What you carry with you during the warm spring and summer months may not be of much use during the late fall and winter months. An item as small as a bic lighter could be the turning point between survival and the long trip home in the back of the long black car. Are you prepared for the winter months ahead? Here are some things that you should have with you as you move freight this winter.
Supplies, Supplies, Supplies
We all know the basics, most of this stuff you will have anyway because you have a sleeper, but I’ll run down the list anyway.
A blanket or sleeping bag. (Obvious)
Newspapers. (In an extreme cold emergency you can stuff them around you.)
Flares or reflectors.
(I carried both) Check you flares every year. If they look like they are sweaty or corroding replace them. Most have a date on them to tell you how long they should be counted on.
Jumper Cables. Make sure that you get heavy gage cables as you are not jumping off a single battery car system. And make sure that they are extra long as sometimes there is a good distance from your batteries to the other trucks. For example some trucks batteries are under the catwalk.
A First Aid Kit. Most truck stops have them or you can build your own. Wal-Mart has them in the camping section.
A shovel. You may see someone out there with a snow shovel strapped to the back of the cab. That’s a good way to lose it right before you need it. Get the small spade with the flat tip. You may have to work harder but it will fit in most side boxes.
An ice scraper and brush. I didn’t carry that silly little brush, I had a good, long handle scraper and a small kitchen broom. Your knocking snow off above your head, that stupid little brush puts it right on your head.
Sand or Kitty Litter. Kitty Litter was my preference as it was lighter and worked better than sand. You can put it under your tires for traction just like the sand.
Flash light and extra batteries. I know as a professional driver, you carry a flashlight with you. But do you have extra batteries?
A Lighter or Water proof matches and a Candle or two. You can light the candle for a small heat source in an extreme cold emergency. If you carry small round ones in a coffee can you can burn one or two at a time in the open top can as too keep the flame from catching anything on fire in your truck.
Tire Chains. If your company does not supply you with chain, I suggest you might want to consider buying a set, especially if you run out west. Most if not all of the thirteen western states require them to be carried on board From October on until spring. Don’t forget the little tool to turn the cams, and the rubber bungee cords to keep the slack out of the chains. A quick refresher course on hanging Iron wouldn’t be a bad Idea either.
Electronics
Those are the basic supplies that just about any trucking company will have in their driver manual. Here are some that may not be in there.
Number one is the cell phone. Did you know that most cell phone towers near the interstate have a battery back up system that will run the tower under emergency power for up to twelve hours? The State Police in most states have cell phones as a back up means of communication. It doesn’t matter in most cases whom your carrier is, you should still be able to make a call to 911. If you can’t afford one, buy a pre paid one and enough minutes to use in an emergency.
Emergency cell phone charging kit. These are great use and toss battery packs that will charge your cell phone in an emergency. Some are phone type specific and others have an adapter kit that comes with it or is sold separately.
An Amber Flashing Emergency Strobe Light. These handy lights come in various sizes and can be found in most sporting goods stores and usually in the Wal-Mart camping section. (Remember Lake Effect Snow?) You can put one of these on you body and another on your trailer so people can see you before they slam into you. Don’t forget to clean it, as snow will cover it in short order. (Extra Batteries)
Global Positioning System. (GPS) The price of GPS has come down in the past year or two. They are a bit more affordable for the average consumer and are a great tool in an emergency. Example? You are cruising across I-80 somewhere in Western Nebraska, and you are in a blinding snowstorm. They closed the road behind you before any one else could get through. You are now alone and blow a steer tire. Where are you? You have Highway Patrol on the horn but your not sure of your location. If you had a GPS device you might be able to tell them exactly where you are.
C.B. Radio. It may be dying but there just might be someone in range to save your life. I may not have listened to it, but I always had one. It might be a good idea to get one with the weather band in it as not all class 8 truck stereos come with one. The National Weather Service can keep you out of trouble but you have to do your part and tune in first.
Food and Water. Water is really more important that food although you need both. A person can live for months without food but it depends on the amount of fat stores within the person’s body. The more fat stores, the longer you can go without food. (I might be able the hang on for a year LOL) The lack of water on the other hand can kills you in as little as three to four days. The size of the person doesn’t really matter when it comes to hydration. You can always eat or melt snow if there is any, Just remember we are not just talking about snow and ice. Extreme temperatures happen without a single flake of snow falling.
Canned Food. Canned foods with the pop type tops are great. No need for a can opener. Consider how it will taste cold when you are stocking up as you may not be able to heat it up. Pork and beans fit the bill for me. Try baked beans if your not fond of the other. Beans are a great source of protein also.
Canned fruit. Canned fruit is a great source of energy when energy is at a premium. Trying to stay warm robs your body of energy and some Natural sugar will help you stay awake longer.
Energy bars. Can’t have all that sugar? Try some energy bars. They are smaller and easier to store and don’t taste too bad.
Bottled Water. Here is your most important item to keep on board your truck. Your body needs about 24 ounces of water a day during the winter months. That is for the average person. A larger person may require double that amount. Add in any exercise like checking outside your truck and you may need a little more. If you want to figure it by the 10 oz bottles you need to carry at least a 24-bottle case in your truck. Don’t store it all in you side box or under your bunk as it can freeze down there. Keep at least a days supply stored inside you truck so it is readily available.
Plan it, store it, and replenish it.
With a little planning you can feel safer out there on the road this winter. Knowing you can survive for days on end can keep you from panicking and using up energy. Store you emergency supplies in the same location no matter what truck you drive. That way you will always know where to look for them in the unfortunate event that you need them. If you tap into you winter emergency supplies for normal use, replenish them as soon as possible. Coming up next year (Ha Ha) I will tell you how to avoid getting yourself into a situation that requires any of the knowledge that I just imparted on you.
Next time part three of three, Safe Winter Driving Techniques.
Until then please be careful out there on the big road and work together. Each other is all you really have.
Peace
This is a really neat article. I enjoyed reading it and learned a few things I didn’t know before. Thank you!
For somebody living in Alabama you do a pretty darn good job of covering the bases. Now for the hard part: getting folks to actually follow your advice! There is one correction I would make: no one in a winter survival situation should be advised to eat snow; always melt it first. If you’ve got plenty of food, and staying warm isn’t an issue, then it’s not that big of a deal. If, on the other hand, you’re relying on blankets, sleeping bags and newspapers for heat, or your nutrition is limited, melt the snow and then drink the water. Just another reason to bring plenty of candles!!
Just a couple of things to add to E Phil’s comment.
Don’t stop at just melting it. You need to remove the bacteria from it by boiling it. And remember that the boiling point of water is lower at high altitudes.
If you’re stuck high up a mountain pass make sure you heat the water past the boiling point.
Carrying a 1 burner propane fueled camping stove will heat those beans and franks AND provide warmth. But if you use it in your sleeper make sure to provide ventilation for the fumes. You can also use a sterno set.
What kind of bacteria is clean white snow going to have? (Enquiring Minds want to know)
I would assume no-one would eat the yellow snow?
Snow= fluffy ice that falls from the sky.
Ice = water in the solid state….less than 32 degrees F.
Bacteria….need WARM damp nutritious places to live. None of which occur in airborne snow.
[What kind of bacteria is clean white snow going to have? (Enquiring Minds want to know)]
I honestly don’t know but the instructors at the army survival school at Ft Leonard Wood, Mo teach that. As does “Bear” on the Discovery channel’s Man Vs. Wild.
You even have to boil water taken from a clear running mountain stream. I was just passing the info along.
I did like your Zappa reference though.
Stream water needs to be boiled to avoid ingesting the Giardia parasite. Existing snow should probably be boiled for the same reason. Fresh fallen snow? The snow that’s probably the cause of a trucker being stuck or stranded? Melt and drink.
Yea I meant to say “melt the snow”, and The Travel centers of America still sell the Burton stoves as well as the cans of Butane to fuel them. I have had one of those for years. But your right, you have to crack a window for ventilation when using them. Also be very careful with butane because when the fuel is cold, it does not work properly and can cause a two foot flame to shoot out of the burner. In an emergency situation you will need to warm the can against your body before you use it.
And Phil I didn’t grow up down here in Alabama, I grew up way up in Illinois, in the middle of snow country. Not to mention some extensive winter training by the U.S. Army. When we get a little dusting of snow down here, I just get tickled as I watch this area fold up and stop because they have not one peice of snow removal equipment. Where I grew up you needed at least a foot of snow to call off school.
Well, I’ve got a funny story about the snow and Alabama but the way I tell stories there just isn’t enough room here. Suffice to say, I was told by the authorities manning the road block that I couldn’t continue driving on I-20 east, through Birmingham, because they didn’t think trucks could get around the wrecked, stalled or abandoned cars. Less than three inches of snow covered the ground!
And Everitt’s right, clean snow doesn’t need to be boiled; just melted. The less condensation created in close quarters the better. That’s not to say a small stove isn’t a good idea; I just never carried one ’cause I was more afraid of setting the truck on fire than having to eat a barely warmed can of chili.
I’m not surprised to learn your winter survival expertise came from life in Illinois and winter training in the Army. Did you ever get to Ft. Richardson?
Nope on the Fort Richardson, We went to Camp Ripley MN. For winter training. I remember the first time that we went there, we stayed in barracks while training on cross country ski’s for two days. The day that we headed for the woods there was a bad blizzard and the radio was telling people that lived there, not to go out of their homes. So here we were, looking like nuts, pulling a big sled full of our equipment, trudging out into a blizzard. I was the second brake man behind the sled that I was attached to by a white rope, and I could not see the guys 10 yards in front pulling the sled. I really felt safe. Ha Ha. It snowed over two feet that day and I will never forget that week.
Just FYI regarding the cell phones. I was told by a buddy who works for Verizon that any cell phone that has a charge at all can be used to call 911, regardless of whether or not that particular phone is attached to a calling plan or not. His mother doesn’t use cell phones but he gives her his old ones and she keeps them charged and in her car when she travels just for emergency’s sake. I have never tried this but I don’t have a reason to doubt him.