Useful hand tools and supplies

You know what's funny....in over a dozen years of driving, I've carried all this stuff virtually all this time, and in truth I've needed a lot LESS of it than more.

But peace of mind is a wonderful thing. And if you're flatbedding, you'll use more of it than I ever have has a van puller.

 

The problem is, you never know WHAT you will need or WHEN you will need it...so when you need it, you either you have it with you or you don't. A tool at home in the shop doesn't do you a lick of good when you need it in the middle of BFE. I get paid by the ton, and I could easily drop anywhere between 1/4 and 1/2 ton off my empty weight if I just emptied out my tool box....however, then when you blow a hose under the hood and you've got to remove the oil filter to get at it (which reminds me of another tool I carry...a filter wrench)...and then you've got to unbolt the steel pipe coming off the water pump in order to get the ruptured hose off and put the new hose on....the difference between $20 for a NAPA, Auto Zone, or any other parts store delivery truck to run a hose, tube-o-goo form-a-gasket (to put the steel hose back onto the water pump), and a few gallons of water so that you can fix it yourself in a matter of an hour or two vs. sitting around for 3 hours waiting on a service truck to come out, then having to wait for the service truck to make the trip to NAPA, Auto Zone, etc. to get the stuff he needs to fix you up...and then waiting for the repair guy to make the repairs before handing you a $500+ repair bill....the difference is HUGE! Granted, in the long run I'm probably losing money carrying the tools around...but I know I'll never be at the mercy of some unknown repair guy in a service truck. I just feel better doing the work myself.

I used to carry the bare minimum...couple screw drivers and a set of combination wrenches. Then I started hauling logs...and when you're deep in the woods and tear something up, a service truck ain't going to come find you...and it's a long hike out to get a cell phone signal. You have to use what you've got to get the truck back to civilization. These days, I pull a dump or pneumatic tank...and MOST of the time, I use my tools to help other drivers get their trucks patched back together to make it back to the shop. There was one company truck broke down with a blown hose and he'd spent over an hour trying to get ahold of breakdown. I had that hose cleaned up, duct taped, and reinforced with heavy duty zip ties (there's another thing I forgot....good, high quality zip ties. I prefer the ones that have 100 pound or greater strength rating) before we topped him off with water and sent him on his way. I saw him a few days later and he said the shop told him that was the best road-fix they'd seen...that he could have driven it like that for a while. Just last week, there was a farmer pulled into the fuel stop with his brakes smoking. He had a can leaking fast enough that his tractor brakes were dragging. He had a pair of vice grips, so we pinched off the line to stop the leak. For some reason, we couldn't get a cage bolt to work, so we just backed that brake off and sent him on his way. He only had to go 1/2 mile up the road to empty his trailer and then 5-10 miles back to his shop.

If I have a choice, I'd MUCH rather use my tools to help out another driver....that doesn't cost me any money. When I've got to use them on my own truck, that usually means I've got to buy parts to replace whatever broke...and I don't enjoy spending money.

 

Bingo! The ONE time I need a left-handed, magnetic, racheting Phillips-head crescent crimping screwdriver, I wouldn't have it.

Never fails.

 

That's pretty much my philosophy about tools. I started out with a basic set, with a good range of sizes (keeping in mind that on a bigger truck, bigger wrenches are needed). Then, any time I work on the truck and I find I need a tool that I don't have, I buy 2. 1 for the garage, and one for the tool box on the truck. I figure if I needed it once, I'll probably need it again, and it is easier to work at home out of the garage tool box than it is to tear into my side box each and every time I have to do anything....but if it ain't on the truck, I'll be buying it AGAIN if I need it on the road anyway, so I may as well get 'em both and keep both boxes well stocked.

 

I'd be lost without a pair of scissors.

 

Ah, memories! Yes, scissors are a good addition...you just can't run with 'em in the truckstop!

Actually, I have a little pair on my Swiss Army Knife, but they are totally useless when I have to trim the edges off of a 37-page bill of lading from Proctor and Gamble or Nestles or Kelloggs so they'll fit into the Transflow scanner.

And yet...I do not have a good pair of scissors on board. I've relied on the truckstop counter folk to lend me a pair. So far, so good.

(Of course, that will change next week, I'm sure.....)


....and Big Chief Pad....man....decades since I've heard that mentioned.....Wowza.....