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For the long-haul trucker, the truck is your home away from home. For maximum personal safety and comfort, your truck should be well-stocked with items that might be easy to overlook for the novice. You should be ready to handle weather, injuries, boredom -- pretty much anything.
Dennis Aitken, a former trucker, offers the following list of toolbox items:
- duct tape
- three-pound hammer
- adjustable wrench
- cheap socket set
- regular and Phillips screwdriver.
- box knife with new blades in handle
- electrical tape
- large and small wire ties
- pencils and a pad of paper
- extra pair of work gloves
“These are only for simple repairs,” says Aitken. “We are drivers, not certified truck mechanics who are licensed to work on these rigs. Many times we can do a quickie minor repair to get the truck safely to a safe spot or maybe back to where it needs to be repaired. Any other repairs than that, a service tech would be called out on the road.”
But wait, there’s more. Aitken also suggests you have:
- latex gloves in a reclosable sandwich bag for medical emergency
- 110 camera with 12-shot 400 film and new batteries
- empty milk gallon, wide-mouth mayonnaise jar, 20-ounce soda bottle or an empty coffee can
- roll of toilet paper (This goes with jars and cans for those biological emergencies, Aitken says.).
- large candle to keep the cab warm until help arrives if engine stops
- at least four books of matches or 50 waterproof matches, if possible
- sleeping bag good for at least 20 degrees below zero
- a good book
- flashlight with good batteries -- not the same one to check for safety inspections
- high-energy snack bars (“Don’t pig out,” cautions Aitken.)
- medications
- first-aid kit
In addition, Theo Vance, a Houston-based trucker, always carries nonperishable foods. “Canned and dried foods as well as a lot of nuts will help you through a long blizzard,” says Vance.
Vance recalls an experience where all her truck’s cab lights went out during a night drive. “I had no flashlight -- you’re talking about scary,” she says.
And for women truckers, she recommends straps or wires that can reach from one door handle to the other. “This will make it hard for anyone to enter while you sleep,” she says. Although technically truckers aren’t supposed to carry weapons, she advises having items that can substitute. “Some kind of protection, like a sharp knife, to keep under your pillow while sleeping and a bat to help just in case someone breaks into the truck would be helpful.”
The most important supplies for a female driver are the required personal items she normally would pack if she were going on a long trip, adds Vance. And perhaps the most important thing overall to bring along is common sense. “Never get out of your truck late at night, and always watch your surroundings,” she cautions. “Always keep your keys ready to enter your cab. Briefly scan under your trailer as you are walking up to it, making sure there is nobody under the trailer waiting for you.”