'Must Have' Tools

I carry them

 

True, only time I have caged was was for a broken airline following a blowout. Limped in off US 59 south of Houston rather than sit there in the middle of the night on 2 lane road.

 

A spool of rebar tie wire and lineman's plyers, because zip ties break and aren't strong enough for a lot of fixes.

 

Zip ties are one of many must have supplies imho

 

Sounds like you just need stronger zip ties. I've seen them rated as high as 250 lbs...but you won't find them at wally world.

 

Ok, so you say lights, on a lot of trailer that might require sockets to get out, on others, a drill and a rivet gun to replace the lights. You say fuel filters, I say tools. You say mudflaps, I say tools.

What about some very basic wiring issues? They require tools.

So yes, I agree that someone who doesn't know what they are doing shouldn't be getting into a lot of stuff. But most of these people who cause problems shouldn't even be driving in the first place. To say that a driver should have nothing but the number to breakdown is just a bit stupid.

If one of your drivers were to pick up a trailer and the tire was ten psi low, do you want him to call roadside? Or air it up with his hose? If he finds a slack adjuster out of adjustment, do you want him calling roadside over it? Or take the 30 seconds to fix it and get moving again?

 

I carry zip ties too. Heavy duty zip ties require a pretty big thread hole. Wire is a quick, strong fix for flapping trailer skirt sections. Small hole with awl, piece of wire, done.

 

cigarette lighter works great until you check the empty tank

 

Zip ties and tie wire serve somewhat different purposes in my opinion. I carry both, as well as Velcro wire wrap, and multiple types of tape. I keep a bit of Paracord on the truck too.