What Do You Keep In Your Cab In the Winter?

Mother Nature is sure being kind to us here in northeast Ohio.  It’s a sunny day in November and that’s a pretty rare thing for us up here.  We truckers need to get serious about getting ready for winter.  When the sun’s beating down on us through the windshield, it’s hard to remember winter is coming.

What’s In Your Cab?

Getting ready for winter trucking isn’t just about getting out a warm jacket and finding your snow boots in the back of the closet.  It’s about being prepared for the snow and the emergencies a blizzard can cause.

As professionals who are paid by the mile, we don’t want to get off the road unless it’s pretty bad out there.  Time is money is miles… something like that.

I’ve tried to keep a few items in the truck to manage the harder miles.

1. Fuel Additives  Why do I keep these in the truck?  I could buy them at the truck stop when I needed them.  I keep them on hand because buying in bulk is cheaper and they don’t do me any good if they’re back home in the garage.  If the load is coming north from Alabama, getting caught in a cold snap overnight could mean that a trucker would be stuck until the fuel thaws or the service truck arrives (and I pay a bundle.)  With our sunny November day, heading up into Minnesota may be nice today – but they’re expecting to be down in the teens next week.  By keeping a bottle or two in my cab, I’m ready.
2. Extra Food and Water  During the summer, it’s not a problem to spend a couple of nights on the road between stocking up on supplies.  Easy enough to pull off the highway and find a convenience shop.  When it’s snowing, that’s not as easy to do.  Pulling into a rest area along I-70 that doesn’t have any services means you have to be prepared.  This also means you have to have food that you can prepare in your cab.  I’ve seen some pretty amazing setups for truckers to manage their own food prep.  But that leads to…
3. Heat and Fuel Gauges  Have you seen those gas generators for inside the cabs to run electrical appliances?  I’m not familiar with them, but I’ve spent a few evenings hoping I’d have enough fuel in the morning to get to the next truck stop and still keep warm all night.  Watch those fuel gauges – even the gas for the generator if you’re dependent on it.

Are You Ready for Winter?

Don’t wait to take care of the maintenance.  You might think you want to wait a few thousand more miles before replacing your tires.  But good tread isn’t optional in the winter.  That’s true about your airlines and brakes, too.

Do you keep track of your maintenance?  Are you thinking you’ll “just know” when it’s time to get work done?  Do you end up on the side of the road, paying extra for the on the road service call?

Maybe a maintenance program that can prevent those breakdowns.  We’d like to recommend you take a look at TruckingOffice trucking management software.  You’ll find not only a great maintenance schedule and record keeper, but we’ll manage invoicing, bills and expenses, and provide every report that a trucker could want to know just how the business is going.

You can try it for 30 days for free – no credit card or checking account number needed.