System drivers, what do you eat?

I ate a lot of subways. Eat half, eat half later. Sometimes I'd buy two at a time. I never trusted a 12v cooler to keep food fresh. If it's ninety degrees outside, it won't be cool enough to keep bacteria from growing, but I did have room in the truck for it. I used a regular cooler. Hotels usually have ice, some terminals have ice. Even if you have to buy it, two dollars would usually last two days, if you don't leave it in the truck in the summer months. If the company lets you bobtail to the hotel, there's usually places to stop and eat. I tried to take care of that after my trip. If you don't get out until late at night, there might not be much open. I went hungry sometimes. Which isn't all bad, because you aren't burning many calories anyway. I have wondered what those guys that get shuttled do.

 

Prep good food. Avoid fast food. Stock up on good food at a supermarket on your 30min. Don't eat out of boredom. Proteins and greens, brain uses 20% of your energy resources, give it good stuff and you'll do well and be safe.

They sell adapters for 12v coolers, plug it in at the motel plus use their freezer for ice bottles to help the cooler.

5 days underwear and socks plus one extra set of clothes. Use the extra space for your own towel and washcloth. Take earplugs to help you sleep in a place with unfamiliar noises.

 

unfortunately a lot of fast food :/ Not what I would recommend but it is the easiest. Also sandwiches

 

when i used to go from MA to VA, in a day cab...yes...i had a small portable cooler, that would fit a 6 pack, that's how small it was.

i'd have bottled water, and sandwiches, but of course, not enough. i'd take my break in VA, and return the next day, after my then, 8 hour break. i'd refill with deli sandwiches, and more bottled water, but i'd also stop at whatever truckstop(s) for a meal as well.

day cabs do limit what you can take with that passenger seat. BUT, i was able to store "some stuff" under that, as it was a fixed seat, not an air-ride. stuff like cookies, and chips. of course, i'd have to stop to get them, as it was NOT SAFE to reach and drive at the same time.

i did fine, you will too.

 

I have not done LTL system work but did car haul in day cabs for many years. I never worried about bringing perishable food, just quality snacks. Almost always found hotels with restaurants nearby, last thing I want to do after a day of loading/unloading cars and driving is worry about trying to cook food in some strange motel.

It gets tiring moving stuff from truck to truck so I could fit a week into one roller bag. Depends on the company, some make you leave the tractor at a terminal if their nearby motel has a shuttle, at least where my brother does line haul LTL does, so I imagine you don't want to carry too much crap. I know some ABF guys out west that would meet at hotels, swap out of the truck and go to bed then repeat in 10 hours with the next truck into the motel lot, so again depends on how the company operates if you want to bother with coolers.

As for room, most likely there will be room in the truck, some don't even have passenger seats so there is plenty of room for your luggage and a cooler. A carry-on sized roller bag fits nicely in front of the passenger seat in most trucks and plenty of room between the seats for the cooler.

I always just carried a small Igloo, filled with ice daily at the motel and it kept my drinks and small stuff just fine. Before smartphones and such I also had a tackle box with my am/fm radio, CB and some speakers that would go from truck to truck with me since most of our trucks did not have factory stereos. Now I would just use a rechargeable Bluetooth speaker and my smartphone for music, but back then it was a necessary pain in the arse if you wanted music while driving.

I will have to see if I can find and scan any pictures of the old setup, making me nostalgic for the "good old days", not really!

Here is a typical LTL linehaul tractor, this one happens to be from ABF but many are set up the same. Notice the two eyelets on the back wall, that is for securing your luggage while in motion.

Even with seats many daycabs are roomier than they appear like this one from A. Duie Pyle.

 

yup, i was able to stuff things under my near exact passenger seat. my triangle box, was behind the driver seat. then there was room, between the shifter and the back wall....to double stack if i had to.

 

what is that pedal on the left there for?

 

A special foot rest to keep you comfy and stop you from falling out of the seat.

 

I will say my beat up volvo I drive is pretty spacious for a daycab. I keep a yeti cooler between the seats.