm learning Dutch off the 6 CD changer. Echt.
I do about 5K per month.
My daily driver is about to turn 500K.
BTDT was doing 35-40k annually for 5-years. Before that job I loved driving, I mean loved it - crank up the tunes, hit the highway, and roll. When the stress of it started affecting me to the point I loathed everything about it I knew I was 100% burnt out. It's taken 3-years away from it to reach the point that driving somewhere for a vacation no longer sucks.
In reply to Dr. Hess:
LS400. HaHaHa.
I do it in a 16 year old pickup truck.
Yep, I do 41 miles each way for work. That is over 1800 miles a month just for work. Obviously not 3000 miles but still a lot. Lets hope my auto ADD doesn't make me want to give up on my Fiesta for a few hundred thousand miles.
Ya'all is crazy. I do less than 15k a year. Usually around 10k.
I kinda almost wish my driving was highway, but it's a sales job.
Roughly half is in town, going from account to account, roughly 30-50 miles a day plus commuting 10 miles to town.
Thursday's I drive 130 miles down to the next town on a meandering but not quite wandering 2 lane highway, drive 70-100 miles to and from accounts there, then 130 back on Friday. I'm loving podcasts for sure, and I like the 2nd language suggestion.
So far I still like to drive, but it's definitely shifted my car priorities. Now I'm wanting a good ride, a quiet cabin, and a good stereo with good mileage more than outright power or even handling.
About 48k per year for the past couple of years but for me, the driving is the work.
I think the last 2 years I was in field sales I did over 60K miles a year between my car and rentals. I know for sure I was a distracted driver because my road time was call time and catch up with people time. Towards the end I just didn't want to go anywhere and hated driving. Got sick of it. That's when I knew it was time to do something else.
I run 18k a year, my wife 25+. Part of hers is she drives all over as a field hokey ref in the fall. Above the national average, but not bad.
Now when my father delivered pizza, he was doing 3k a month, and I was stuck working on the car.
damn... i live 1.5 miles from my work... but we if get our new house it will be 10.5 miles, that will be pretty rough on me...
I typically do about 5k a month. Its changed a few things. 5k synthetic oil change intervals. 5k tire rotation. Basic maintenance as necessary. Drive the car into the dirt, buy the next one. I no longer get hung up on a specific daily. Gotta have a comfortable seat, cold ac, great brakes, and good stereo. Most dailies get an hid conversion and tint, as tint helps fatigue from bright sun, and bright lights because most of my miles are in the middle of berkeleying nowhere.
I have found that the usb drive in the stereo and cruise have become indispensable and long life all seasons the tire of choice.
This has been another episode of life from the road with dusterbd13.Tune I next time wh I discuss gas station food dos and donts.
I do 100 mi per day in my Mazda2.
45-50 min to work, 80-120 min home due to Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel congestion.
I love the drive to work with the local morning radio show.
On the way home I'm blasting some Rage Against the Machine typically, or Limp Bizkits "Break Something" for some angry driving.
I make a game out of getting home asap, taking back roads timing each section judging with 2 mile delay take this exit, with 3 mi delay take that, if the traffic camera shows a backup at my typical exit, take the one before it, etc.
It hopefully just temporary for a year or so until we move to the peninsula.
I used to do close to 5k a month. But, it was in a company vehicle so I didn't have to worry about the maintenance aspects.
Currently I'm estimating about 5k per year. My knees don't hurt near as much as they used to.
5-7k a year
1) Audio books if I have to drive a lot. If I have to drive a lot, something with decent comfort, A/C, excellent visibility and small size - I don't want the stress of driving a barge, especially when things get tight in town.
2) I no longer drive a lot and its great. Driving a lot sucks. Shooting for <10k this year and currently about 300 miles under my target.
I average between 50K and 70K a year. The fuel bill last year was about $14k. Edit: That's on the work vehicle. I put another 10k-15k on my personal stuff.
I honestly love to drive. Anything, anywhere. I did 3700 miles on vacation and had a blast.
35-40k a year on average, 70 miles each way to work alone. Unlike some others I've actually found it makes roadtrips more enjoyable because I've developed such a tolerance that I don't mind long drives. Heck when you drive an hour or more just to get to work it starts to seem weird when you hear other people complain that "OMG that's like an hour away" yeah...so?
Satellite radio is a godsend if you listen to radio and have to leave the city with all the stations
I'm in the about 10k/yr crowd.
I drive sales and have driven 25-30,000 miles a year the past 16 years. I am dreading a 500 mile run on Thursday from Chicago to Muncie and back.
Five years ago I lost my company car and ended up on an allowance so I run a cheap Accord and do all my maintenance and repairs.
The weirdest thing is that if I am tired I will pull over in a rest area and take a 15 minute nap that makes me feel guilty but somedays I run 12-14 hour days so I justify it. I even think of getting a minivan that has more of a couch in the back for my naps.
I have a friend that drives 75K a year as a traveling salesman. He buys a new Cadillac every year and trades it in the next at a 50% loss. He just looks at like a business expense. Long distance Truckers must do more than that.
I did 3000 in 8 business days. And never left the state. I love driving, and that was enough even for me.
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