Living full-time in the truck can be a way to find freedom and financial success.

Expedited team drivers Phil and Diane Madsen from the Twin Cities area of Minnesota woke up one day and realized that while they owned plenty of things, their things owned them, too.

They decided that they could build wealth, clear debt and experience real freedom if they got rid of the material possessions anchoring them to a home they seldom had time to enjoy. Much to the shock of their friends and family, they sold their cars, furniture and household goods, put a few keepsakes in storage and hit the road with a much lighter load.

The notion of what the Madsens call “property-free” trucking describes a subculture of truckers who live the majority of their lives on the road. Home-free truckers are also in hot demand with fleets trying to operate under the pressure of catering to the home-time-happy majority of drivers. A trucker who wants to run hard without the conflict of scheduling home time is a recruiter’s dream. A team like the Madsens, willing to stay out on the road, more than doubles their value to their company. But why would someone give up the comforts of a home base in exchange for a seemingly rootless life on the road?

Truckers reside full-time in their trucks for all kinds of reasons. Some choose the life. Others have it chosen for them. For a few, it’s a last resort before the repo man comes knocking. It’s the hard-luck stories of truckers “forced” to live in their trucks that generate many of the negative trucker stereotypes out there. Some truckers themselves use mildly derisive labels like “wanderer” or “gypsy” to describe the “mobile-homeless” trucker. But for the Madsens, there’s nothing negative about it. Their decision to sell their possessions and hit the road full-time gave them the means to extract money, adventure and joy from their trucking profession, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

The couple came to trucking after successful earlier careers. Diane Madsen is an attorney and was general counsel for Gov. Jesse Ventura’s administration. Phil Madsen is a financial consultant and well-known computer guru who helped propel Ventura into political superstardom. They met on the campaign and decided to seek second careers where they could start over together. In August 2003 they launched their expedited business driving team for FedEx, and a year later, they sold their cars, home and possessions to further simplify their trucking life.