What is a must have!

[jonp]

1) Cellphone
2) gallon of drinking water
3) cans of food like vegs, tuna etc... for emergency
4) rainsuit
5) depending on season: long-underwear, sleeping bag, winter clothes with hat and mittens. I dont carry a winter coat. instead I use my gor-tex rain coat with a fleece vest and light thinsilite work jacket. The gloves are also gor-tex as are the rain paints. The pants i carry in the winter are flannel lined carharts. Many guys I know buy a pair of lined carhart bibs and roll them up under the bunk "just in case"
6) extra pair of work gloves
7) money for laundry, soda/coffee etc...
8) basic set of wrenches/sockets. I bought a cheap set in a plastic carry case at walmarts for about $10
9) duct tape HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
10) sharp knife or exacto knive
11) extra gallon of anti-freeze/oil and windshield wiper fluid
12) windshield wiper fluid and paper towels for inside of the truck. I've taken to a bottle of all-purpose cleaner for the windows/walls/floor etc.
13) small broom to sweep dirt off the floor
14) book to read on your off time or when waiting at a customer
15) extra headlite and a couple of turn/marker lites if the company will give them to you. You can usually finagle one or two out of the shop
16) tire guage. Check your tires every day. This will save you much heartache on the road if your tire blows out in the middle of no-where on a holiday. I learned my lesson the hardway.
17) calculator for figureing your logbook hours. Do not count on your in the head adding skills, you will make a mistake. trust me and it might cost you money at a scale.
18) Trucker Road Atlas. Saw some Rand ones on sale at Pilot for $4.99 this week. I bought 2. Also, a truckstop atlas is very handy.

add a bottle of brake line anti-freeze to your winter list..

I carry one but have never had to use it because we usually haul the same trailers for weeks at a time. Still a good idea. Also, stop at wal-mart and buy a bottle of 90% rubbing alcohol for a buck or so and split it between tanks every other fueling. I was told to do this by an old log-truck driver to prevent freeze-ups and have not had a problem since. it works and is cheap.

[kahlana]

toilet paper, hand sanitizer and paper towels
toilet paper because too many of the reststops we stopped at had none (ew gross) hand sanitizer cus not everyone in this country gets the idea that not washing ones hands after using the restroom spreads nasty stuff and diseases and paper towels cus they are great for cleaning up spills, cleaning off your headlights on the side of the road, etc etc

Something to do during your breaks (esp. the 72 hour resets) or those lovely storms when they close the highways down for hours or days on end.

[Astrotruckr]

hand sanitizer cus not everyone in this country gets the idea that not washing ones hands after using the restroom spreads nasty stuff and diseases

I get around that by looking like a freak and opening the restroom door with paper towels. It amazes me how many drivers dont wash their hands after wiping their arse and then go and grab the same door handle that the rest of us grab after we spent the time to wash our hands.

One travel tip I have is that I switch my shampoo from the bottle its bought in to a empty 20oz plastic soda bottle and never have to worry about it leaking or keeping the shampoo bottle in a ziplock bag

[MommaKay]

Support from the home front. Without that, hometime isn't worth having and the job itself becomes pretty meaningless.

[belpre122]

I get around that by looking like a freak and opening the restroom door with paper towels. It amazes me how many drivers dont wash their hands after wiping their arse and then go and grab the same door handle that the rest of us grab after we spent the time to wash our hands.

Then straight back to the buffet line. (again) That's Mr. Sanitary OTR driver. In his yellow to the front, brown to the rear casual dress style.

BTW. He is right in front of you at the buffet line. You know the guy. He just put down that brown gravy ladle that you are holding. :P :twisted: :P :twisted: