Profile For Deb R.

Fresh outta school, I might have panicked over a nail. After 9 years out in the real world, I would shrug it off, go get loaded, and deal with it later.

Hiya, Deb: It's no big deal, but it was not me who said this. I do agree with Pianoman though...touching someone else's equipment without their permission is a no-no.

Oops. My apologies!

My bottom line, as RealDiehl said:

If nothing else I hope people reading this at least gather that from this thread—don’t assume things and don’t touch another driver’s equipment without their express knowledge and/or consent.

I'm going to second what Steve L. said about staying ahead of the pain & doing the PT. My BIL tried to "tough it out" by not taking the pain meds as prescribed, then it hurt too much to do the PT work, and as a result, he had a much harder time recovering. Follow the Drs. orders!

Some things will vary depending on your situation - for instance, I never need 5th wheel grease because I hook to a trailer at the yard, out for 7 days, then drop trailer at the yard, and the shop does the grease.

I second BK's suggestion for binos, in addition to reading signs at customers, they are great for animal watching.

In the pocket on my drivers door, I keep an old dish soap squeeze bottle that I fill with clean water, along with a bottle of foaming pump hand soap. Along with an old hand towel through the door handle - it's my hand wash station - washing my hands before getting in the truck goes a long way to keeping things clean inside the truck.

Some basic first aid things, bandaids, aspirin, peroxide.

Water. I have saved gallon size vinegar jugs, and fill them up with water when I'm home. I typically take along a gallon per day + 1, so 8 gallons for a week.

A few random pieces of 2x4 wood, I just scavenge those when I see 'em, 6" pieces or such have come in handy along the way, good if I need to add vertical height to a load lock.

A bottle of rubbing alcohol. Useful if the trailer air line gets some moisture in the winter.

A basic set of clothes for all conditions you may encounter; rain, snow, hot, cold. Depends on where you run, but it's crazy how much the weather varies for OTR drivers.

Some amount of food with shelf life; protein bars, protein powder, peanut butter, crackers, canned soup/vegetables - you may get stuck somewhere for a while, and it's best to be prepared.

I sometimes hand wash a few items. The safety net for the top bunk sticks up against the back wall, I just fling things over that and everything dries overnight.

I went to Technical College at age 57 to learn how to drive a semi and get my CDL. I've been driving OTR now for just shy of 9 years. There is no age barrier, no gender barrier.

The Platte river is right there, if you can find a local outfitter for canoe/kayak rental, that shuttles you out and back, that would be fun.

I started out cooking in the truck, but like you said, did not appreciate having it smell like a greasy spoon in there. So I did exactly what you've got set up - a tv tray with an electric frypan. I did that a few times, and got tired of the hassle factor. Now that I have a 7-day turnaround, I can premake meals at home, and just heat stuff up in the microwave. Still make salads in the truck though. If you are on FB, there is a group called "Big Trucks Cooking", and you can see the wide variety of things people cook up while OTR.

When I think back on some of the bonehead things I have done, it amazes me. Your "trip to Mexico" made me laugh; I somehow got into the line of traffic waiting to board the QE2 cruise ship when I was supposed to be at the shipyards. La-la-la . . . When I make a mistake, I reflect and ask myself "okay, what did I learn from this?", and move on from there.