New Truck Items!

I carry disposable gloves for fineness in things such as changing light bulbs, and for applying fifth wheel grease, as to not get any on my work gloves. Also a set of screwdrivers. I also have alligator clips for sealing snack bags.

Little Family Dollar rugs ($6.50 x 3) that I lay down between the seats and two in the bunk area. When I'm on home time, I take them out and wash them along with my fueling gloves and hand towels that I used to wipe off my dog's feet. It is the last load I do before I head back out again, because those rugs get pretty darn dirty.

Since I have a dog who hates bad weather (rain, thunder/lightning, freezing below 0° temps), I carry pee pads for him that I get at Family Dollar. During bad weather, because many places I go for my containers are dirt lots, I place a pee pad between the seats on top of the rugs I have in here and put wet/dirty shoes on them to absorb the liquids. I have a little handheld, rechargeable vacuum to help keep the dog hair and dirt out of the truck. I also have an air hose, but don't know how to hook it up, so for now I use the vacuum to keep my truck clean.

With my points for fueling, I have one of those seat pocket holders that allows me to hold a lot of little items and my Rand McNally Atlas in one handy spot.

Laura

I forgot to mention tarp straps. I use them to hold my air tank drain cables open while I do other things. They are also useful to help keep chains in place on tires.

CB. Lotsa gloves, one set specifically for fueling. I use the fifth wheel grease packets. Plastic bags for trash. Air hose that connects to the gladhand so you can top off your tires or get you down the road to the service station if you're really low.

Some things will vary depending on your situation - for instance, I never need 5th wheel grease because I hook to a trailer at the yard, out for 7 days, then drop trailer at the yard, and the shop does the grease.

I second BK's suggestion for binos, in addition to reading signs at customers, they are great for animal watching.

In the pocket on my drivers door, I keep an old dish soap squeeze bottle that I fill with clean water, along with a bottle of foaming pump hand soap. Along with an old hand towel through the door handle - it's my hand wash station - washing my hands before getting in the truck goes a long way to keeping things clean inside the truck.

Some basic first aid things, bandaids, aspirin, peroxide.

Water. I have saved gallon size vinegar jugs, and fill them up with water when I'm home. I typically take along a gallon per day + 1, so 8 gallons for a week.

A few random pieces of 2x4 wood, I just scavenge those when I see 'em, 6" pieces or such have come in handy along the way, good if I need to add vertical height to a load lock.

A bottle of rubbing alcohol. Useful if the trailer air line gets some moisture in the winter.

A basic set of clothes for all conditions you may encounter; rain, snow, hot, cold. Depends on where you run, but it's crazy how much the weather varies for OTR drivers.

Some amount of food with shelf life; protein bars, protein powder, peanut butter, crackers, canned soup/vegetables - you may get stuck somewhere for a while, and it's best to be prepared.

Forgot to mention before, a bottle of Dawn dish soap !! Good for when your windshields full of bugs that have dried up, before you fuel or stop ! Squirt a dab on the wash sticks at the fuel island, wash over the glass, let sit a bit. Then go over it again, and those bugs splats will be gone, leaving you with a nice clean windshield lol.......

Couple times, right after I fueled and cleaned my windows, I'll be damned, if not within 10 minutes going thru Kansas/Missouri, the bugs were splattered all over AGAIN grrrrrrr

Everyone mentioned pretty much everything, I'll add in, DON'T FORGET YOUR DOCUMENTS...

*D. Lic, *Medcard (short and long form), *Birth Certificate, *Social Security Card, *Blank check or a deposit slip from bank, *Last 10 yrs of job history (sometimes you'll have to go through your application while in orientation, and it helps to have this history written down already to make going through it easier..), Make sure to have Business Name, Address, Start and end dates (month and year) and Position held. I have a file saved in google called Job History, that gets updated when I end/start a new job

of all the tools Ive taken with me over the years, a nice set of wire strippers, crimps (i like the ones that you heat and it does the soldering and heat shrink all in one) have been the best thing ever, and a role of red and black wire. Doing a simple electrical repair can save you soooo much down time. Most of the loves/speedco shops are first come first serve and if you get in there while they are changing tires and brakes on a truck, it might be a few hours before they see you.. changing a light bulb, or fixing a break in a wire can save you and the company time. time is money on the road. speaking of lights, keep a spare bulb for each light of the truck if you can. sometimes if you hit up the shop at the yard, they'll give you a few to keep on hand, extra wiper blades is good too, and glad hand seals.. if you ever go south south Texas, or way south CA, you'll find trailers missing these little black rubbers all the time, id keep a handful or two on hand.