Packing List for Students

Well, at the time I was.limited to $50 a week to live on. That included all meals so there wasn't cash for a shower I had to depend on him. Now that I'm on my own and racking up showers on the cards I shower at least every other day. Sometimes everyday just doesn't happen.

 

Yeah, I wasn't slamming you Nascarchuck, trainees are along for the ride. Sit at any truck stop and watch the drivers going in, I swear it looks like a homeless kitchen. Take a #### shower and wash your clothes! No wonder our reputation is in the toilet. There is no excuse, showers are free and only a few bucks a week for laundry. Unfortunatley some drivers just want to stink up the TV room and look like sewer rats. I dropped a traineee off my truck once because he thought once a week was good enough. Sorry, 2 people living in a 7x10 space 24/7 it gets bad quickly if you don't take care of the hygene.

 

Ok mayby this driver, and i dont mean too bash big drivers not my intent here, but some big guys and gals can shower in like 3 hours ago and now 4 hours latter they smell as they never had a shower in a week, so to go forward, we have too look at people and there sweat glands , im a small person , but when its hot out ,i like too shower three times a day , becuse i dont like too smell bad ,and when i get smelly , i smell like a skunk, so before we bash other drivers we have too understand them, , it's true mayby some do not like too take showers in a training truck, i know i didnt, becuse , i didnt know this person, so while i'm in the shower , he might take off, thats was my fear , when i m on the training truck,

 

A neat trick -- and a most useful item -- is a shower curtain rod. For most sleepers, their cabinets go all the way to the top of the ceiling (ProStars do not). Take your shower curtain and wedge it between the top cabinet and the back wall of the sleeper. Put a washrag, or any kind of padding between the rod and bunk so as not to damage the material. And voila! Extra space to hang coats, rain gear, shirts, et al.
This keeps your clothes neat, organized, and, most importantly, out of your trainers space.

 

I just came in from OTR. I'm still driving, just on a dedicated account now. My addition/suggestion for students going OTR deals with laundry. To save room on the truck, instead of packing seperate bottles of detergent and dryer sheets, pack 1 box of the Purell 3-in-1 sheets. My trainer told me about them and I love them! You can find them at Wal-mart(every drivers favorite store ) in the laundry aisle. They store easy in your laundry bag. The package they come in is approx. 6"x9".
Another thing to have is post-it notes. When you are at your fuel stops, you have to enter 3 or 4 sets of numbers: 1)HUB; 2)truck#; 3) Trip #; and 4)depending on what trk stp chain, sometimes your DOT #). The post-it notes allow you to write all numbers that you will need down so you can keep your fuel stop as short as possible.

 

Personal Items
Shampoo, Deodorant, toothpaste, razors, shave gel, TP, cologne, After shave, Floss.
Smoking materials of so desired.
2 pair clear prescription glasses, 1 pair sunglasses if required.
1 box prophylactics if so indicated.



Clothing
7 shirts (SS) 3 shirts (LS) (At least one Hawaiian Flowerdy Shirt and cuban pimp suit- the suit of for when you have to go to TA East in Ontario, CA. Call it camouflage.)
2 pr blue jeans 6 pr sweats
Thermal underwear (if winter)
Boxers (8pr) (or Briefs your choice)
Overcoat (if winter)
Gloves (VERY IMPORTANT!!!)
Rain Gear
At least 1 pair of steel toe boots. Many places now require them due ot OSHA regulations.


Other Items*
Logbook carrier, laptop, camera, camcorder, CB radio, blue pens, pencils, notebook. Acoustic Guitar. (hey you never know!)

Cell phone Bluetooth headset. 12v car charger for phone and laptop. Inverter if allowed.


Some of these items are only after you get your own rig. Use common sense to decide what you need!

 

a credit card with at least a $5,000 line on it so if something go's wrong you can get home from anywhere in the US. I've heard of trainers getting angry at students and leaving them at a truckstop, trucks blowing up on the road and companies telling people to "wait it out" and about everything you can imagine. I never worried because I had a CC in my pocket and could leave anytime anywhere (never had to) if the situation required it. Also in a family emergency if the company refused to route you home you can park the truck in a secure location and hop a plane.

 

I thought all ink pen's had too be black ink on the log book's , mayby just me.