New driver here, what works best for.....

[Kevin0915]

I am looking forward to upgrading to a solo driver. That, right now, is 3 weeks away, but still good time to start saving every penny i can. What i plan to do are a few things. First off, buy a laptop stand so I can run 'co-pilot' or another 'map' program off it. No, i wont be using it while driving, but it will help to see a map where I am going while driving, take a quick glance while looking out a mirror, than to waste 15 min. pulling off and finding a parking spot.

Guess what I am asking, advice from fellow drivers the following:

1) Best Laptop on the market for around $500-700ish.
2) Best laptop map program/log program.
3) Best inverter
4) Best lot lizzard? (kidding)
5) and what is the best things to have in the truck for a new driver??

I plan to have an assortment of cleaning supplies and air sprays, a coleman cooler, or a small fratboy fridge, and a small microwave, grille and hot plate.

Also, what about tools? Any specific sizes/wrenches a driver should have behind the seat? etc.? There is a 'road ready' class I plan to take. They help you with how to make small electrical repairs to your truck/trailer, enough to get back to a terminal for a repair.

any good advice is much appreciated.

[Jumbo]

I spent a little more on the laptop to get the bigger screen. I run Microsoft Streets and Trips and the Delorme with GPS. Both work good. A cheap digital camera is also a good idea. I don't use a fridge or other appliances but for laptop and charging cell phone and camera I just have a Cyberpower plug in inverter I bought at Walmart. It works good. As far as tools, I pull specialized loads so I carry more then most guys. A small sledge hammer, set of open end wreches for adjusting brakes , Maybe a small prybar for pulling nails out of trailer floor. If you have a liquidation store by you they usually have cheaper tools that work well enough. Ask your shop for a spare gladhand to two and some of those rubbers that go inside of them. The gladhands sometime disappear from trailers.

[Kevin0915]

Yeah, having spare rubbers for gladhands are a good idea. my mentor had to pull one out of a wal-mart trailer cause it was leaking a little. having a spare gladhand or two is a good idea as well. I plan on getting some box end wrenches and a Louisville Slugger for my tire thumper and a head thumper if i catch someone messing with my truck.

[ronjon619]

If your going to run all that stuff, you might need a few fuses.

[Kevin0915]

well my laptop will almost always be on, as well as the fridge. my cell i can regharge thru the cigerette lighter and the one in the bunk will run a fan. i can watch movies off my laptop, wont really have the need for a TV or sat. tv. and i can unplug my fridge or laptop when i need to use my microwave. Dont plan to get anything more than 750 or 1000 watt inverter.

[BluHeeler]

Random thoughts:

I went to the Road Ready class a few years ago, well worth your time. You won't have a microwave, but the small plug in inverter someone mentioned might be a good idea, I use one for lots of stuff.

I have always had a laptop, but I have never used routing software, just spend $50 on a Rand-McNally deluxe motor carrier's atlas and use the laptop to look at mapquest. I plan my route before I pull out for the day.....it's free.

I found an air hose and tire chuck have saved me the most time of all tools. You'll get one with the class, or buy one, get a "dual foot" chuck and "straight" is the best. About 75 feet of hose will reach all your tires. A low tire will blow out if you run it and many times you have a nail etc, causing a slow leak. If you can air it up you'll make it to the drop or a truck stop where it can be repaired. A blow out and you're sitting on the side of the road waiting for a service truck for hours on line 4.

Extra glad hand seals will save you lots of frustration, and fuses and lights....go to the trailer shop and get replacements for the stop/turn lights and the shop for headlights. Some are sealed beam, others are halogen bulbs, low and high are different. A burned out light is reason to be stopped and inspected, lost time at the least and shut down waiting for service at the worst.

WD 40 or a bottle of soapy water can save you with stuck tandems and the soap will help replacing trailer lights.

I carry some wrenches, I've built up the tool box over time as I find I need something I don't have. Screwdrivers, sockets or open end wrenches, come in handy but rarely. I have electrical strippers and small connectors for wiring, again trailer lights.....not necessary, but handy once in a while.

Build up your supplies over time and you won't notice it as much.

PS there is a tool called StaRat that is the ultimate in sliding tandems, made in Spokane WA. sold on the internet, it is improved over the original, expensive but if you're going to pull vans, I wouldn't be without one.

don

[Kevin0915]

thank you. great post. Though i plan to do just what you do with your motor carrier's atlas and mapquest. I had a load to the east side of Dallas. I knew where to turn, i just didnt know the turn was about 50 yards off the interstate, so I ended up missing it and going 1-2 miles out of my way. I told my mentor, "...had i been able to look at mapquest, i'd have known the turn was where it was and i wouldnt have missed it."

My current mentor tells me that thoes laptop 'co-pilot' travel programs can still lead you down the wrong path...one not ment for trucks, and some with low bridges. Good idea about having 75ft of air hose. My current mentor told me to have a bottle of window cleaner, with a few spoonfulls of Dawn soap. Uses that to clean the windshield pretty darn well, and he said can use that to slide tandems. thank you again for your helpful post, others could learn a thing or two from you. =)

[TomB985]

As nice as it is to have a computer, it's not absolutely necessary! Whenever my company does not have directions to a customer, I ALWAYS call them and get directions from them! I admit, I have been in situations where I couldn't get in touch with someone there, but times like that are few and far between. Directions from the customer are almost always better than the directions you'll get from a computer.

Your mentor is 100% correct about not trusting them for routing, as I can't count the number of times my GPS has tried to send me down the wrong road, under low bridges, down restricted routes, etc. That's where you have to understand it's limitations. GPS is great for knowing where you are...and not much more. You can take your directions and put it into your mapping program, and use it to stay on track, but you can NEVER, EVER exclusively use GPS or mapping programs(mapquest, google maps, etc.) for routing. ALWAYS double check EVERYTHING your GPS will tell you!

Now, with that being said, I wouldn't want to go out there without a computer, but like EVERYTHING electronic and mechanical, it can and WILL break...and when it does, you HAVE to know how to get by without it!

[headborg]

Just a thought, with winter coming and 3 weeks more until you solo-- prep for winter and having those things
might be in order as priority .

Like a good pair of sunglasses, a digital therometer you can tape to your westcoast mirror to know what the temp outside is doing... CB nice too, and a laminated motor carrier's atlas is a must.

Be safe;

[BIG JEEP on 44's]

550 lb olympic weight set /bench/130lb set of power block dumbells/...doesn't every driver carry these ?

[trux]

re: thermometer on outside mirror

The trick I read somewhere is just roll down the window and reach out and see if there's ice on the front of the mirror housing.

[headborg]

re: thermometer on outside mirror

The trick I read somewhere is just roll down the window and reach out and see if there's ice on the front of the mirror housing.

yes that is 1 method- but if there's ice already building up there.... you're probably rolling on it too.

there's also the look for spray method.. nice too. But at night your range ahead is so short- that once again when the spray disapears from the tires on the rig ahead or passing you-- there you are again on the ice.
Being able to get a temp reading as the temp falls from 40-38-36 you could be on alert a little sooner and maybe find a place to pull over and park it. Remember -- Snow go slow, Ice No Dice Exp. when your just starting out and want to get several months under your belt without any black marks on your fresh Record.

Oh, one thing-- don't tape the electrical probe(outside sensor) near your CB coax.

I made that mistake with the first one I owned. The RF Signal damages the sensor. After a couple weeks-- I noticed every time I keyed the mic-- my ICE ALERT TEMP readout would take off like stop-watch counter. When I let off-- it would return to a different temp reading every time.

[jd112488]

i can save you all kinds of money. buy an atlas at the truckstop. the really nice laminated ones with big print go for 40 bucks. sure beats the hundreds you will spend on a laptop. tehn if you do not know how to use it find the oldest looking guy are at least most electronically ignorant person to show you how to use it. it save money and takes up less space in the truck. and i agree with headborg, get ready for winter. extra food, lots of water, antifreeze, gloves, sand or salt for if you get stuck.

[headborg]

i can save you all kinds of money. buy an atlas at the truckstop. the really nice laminated ones with big print go for 40 bucks. sure beats the hundreds you will spend on a laptop. tehn if you do not know how to use it find the oldest looking guy are at least most electronically ignorant person to show you how to use it. it save money and takes up less space in the truck. and i agree with headborg, get ready for winter. extra food, lots of water, antifreeze, gloves, sand or salt for if you get stuck.

Thanks for the solidarity.
I prefer- Kitty Litter for traction( you can buy it in plastic Pails (bags tend to rip open in sidebox-making messes), A jug of Bleach is nice too.
methyl-alcohol for air lines( don't forget to start bleeding your tanks routinely too) Plastic Air lines can snap-- (you might want to carry a spare) + 2 large Crescent wrenches to remove said broken air-line. They also make a air-line "compression-fitting" type repair kit that might get you out of a jam. You need a good hammer too, different drivers prefer different types: Van drivers like having a claw hammer(they sometimes need to pull nails & nail down blocking & bracking)
A good masonry hammer is my choice( Reefer's don't have wood floors )
the chisel end is great for chipping ice, spiking someone's head, or taping a frozen brake shoe without damaging the pad.

[b00m]

Regarding the tech side , if u don't have a lot of money to spare a tom tom gps or garmin under maybe 300 will be just fine.I use one and gets we out well,especially planning my trips.The ONLY part i don't use it is when i get to destination.I double check my directions with the ones from my borker and input them in the GPS.Sometimes works sometimes it doesn'tThe gps can really mess u up and you can end up in bad places ,where a truck is not supposed to be in.A laptop is nice,i have one for my business and entertainment.Got one from best buy for like 600 and works great.Really don't need to spend more than probably 500.On the inverters,you can go really cheap since a laptop doesn't require a very big one too.Good luck though!!!

[JeffTheTerrible]

I don't know about laptops.. I like mine, but it cost me about $1500, and that was after I stopped driving OTR..

As far as inverters go, I bought a 400 watt Coleman inverter at.... some truck stop... somewhere. It was much less expensive than most inverters of equal wattage (it was on sale at the time for something like $20), and it's proven to be rather reliable.

[ta93gt]

As far as a laptop goes, your best bet is probably to buy one that isn't brand new, like a refurbished one and maybe buy a RAM upgrade for it. I bought an IBM Thinkpad that was top of the line a couple years ago and just upgraded the RAM and the total cost to me was about $300 and it runs great. As far as a fridge goes, if you do get a cooler, I wouldn't put anything that can spoil in it, like meats, cheese, milk etc. Unless you idle constantly (which doesn't look favorable as a company driver), most trucks will cut power to any accessories after so much time being turned off in order to save their batteries. I learned this the hard (and smelly) way. For food, eat lots of canned or dried goods, bread, there's tuna in cans and pouches, and you can just snitch mayonaise packets from convenience or fast food stores, there's also stuff called Gooberz, it's pb&j mixed together in one jar and doesn't need a fridge, Walmart usually has really cheap soup, and some truck stops carry a beverage heater that plugs into your cigarette lighter and dips into your can/cup if you HAVE to have hot soup, bags of pretzels, chex mix, stuff like that is always good, get some bags of Maltomeal cereal. They're cheap and taste the same as name brand stuff, and just buy small containers of milk as you need it, say pints or quarts or something. As far as getting directions, GPS is nice but I haven't needed it yet and I've gotten out of some pretty sticky situations just by keeping calm, using my atlas and calling the customer. If you want to get GPS, that's your call, but personally, I'd say your best bet is to call the shipper and consignee well beforehand and asking them for clear, detailed directions long before you're in the area. Keep in mind many places will give you directions based on their daily drive to work. If they say stuff like "you can't miss it", ALWAYS second guess them and ask that they consider the size of your vehicle. Ask about low clearances, tight turns or anything like that coming into the yard. Ask to talk to someone else if you feel at all leery about what they tell you. Write down ALL directions and other pertinent information on a little memo pad and glance at it when you're not sure what to do. This is part of trip planning and should become second nature. If you plan detailed trips in advance, your company can't get away with pinning blame on you as easily if there's a problem. (also learned this the hard way). You should ALWAYS have time to pull over and call if your atlas isn't steering you right. Most companies give you deadlines that allow you to run well below the speed limit, allow for traffic jams, construction, etc. If they don't, they're running you illegally and should be reported. As for tools, like the others have been saying, it never hurts to have some wrenches, sockets, pliers, bolt and/or wire cutters, screwdrivers and whatnot on board. If it's a company truck, it should have some extra oil, coolant, funnels, etc stored in the side compartment under the bunk or somewhere like that. If not, ask for some at your terminal. I second the gladhand idea. 2 for the trl and 2 for the truck probably isn't a bad idea. That way if you ever pull them, yeah you might need to go in the shop but at least it'll save you time by having them there, and you can never have too many of the rubber grommets. My best advice is just economize as much as you can because truck stops really soak you in any way they can.

[cdswans]

PS there is a tool called StaRat that is the ultimate in sliding tandems, made in Spokane WA. sold on the internet, it is improved over the original, expensive but if you're going to pull vans, I wouldn't be without one.

don

Can you post a link to this? Google offered plenty but nothing in the way of a tool.

As for the laptop/mapping software; I have used and recommended Delorme Street Atlas USA for almost 5 years. It, like many other things, is a tool you will need to learn how to use before you can really depend on it. You'll need to bring a little common sense to the mix. If it looks like it's sending you someplace you don't want to go, don't go. On the other hand, there has to be a little bit of trust, too. I have encountered turns you'd never see until you're right on top of (or about to pass) them . . and the program was spot on.

Since adding an aircard, my laptop is priceless. I am sending this from my consignees dock. I got to this town via DeLorme. I got to this dock via a Google maps birdseye view satelite picture that eliminated any doubt about how to get to it. No wrong turns, no unnecessary backing or backtracking. 10 minutes of prep can save untold hours of recovery.

I have and still use my big, laminated Rand-McNally and I use it all the time to check for things like low clearances.

The winter survival tips are terrific! Do a search and look at the conditions in the NW last winter. There were a bunch of trucks stuck for 2-3 days at a time. That should give you some idea of what to prepare for.

Good luck to you . .

[coastie]

1) Best Laptop on the market for around $500-700ish.
2) Best laptop map program/log program.
3) Best inverter
4) Best lot lizzard? (kidding)
5) and what is the best things to have in the truck for a new driver??

1. I got one from wal mart and does great.

2. I use Microsoft Streets and trips, and compare to my Atlas

3. You can get a small one from Wal mart that will be good for a laptop.

4. Best Lot Lizzard? your wife or girl friend, (not kidding) The ladies of the T/S keep away unless you want AIDS.

5. Pad of paper to write down your routes, load info,
and what the others had stated.

[kimmeegoose]

what is a gladhand? Remember, I am a trucker's wife, not a trucker, so be gentle. Also, I wanted to thank everyone for the great suggestions. Hubby and I are making our shopping list, he leaves Sunday for training, and there were several things here that made it onto the list. I always get useful info here, just wish I could get hubby to read it. I guess it makes me useful if I relay what I see here. So, thanks again.