The average driver spends years of their life on the road, and truckers spend even more of their time in their trucks than that. While on a long haul, a trucker’s cab is their home. Serving as living room, kitchen and bedroom, a tractor-trailer cab is many spaces rolled into one, but there are some easy ways to make your cab more functional and comfortable as your home away from home.
One easy way to add your own touch is by decorating with colors and styles that suit you. Whether this is a colorful curtain or stylish seat colors, customizing your rig with your favorites can easily make your cab look more like home. Iowa80.com recommends bathmats as an easy way to add color to your flooring, plus the rubber grip will help it stay in place while on the road.
Another common complaint on the road is not being able to eat fresh. By making the most of your storage, though, you can easily pack essentials, like bread and peanut butter. Depending on if your rig has a refrigerator and how big it is, you can even store milk, deli meat and other foods. Truck stops aren’t known for their great prices, so try to stop by a grocery store whenever possible. Sometimes, if your trailer will need an extended time to be unloaded, you may be able to park it and bobtail to a local shop to stock up on a few items.
Keeping a fresh cup of coffee or tea in your cab can also be a boon. There’s no need to constantly stop and reload – or spend all that money – if you can make it yourself. M.W. Tractors suggests investing in a 12-volt kettle that can boil water for you. This gives you easy access to your preferred coffee blend or tea, and, with the money you’re not spending on truck stop coffee, the kettle will pay for itself within a few weeks.
You can also help make your cab more of a home by investing in your entertainment. When you have your downtime between hauls or on your rest break, having a TV set up can be a great way to unwind, notes AllTruckJobs.com. Plus, if you’re a gamer, you can plug in a console and spend some time playing your favorite game to relax.
There are lots of ways to add your own elements to your cab to make it more comfortable and functional for you. Dedicated haulers can even go all-out and make a space that rivals an RV with creature comforts and amenities. Check out this great 18-wheeler design with hardwood flooring and a 42-inch foldout mattress that was showcased in Wired, for example. However you do it, making your space your own will help you to feel more at ease and comfortable in your home away from home.