Must-Haves for OTR

Which company are you going with?
Don't over pack since you'll be with a trainer for awhile. Pack your stuff in a flexible bag, not a hard suitcase. There's not storage room for a hard suitcase, especially with a trainer also in the truck.
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I used to live in Pensacola/Beulah/Milton.

 

Duct tape and zip ties. You can do an impressive amount of limping along if necessary with these two staples. A pleasant demeanor, and a forgiving attitude can help make valuable friendships along the way.

 

Maybe @UturnGirl will give you advice.

 

I use one of these (with the binder taken out) for BOLs and other paperwork:

 

If you haven't already -- start out by loading up on those CDL endorsements: tanker, hazmat (ESPECIALLY hazmat)...& doubles/triples.

You'll need those endorsements to make yourself more appealing to would-be employers in the current dismal CDL job market.

-- L

 

Buy a good size back pack or ruck sack that can fit in an overhead of a bus, plane or train. Always have the following:

• Enough food and water to survive for 48 hours in an emergency
• A quality Road Atlas
• A Multi purpose Tool
• Be able to survive in any type of weather environment in the absence of truck heat or a/c
• The resources to get home on your own dime from anywhere in the country
• A notebook to log your day to day activities, loads, shippers and receivers and the names of individuals
• Spare battery or source of independent power for your cell
• Pens!

 

Leave the kitchen sink at home; take everything else!

 

You need a good flashlight

my favorite is the Nitecore P10

also a good knife , my fave is the Spiderco Delica

and good gloves ,
My fave is the Mechanix brand from an auto parts store .

make sure
You have photographs of your CDL and med card etc In a email or something you can retrieve if you lose your wallet .
Email or text them to
A trusted friend etc



might wanna put a Tile tracker or apple tracker in your wallet

I recently helped a friend of mine locate their wallet , they had a Tile tracker in it and while they had lost it on my property, we would never have found it without the Tile tracker .

and as mentioned , always keep some bottled water and granola bars and T paper and baby wipes etc .
If case you get stuck In a traffic jam for hours .

it happens more than you think .
Big crash or forest fire shuts down the interstate for Hours and you’re trapped , with no food no bathroom etc

 

Work gloves, seasonally appropriate outerwear, changes of clothes, flashlight, pen, notebook, and a backpack to hold it that can fit in the overhead rack of a Greyhound bus.

Greyhound gift card with $200 loaded on it, which should be enough to get you home, or at least pretty close to it, from anywhere in the country. (Unless you live in one of the extreme corners of the USA)

I wish I still had your enthusiasm for this job.

Good luck!