There is a lot of necessary tools and items that I wish I had when I first started trucking. One of the biggest problems was that I didn’t know what i needed until I saw other drivers using it. I want to help you with suggestions and durable items you can buy for your truck that will make your life more pleasant on the road at a good price. Try not to buy at truck stops as you will get charged way too much. Shop and compare!! Always check that the wattage on the appliance is rated for under what your inverter is at before you buy. Everything on my list of recommendations is rated for less than 2000 watts.

CLICK ON ANY OF THE PICTURES BELOW TO CHECK OUT MY RECOMMENDATION

DRONE

DJI Mini 2 Fly More Combo – Ultralight Foldable Drone, 3-Axis Gimbal with 4K Camera, 12MP Photos, 31 Mins Flight Time, OcuSync 2.0 10km HD Video Transmission

This is the best drone that you can LEGALLY use anywhere because of the weight. The drone only weighs 249 grams, which is the max allowed weight to fly anywhere, so it is considered a toy. Anything over 250 grams is considered a small aircraft that has to abide by the FFA regulations, the little thing does not have to. So if you want to bring your own spotter with you when you want to back up your truck, this is the guy you want to bring.

Now here is the thing that is great, you may not even need to fly it, you could just lay it down on the ground and point the camera in the direction where you would need a spotter to be, for those times that it may be too windy or too dark to fly.

Click here to check it out on amazon

 

Air Fryer That Will Work In Your Truck

This Air Fryer will be perfect for cooking in your truck. Make sure you have an inverter that is at least 2000 watts. See below in inverter recommendation. You might want to run your truck while you are cooking. I wouldn’t run any other appliance at the same time.

Leaf Blower for cleaning the inside of your trailer in seconds

This one is a great time saver that you will want to have. You are going to be required to have a clean trailer when you are loading. And you could do it the hard way and sweep the trailer with a broom, or you can do it in just 30 seconds with a leaf blower. I recommend this one but they will all do the job. Click here to check out the best prices.

If you are going to want to chat with the rest of your new co-workers out there on the road, you are going to need a CB Radio. Cobra is definitely one of the leading brands out there. Click here to see the best prices.

Personally this is my favorite mount for my truck. It’s very good and cheap. I even have the heaviest phone, the Galaxy Note 10, and it has never slipped off. I actually have them all over my truck, even under the top bunk so I can just look up and watch whatever is playing on my phone. Click here for best prices


If your company does not provide an powerful inverter you are going to have to get one of these.

This is must have if you are going to cook food or run any appliances in your truck. It will run pretty much anything. Get at least a 2000 watt max, 4000 watt peak inverter. Anything less might not run your microwave or especially your electric kettle. Click here to compare

This is a 3 Cubic foot fridge. This is a must have for the driver who wants to eat somewhat healthy or just doesn’t want to eat out all the time. It runs on low power and will last over 34 hrs without turning on the truck. Now that is presuming you have a good inverter and good truck batteries. The freezer is a different compartment too. I just love my fridge-freezer!!!

I do not recommend that you have a fridge that plugs into the 12 volts in your truck. It will drain your battery a lot faster than one that is 120v that plugs into the inverter.

This is another must have when you are out on the road. There might be healthier ways to heat up your food, but this is the easiest way. Just make sure that the max output is not greater than the inverter and I recommend keeping your truck running when you are heating something up too. Check out what amazon has, this one seems to be the cheapest and has voice functions. 

Personally,  I use this every day. I’m actually a fan of some of the instant coffees that are out here like Nescafe Taster’s Choice. It’s great for that quick cup of coffee or if you are into drinking tea.

I know that lots of people just microwave their water for their tea, but that seems to just destroy the water somehow and ruin a great cuppa. And sometimes you just need to heat up some water for some reason. It’s very handy to have.

This is something that I hear that many drivers have. You can use it like a slow cooker or a pressure cooker. There are so many things that you can cook with one of these. Presuming that you have a fridge, you can cook food for yourself for a few days. Be sure that you have one that you inverter can handle too. This one is just fine. Here is a link for this and you can find other here too.


You can also cook your food with a portable stove top. You are just going to have to be careful with the open flame, maybe use it outside on the catwalk. If you use the stove top just be careful of the heat on top, it does not cool down very quickly. I used both of these to cook my food at one time in my career.

The good ol’ toast oven, I loved having one of these in my truck. Great for cooking fries and pizza.

Since you are going to be spending half your life on the truck bed, you should really treat yourself to a topper for the mediocre mattress that your company will provide, This is the one that I got, and it really made a difference. It might be easy to go to Walmart to grab one too.

Get yourself some tools for those times you will be able to fix something yourself. You are not a mechanic and most of the time your company will be happier hiring someone to fix whatever is broken. But there will be a few things you can do yourself. This is just a simple tool kit that you can buy.

DJI Mavic Air Quadcopter with Remote Controller – Arctic White 

This is the Drone that I use to make my Videos up in the air. It is better than the smaller one but it is not legal to use everywhere due to it weighing more than 250 grams, you will have to follow FAA guidlines.

A reflective vest is required at various consignees, some will have spares if you don’t have one, but not all will or if they do they could all be in use which could cause you to have to wait and eat up some valuable on duty time. Better to spend the extra couple bucks and have your own! Especially in a time when we have to worry about transferable viruses.  

  1. Clipboards with storage allow you stay organized and In the trucking industry organization is the key to success, whether it be keeping your sanity, making a D.O.T. officer happy, or if  you just need storage for BOL’s.

Don’t rely on your smart phone GPS! The common GPS is not built nor programmed truckers. A GPS that is programmed for truckers such as this one will keep you off prohibited roads and show you the correct, legal, and safest path to your destnation.

DISCLAIMER: If you want to read a story about why phone GPS is bad then keep reading, If not then do the right thing and get a trucker GPS

My buddy always used his phone for his GPS, he was crossing the California/ Arizona boarder, when he got to Blythe, CA the traffic was at a dead stop. He looked at his phone GPS and it showed a 12 hour delay on a one way road because of an accident, however his GPS showed an alternate route going around the accident, needless to say he took the alternate route and as he was driving he noticed the road started having gravel patches, pot holes, chunks of roadway missing, and no end of this in sight.  The biggest problem is this back country road was also one way and he had no room to turn around! Finally he got to the turn he was supposed to make to get back on the interstate, the turn went straight down a sand dune then immediately a 90 degree left turn up a steep sand dune, while fully loaded. The good news is he made it, however his trailer was tipping but recovered, but if it had gone over he would’ve most likely lost his job and been too scared to drive again.   Please a get a proper GPS and be and safe as possible. i am here to help in all aspects and hope each and everyone of you are safe and successful drivers!  

 

 

It is inevitable that you will eventually get inspected by DOT, if your truck is out of sorts and garbage is spewed out everywhere then you are increasing your chances by a large margin of getting violations. KEEP YOUR TRUCK CLEAN! GET A GARBAGE CAN!  

Dawn and or dusk glare by the sun can really affect your visibility, the visors actually rarely come in handy, having sun screens on your driver and passenger windows can really improve your safety as well as the traffic around you, protect your eyes and visibility with some shade.

Diesel is a very pungent fuel and you will smell it for hours if it gets on your hands. Get yourself some gloves for fueling.

Charging ports are a necessity that you can never have too many of.

Keeping jugs of water in your truck is always necessary, but if you get yourself an insulated water jug you can keep water cold for at least 24 hours. It will come in handy when you are in those heat waves of 100+ degrees!  

Accidents happen to everyone, when you are out the middle of nowhere and you get injured you should always have a back up plan. ALWAYS carry a first aid kit.

When you have down time as a trucker activities can be minimal, after your done exercising or reading a book, T.V. can come in handy. This is an inexpensive T.V. that comes in various sizes and can also hook up to WIFI when you’re at a truck stop…. 25 inches is a good size for a truck.

Bolt cutters are almost always needed when you get to your destination, most of the time YOU will be breaking the seal on the trailer and some shippers use metal wire braided seals.


Self adhering hooks can help you hang up pesky obstacles or loose necessities such as, broom & dust pan, clothes, or anything else you may need to get out of your way.

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