Truckin' with Tamie
From CEOs to mechanics to truck drivers, women are revolutionizing the transportation industry. Tune in to "Truckin' with Tamie" where host Tamie explores the ins and outs of trucking, showcasing how this formerly male-dominated field is now opening its doors to women worldwide. We cover the issues affecting women entering the industry for the first time, CDL Schools and training programs, and adjusting to life on the road. We will interview women in various positions in the trucking industry, and get the real scoop on what to expect as a woman in this field.
Truckin' with Tamie
New CDL Drivers: What do I pack for my training?
Ever wondered how to fit your entire life into just three bags for life on the road? Join me, Tamie, as I unravel the secrets to efficient and organized packing for new CDL drivers embarking on a journey with their trainers. Drawing from my personal journey as a former trainer and experienced female driver, I promise to guide you through the art of packing a shower bag, a clothing essentials bag, and a bedding bag. Discover why personal hygiene should never be compromised and how simple choices like zippered baggies and personal towels can make your travel more comfortable and tidy.
Embrace the trucking lifestyle with confidence as we explore the essentials of loading and unloading a trainer’s truck with ease. Even if you’re concerned about leaving something behind, I reassure you that most of your needs are covered. Tap into the wealth of online resources and employer-provided lists to fill in any gaps. Whether you're a rookie driver or just seeking some practical tips, I warmly welcome you to the world of trucking. Feel free to reach out with any questions—this episode is your ticket to a smoother and more enjoyable road experience.
Hi, I'm Tammy, your host of Truckin'. With Tammy, today we are going to answer the question for new CDL drivers what do I pack and how do I pack it? I get this question a lot. In the last few days I've actually been talking to a new driver out of Texas that is waiting for her trainer so she can go out on the road, and we've been going back and forth about what she should pack and how she should pack it. So I thought, well, I'm going through all this anyway, I'm going to go ahead and share that information with all of you. So when all the new students go out there and start researching it, they have a resource.
Speaker 1:So when you're going out on a road with a trainer, you have to keep in mind that you will be sharing a truck with somebody else and that somebody else that trainer generally lives in their truck full time. For most companies, I mean, there are exceptions to the rule, like Walmart, where they go home at the end of the every week, or, if you're with somebody, that is a home daily account. But for the most part, most of the trainers are over the road trainers who are in that truck full time. So you want to be respectful of their space, and sometimes there's not a lot of space to be respectful of. So how do we make it work? How do we pack up our lives when we could be out on the road for weeks to months at a time? Well, you've got to be pretty thrifty. So my recommendation and this is not a must be this way. This is my recommendation as a female driver and a prior trainer. I recommend having three bags. You're going to have a shower bag, you're going to have a clothing essential bag and you're going to have a bag with all your bedding in it, and I'm going to break that down for you. So the first bag that we're going to take a look at is our shower bag. This is the stuff that keeps us clean, keeps that hygiene on point and has all our girly stuff or guys stuff Sorry, guys Um in it that we need. So you have I recommend a backpack, because you're going to be going from the truck to the shower with this, carrying it back and forth, and backpacks are just the easiest, especially, um, if you're carrying anything else with you. Uh. So what do we put in this bag? Well, no doubt your hygiene stuff, right? So shampoo and conditioner, um, me, right now. I'm home every week, so my shampoo and conditioner are in these cool little things. I have shampoo, conditioner and body wash.
Speaker 1:A lot of you going out in a trainer truck is not going to have the luxury of being home daily or weekly, so you'll probably want full bottles and those full bottles you'll want to put into a zippered baggie so that if they leak they're not going to get over everything else, right? So, shampoo, conditioner, body wash If you're a loofah person, a loofah. If you're a wash rag person, washcloth person, you'll want some washcloths. And you also want baggies for those when they're wet, so they're not getting everything else wet, right. So you're going to learn baggies. Good thing, baggies are good.
Speaker 1:Toothbrush you want your toothbrush. You want your toothpaste. You want your alcohol. Most companies prefer alcohol-free mouthwash. Did I say alcohol? I meant mouthwash, alcohol-free mouthwash, and I'm not going to go back and edit this. So those are very, those are very important. Uh, dental floss you'll want your floss. Um, I buy these. They're super cool threaders, uh, but you'll want that. Uh, hairbrush, you'll want your hairbrush. Uh, whatever. So if you use any other hair products that you need hairspray, mousse, little travel sizes are great hairbrush, hair bands, ponytail holders if you are a person that likes their face, stuff your moisturizers very important.
Speaker 1:Your skin gets very dry in the truck or lotions Guys, that's for you too. Get your lotions. You will want shower shoes. Again. You're going to be showering at terminals and truck stops where hundreds of other people are showering every day. You don't know what they're bringing in. You don't know what's on their feet, so you want to make sure that you protect your little toesies. Okay, uh, you'll also want, uh, any female, female hygiene products, um, that you're going to use, and body wipes and when I say body wipes, I mean for washing your hands, for cleaning your face.
Speaker 1:We get so dirty out here that during the day before you're able to get that shower, you're going to want to clean up grease and grime off of your hands and stuff. So we go through a lot of body wipes in this industry. You're also going to want to bring your own set of towels. Some, a lot of the truck stops provide towels, but again, you don't know what they were used for before. You don't know if they were used to clean up the floor and the toilet before they threw them in the wash. I don't risk it, I bring my own towel. I want only, you know, I just can't imagine somebody else's butt being when I go to dry my face, right, so bring your own towel.
Speaker 1:Um, if you're on any medications, if you take vitamins, you're going to want to make sure that you bring month supply, six weeks supply, whatever your estimated time is that you're going to be out on the road, you're going to want to make sure you have those, especially meds If you're not able to get in. And um, curling wand, whatever you use, works great here. That's the best part about having a backpack because it has so many different compartments that you can separate everything and keep it organized, and I absolutely love it. So now that we got all of our shower essentials out of the way and I hope I didn't miss any, like really important hygiene product, I think I, I think I got most of them.
Speaker 1:Um, the next thing let me bend down here is a bag for your clothes. Okay, you do not want a hard suitcase. They take up too much room, they're too hard. You want something soft. It'll break down. Um, so a clothing bag you want and you want to make sure that you have a lot of people say a week's worth. I suggest a little bit more than that, because you don't know if you're going to get back to a laundry facility in a week.
Speaker 1:So you're going to want all your undergarments, extra socks, right, because we don't want stinky sock feet shirts, pants and you want to plan for different climates. So you want some short sleeve stuff. You want some long sleeve stuff. You want to make sure, if it's still that time of the year like now where we're getting extreme weather, that you have a coat. You're going to want two pairs of shoes. You're going to want your work shoes, which most people are work boots, you know. And then you're going to want a casual pair of shoes, still closed toe, right, because we are at work. And, like I said, a coat.
Speaker 1:If it's in the winter, if we still have winter, you're going to want to throw a beanie in there, maybe a scarf If you're going to be in some pretty frigid temps. Uh, some people say throw some clothes hangers in there. I don't know how much hanging up of clothes you're going to be doing in your trainer's truck, so I don't put that on my list, but I do recommend throwing a rain poncho in there and they come in these sealed little baggies at Walmart and I would just throw that. I've never in my career used one. I've always gone out in the rain without one as long as I had a hat or a hood, but you may be somebody that prefers to have a rain poncho, so I recommend that you will also want to make sure that you pack a high-vis vest. This is something that you're going to have to use at a lot of shippers and vendors.
Speaker 1:Most trucking company terminals require that you wear yours when you're out on the lot. Some of them provide them. I don't generally go for that. I have a pink one that I picked up from the I-80 truck stop up in Iowa that I absolutely love. It zips, got pockets for everything that I need. If you don't have one, you can look, I think, amazon, even Walmart you can look online. They're pretty inexpensive. You're also going to want work gloves. You can grab those about anywhere. We're going to be getting dirty a lot.
Speaker 1:Sometimes companies provide new drivers with a couple of these items. If they do, that is great to get you started. You can always change up and get something that you like better later on. You might want to ask, because this does happen, depending on who you work for. There are situations where the shippers and receivers that you go to will require a hard hat or safety glasses. Most companies provide safety glasses, but you will want to know if that is something you are going to need as well.
Speaker 1:Okay, in the day of 2025, we all know we are all about our electronics. I have a phone, I have a tablet that I bring with me. If you are going to bring those items, make sure that you have chargers. You'll want chargers for both the port in the truck and USB chargers and your wall charger. So you'll want different, because different trucks have. Not all trucks have USB. Some of them still have the old cigarette lighter type ports and then in that case, you'll have to buy one of those chargers. You'll want a noise canceling headset. Nobody wants to hear what you got going on when you're watching YouTube or TikTok or you're watching trucking with Tammy. Nobody else wants to hear that you got going on when you're watching YouTube or TikTok or you're watching trucking with Tammy. Nobody else wants to hear that, right, so make sure you have that. I wouldn't suggest bringing a laptop, gaming or anything large and bulky while you're on the trainer's truck. Save that for when you are in your own.
Speaker 1:Okay, um, food this is a weird one because there's so many factors, um, that go into this. It is so expensive to eat out on the road and there's a lot of junk and me, I get fat, you know, when I eat out on the road. So, um, this is going to depend on the company you're working for. Do the trucks have a refrigerator in them? Do you have to have a separate cooler? Is there room for two? Is your trainer going to share space? When I was a trainer, I always shared space. Okay, um, and if there was any special dietary needs, I discussed that with my student driver from day one.
Speaker 1:You do have the ability to stop at Walmart or other places out on the road to acquire supplies when you need them, but this is a discussion you need to have up front as far as space is concerned, because it will vary in each situation. Outside of that, you also need to make sure that you have a few supplies as far as doing your actual job on the truck. The gloves that we mentioned earlier, or that I mentioned earlier, is very important. You'll also want to have a flashlight, um, some people prefer the small LED flashlights. Some people prefer the larger mag lights, and then they also use that for safety as well. Um, at this time, you might want to start acquiring the tools that you'll need for your own truck, or your company may be providing you a tool bag. Uh, if they provide you a tool bag, that is great. It will provide you with the needle nose pliers, light bulbs, things like that, that you need.
Speaker 1:Um, you also want to keep a notebook. Uh, always keep track of your miles, Always keep track of your deliveries. This is something that you will do every day of your working life, forever, so that you can confirm on your paychecks that the information is accurate. You'll want to carry a pen. You will be needing to write down information for loads and stuff as you go in and out of shippers and receivers. You'll want to make sure you carry your debit card and make sure you have emergency cash in case of anything happens. If you need to get off the truck, if you quit, if you get fired, you may get stranded. You never know. You may be in a horrible situation and need to to get out of it. Um, there are so many scenarios that happen out on the road and you always want to make sure that, if something happens, that you can take care of yourself, that you can get a rental car, um, that you can get a hotel, that you cover your rear end and you take care of you. Okay, um, having said that, that's a lot.
Speaker 1:Now, the one thing I didn't mention yet, because I was saving it for last, is our bedding. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm pretty picky about my bedding and I like my sheets, I like my comforter, I like my snuggle blanket and I take two pillows. Okay, I have always since I started in trucking back in 2018, taken a larger sheet than the bed. Most of the beds are like a twin, a little bit bigger than a twin, and I take a queen mattress or a sheet with me fitted sheet, because it's easier to wrestle them. On Some trucks like the international, it is a pain to put a sheet on all the time, so I like it to be a little bit bigger, bigger so it's easier to manage. So, again, I take fitted sheet, top sheet, comforter.
Speaker 1:I take fitted sheet, top sheet, comforter, snuggle blanket, two pillows, and all of that I get rolled up into this laundry bag that I got at Walmart. I believe it's a Pioneer Woman, I don't care, I've had it for a few years now. So what I do and I'm going to make a separate video of this, uh, to put on TikTok. But I put my sheet out on the floor, I put my comforter out, my blanket out and I roll it into force, put the pillows on top and then I tight roll it just like a sleeping bag you would, and then I put it in the bag. It makes it so easy to transport all of that stuff, because normally you know what I see. I see students coming up with a pillow in each arm. They got one of those plastic bags from Walmart that has the bedding set in it and it's all.
Speaker 1:It's a whole bunch of stuff, right? No, no, keep it simple, keep it tight. Make it easy on you, because nobody wants to move that much stuff in and out of a trainer's truck, right? So that's it. That's how I do it, that's how I recommend it. I'm not perfect. I'm pretty sure I probably forgot one or 10 things in this video, but that gives you the majority of it. For a list, there are resources all over the internet that can list things that you need as the board member of Real Women in Trucking, you can head on over to realwomenintruckingorg. We have a list as well of everything that you need on the truck, your employer, your trucking company. They should have provided you a list as well. If you have any other questions, shoot me a message. I would be more than happy to answer any questions Other than that. Welcome to trucking. It's going to be a heck of a ride. Y'all have a great day and thanks for coming to Trucking with Tammy.
