Packing List for Students

Thanks NoTarps for the advice. ​

 

Get large laminated 2013 on sale now... end of year cheap.

 

For winter driving, bring long johns...

 

Those are nice, but I've found (at Wally-Mart and Rural King) insulated blue jeans. They have a liner sewn into them. Some are red/black plaid and some are brown. Roughly $20-30 depending on where you get them. They work awesome! I wear them while riding my Harley in 26* weather and the cold doesn't bother me a bit. Something worth looking into, especially for flatbeds that have to be out in the cold/wind tarping all the time.

 

Reefer drivers don't need to go overboard on warm clothes as aside from your inspection time you will be warm and toasty in the cab but a pait of insulated gloves in which you can still write with are handy when you have to count and inspect the load from a chilled dock... useful even in summer

 

I've found that the brown insulated "jersey gloves" (found at Tractor Supply or Rural King) are amazingly useful. They're warm, plus you have enough dexterity to write with them and do minor tasks such as unlocking padlocks and tractor doors. I use them regularly and always get a new pair every year. Only draw back is: once they start to wear thin and deteriorate, they go quick! Always a good idea to keep a couple pair as back up, and they're only like $5-10.

 

Would it be alright to carry a twin size compact air mattress? (Not all beds are created equal!!) And what about food?? I don't plan on spending a mint on constantly eating truck stop fair. There's plenty of non refrigerator compact foods that can fit in a small bin. I used to camp for weeks on end, lots of experience with what I'm willing to eat! Also, can't sleep on a small pillow. AND we're starting out in horrible winter weather, if we get stuck at a truck stop for 24 hours and both of us want to sleep at the same time...I can put my air mattress on the floor! (Hate sleeping in a chair... does bad things to the back and NOT sharing the bunk with a male co driver!)

 

You will have your own bunk.

 

Wearing insulated jeans is fine if you're in the cold for long periods of time. However, I found what makes people sick the most, is getting out of a too warm cab (70+F!) into freezing cold and back again without the right clothing. Wearing insulated jeans inside the cab can make you sweat your arse off (adding to hygiene issues!) then you step outside and freeze all that sweat. Try just wearing jeans in the truck and have some wind pants available to throw on just before exiting! Then the jeans become the insulation. I had to do this today as a matter of fact, when my SUV died in a parking lot, and I'm in thin pants and it's 22F outside. I had to walk home... so I pulled my emergency hat and emergency wind pants out of the back of the van and BOOM I'm warm enough and wind proof enough to walk home.

 

Do all team driving trucks have two bunks? I've seen most of the trucks PAM Transport uses and they all only seem to have one bunk. I've never seen a sleeper cab with two bunks.