Amenities On Truck - Cooking In Your Truck?

I'm not real familiar with how all this works, but it seems a lot of truckers that I've seen on youtube can cook thier own meals. I'm worried about speaking with recruiters about this topic for particular companies' rules about it, because I'm afraid they'll tell me something false to get me into the company. ANY information on this topic is great! Thank you.

Welcome to TT Karen !!! And you can ask anything here !!! What your amenities are in order to cook, really depends on the truck they put you in, whether it has a refrigerator, power source, etc. But theres always a way to cook some things in your truck. You just have to be creative !!! If you go to the Ladies of Trucking Forum, I believe we have a topic about that very thing. You'd be surprised what can be cooked in the comfort of your sleeper... I wouldn't be asking the recruiter about cooking, but you can ask them if the company trucks are equipped with a fridge, and/or APU . Feel free to ask all the questions you want, cruise thru the site, and be sure and take advantage of all the free schooling on here....it will help you so very much !!! High Road Training Program How To Choose A School

and of course, our ladies forum !! Ladies Of Trucking Forum

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

• Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
• Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
• Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
• Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.

OOS:

When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

Roadcookin’: A long haul driver’s guide to healthy eating by Pam Whitfield and Don Jacobson.

Its an ok book with many ideas.

Thank you both very much. I'll check out the cooking thread for women. @Starcar what is an APU? DO you think the recruiter would steer me wrong as far as promising things?

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

I know this will sound mean and I do not intend it that way but simply put don't worry about cooking in the truck. You will figure that part out once you get in a truck. At this point its not important. What is important is getting the CDL and being hired onto a company. All the rest will come. Once you get out here and see all the options you will have for cooking you will wonder why you were worried about in the first place.

Hot plates Electric skillet Microwave Crock pot Electric wok And good old fashion grill.(outside of the truck)

Many options available so rest easy.

@guyjax I see what you're getting at, and I understand that. I guess it boils down to I'm a tightwad (LOL) and want to make sure I don't have to eat out all the time. I want to make sure it'd be worth it monetarily to even start trucking. Making my own food would really help here (not to mention keeping it much more healthy).

I can easily by all my food and drinksfor the week from Walmart and the truck stops for about $150 a week. Of course my daily meals only cost about 7 dollars. The thing you have to remember is storage. Its not possible to get by a store everyday and you would need to store fresh product for cooking.