Best place to find gear

Truck stops are for emergencies! Unless you want to pay $20 for toilet paper or $50 bucks for a plastic pair of pliers made in Taiwan!

Walmart, Radio Shack, RV supply stores (some are expensive). Some of the electronic super stores have good deals from time to time. Flea markets, E-bay, other truckers selling stuff (except gold and DVDs!) etc... Craigslist is a really good place too! A lot of new drivers who can't hack it will be liquidating their stuff to try and pay their school bill!

Whatever you do, wait until you are issued your truck to buy the bulk of your stuff! Your trainer isn't going to let you take that stuff with you and you also don't know what kind of truck you are going to be issued. They are all set-up different and some stuff fits in some while others it won't. Go ahead and comb around stores and websites and make a wish list and maybe check some prices. Once you are issued your truck, drive it to Walmart, get yourself a measuring tape and go for broke! Also try to stay away from buying stuff from the truck manufacturers. ie: Freightliner, Volvo, Pete etc... A $100 fridge from Walmart is going to cost you $1000.00 at Volvo! Another factor will be that if you are issued a truck it may already have stuff in it, like a fridge, microwave, Satellite radio etc... Sometimes if you get an old owner op truck they tend to leave their crap in it!

On a side note, if you are serious about driving and can make it happen, I would highly advise you getting your foot in the door ASAP! Reason being, you want to get some time in with a trainer during the winter months. Come next year you will be caught with your pants down if not! So if you can push up your due date I recommend you do so.

 

This is excellent Advise! Start now and get a full winters worth of driving. Driving thru a miserable winter can make or break a new driver.

 

just about everything in my truck came from ebay. lots to choose from use your brain. it is your truck. you got to live in it everyday.

 

Are you serious? You have your Coast Guard Captains License, under 100 ton I'm guessing, and 350-400 is all you are pulling in a week? Say it ain't so!!! I used to commercial fish and that is just horrible. Thought there was money to be made on the Big Muddy. Best of luck to you. You are getting some good advice regarding your future needs. Have you decided about flatbedding? That is the route I would advise. But then again, I have never done a van or refer.

 

Got it. You were saying that in the future that is not much money. Understand now. I took it that you meant that is what you are making and it would take you some time to get ahead with your bills. Thought I had remembered on another thread you were trying to decide van or flat. Could of been someone else. I suppose Crete or KLLM are as good as any to get your foot in the door. Never done van myself. Never will. I have been to the NE many times over the years. It can be a challenge that is for sure. I try and stay away from there for the most part but still have to go there every now and then. Best of luck with your new career. It can be the best some days, and not the best others. Overall though, I still enjoy it.

 

Great advice from all above. The only thing I would add is don't go crazy once you get your own truck. I got mine and went out the first month and half with the bear essentials in it. By then I knew what I needed and what I wanted. Some of the things I thought about getting right at first I didn't really need and they would just take up space in a small sleeper. Most of what I got came from craigslist or ebay. My fridge cost me only $20 on craigslist and works and fits perfectly. If you go slowly you will have all you need and save money.

 

i would rather go with a cooler over an actual fridge makes me eat whats in there cause i have limited time before it spoils.