Do Truckers have issues with food?

Not an issue for me.

Wife shops well for the truck. I've got a fridge/freezer/microwave on the truck.

Plenty of good quality low cost food and leftovers from home on the truck. In addition to what she sends from the weekend leftovers she's a coupon master and rarely pays more than 30% of full price on any food items.

I stay away from the fast food / truckstop reheated nightmares. That's the quickest way to both get fat and go broke.

Occasionally if I'm parked close to a longhorn or similar steak house I'll treat myself but I spend very little on the road and eat better food than what's generally available in places you can get a truck into.

Sadly, those like me are in the minority.

 

Home.
Pretty much.
Yes.
Yes.

Never been a particularly food-fixated person... If anything, I could probably eat more.

 

Food is very important, without it you die.

I don't have any issues on the road. If you only stop where your company tells you to fuel you will have issues.

 

Each week I consume:
1 bag apples
1 bag oranges
1 container cottage cheese
1 bag salad
2 box cereal
1 bottle tomato juice
1 bag bagels
2 breast chicken, baked and cut for sandwiches.
1 gallon milk
2 cans tuna
2 quarts guava juice
1 avocado
5 gallons water

Once a week I get flying j pizza and a soda.... It's a happy day.... And sometimes a donut.

This is generally my weekly list. Wife shops.

Fridge on truck.

 

I eat whatever I find on the side of the road. Some days its feast, some days famine -

 

If you can sweep the flies off down by the Rio Grande and keep em off long enough to consume it, and drive a thousand miles while gut sick... it's all good.

My world is formal truckstops with all the trimmings, services and so on. That usually means a well stocked and maintains 76 of the old school. Sadly all of that went bye bye over the years. Some stops were bought and then converted to big box stores leaving you parked on the shoulder walking to a fast food joint and returning to find a ticket wedged under your wiper. Because your name etc is not on that ticket it's not a problem basically blank.

Teamed with the wife, we hit the walmart in Larimie once every 6 weeks or so, bought everything in the place enough for lewis and clark to continue on their expedition. That food was cheaper than feeding two on retail crap. It's still crap but it's cookable crap. lol.

My favorite in the eastern mountains is the odd pit beef place stand on the highway whereever they set up. Get piles of roast beef and so on for nothing. Store those in the cooler. A bag of mix it gravy and chop bread (French or similar) goes with it for a good long time.

Even a pair of dutch ovens tied to the truck's power, basically small crockpots. Throw whatever you need in there, onions, ham, taters and something extry, drive a day. Pull in a hole up, open oven and enjoy a tv or video. No need to pay more than a few dollars for the materials. Beats 20 dollars retail.

You learn to make do with what you have got. Where you got. That means roach coaches. Little shiny trucks that bring, coffee, food, sweets etc etc etc to your docks in Jersey or NY somewhere. Some of those people whip up a hell of a meal and don't ask for much. Sometimes fill your thermos behind your back with coffee. God help me I love them. They are not gormet mind you. But compared to what is inside the dock offices, it's good eating.

Certain cities around the USA feature certain foods. Take Philly, Southwest section near the old stadium and food distributions by the Navy yard. Used to be some cheese steak vendors hand you what would be two times a subway foot long for 4.50 and tax stuffed with what they like in Philly. Throw a couple more in wraps and stack em on the shelf for later because there might not be food for 30 to 40 hours where you are headed because you wont stop. Foil wrapped helps heat em on the manifold when idle a while. Not too often or too long.

Just thinking about the feasts and famine over the years makes me think I should head back out there. But I wont. You make do with what you find where you are when you are. Because it might be a while with those load schedules.

And I saved the best for last.

Customer turns up a nose at two cases of damaged goods. You will either have it taken out of your check, transfer to whole sale, unload there or see it donated. Or... they can hand it to you and say enjoy. And there you are with 10 tubs of powerful salsa or something. Yum. Sometimes not so yum. Those get saved for barter with the next shipper who has a hungry crew. I once traded about 30 pounds of butter stick for 10 minute loading inside NYC so I could make the GW before the rush outbound. Dispatcher wondered where is that butter? Never you mind that #### butter, I got you loaded didnt I?

 

Issues with food? Apparently not...

 

Fingers?