Industry News & Tips for Truckers
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- Written by: Kate Williams
Let’s face it, truck drivers can be hard to shop for.
They often don’t have time to enjoy typical gifts, or the nature of their career simply doesn’t allow them to use items that other people use every day.
Truckers may be hard to shop for, but they’re not impossible. Take a look at some of our suggestions and you might discover the perfect gift for your favorite truck driver.
Gift Ideas for Truckers
Travel Coffee Mugs
No matter what types of activities or hobbies your trucker enjoys, you can find the perfect travel coffee mug for a great gift. Maybe they enjoy the outdoors and would love a travel mug with a deer, pheasant, or fish. Do they have a favorite sports team? There are plenty of mugs with teams and sports figures from the NFL, NASCAR, MLB, and college sports. You can even find mugs from music, movies, television, and more, or you can personalize a travel mug with their name or a special message.
Seat Cushions and Seat Warmers
When you are on the road for hours upon hours, it helps to have a comfy seat. You can shop for a soft seat cushion or find a heated seat and back warmer to help them stay comfortable for thousands of miles. The back warmer could even be a great idea for a truck driver who has a sore back, as the heat can help relieve pain and tension.
Touchscreen Gloves
If your driver is using a smartphone to communicate with a warehouse or find directions, touchscreen gloves might be exactly what they want. When the weather gets colder, it can be a real struggle to remove gloves, use your phone or GPS system, and then put your gloves back on, only to receive a phone call right away. Make their lives easier by giving them handy touchscreen gloves this holiday season.
Tools, Tools, Tools
This might not seem as fun and exciting (at least to some people) as personalized coffee mugs and nifty gloves, but having all the right tools can make a big difference to a trucker. Wrench sets, screw drivers, sockets; if it’s in the tool section at your hardware store, there’s a good chance a truck driver will find a use for it. Even everyday tools like a reliable flashlight or pocket knife could be on your trucker’s wish list.
Audio Books
The trucker in your life doesn’t have to be an avid reader to enjoy an audio book. Like travel coffee mugs, you can find books on practically any topic: hunting, business, sports, finance, history, science, technology, or even truck driving! No matter what subjects they are interested in, it is practically impossible that someone hasn’t written a book on it, then turned that book into a CD.
Find the Perfect Gift this Season!
We hope our little list of gift suggestions was enough to get you started with some ideas for your shopping list.
Whether you are looking for something fun, something useful, or something that will make them feel healthy and happy, there are millions of gift choices out there for the trucker in your life.
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- Written by: Kate Williams
Obviously, this list is solely a matter of opinion and meant just for fun, but seriously, why do most trucking movies revolve around some whacked out crazy truck driver spending every ounce of energy they have chasing down some poor four-wheeler who cut them off in traffic? If there were even a shred of truth to that notion, the entire country would be filled with tractor trailers chasing cars throughout residential neighborhoods right after rush hour traffic.
Trucking Movies To Avoid
Anyway, in no particular order, here is our list, we would love to hear any other suggestions you may wish to add.
Black Dog
This 1998 trucking movie has everything anti-trucking you could imagine. The main character Jack Crews (played by Patrick Swayze) gets back into a truck after being released from prison on a manslaughter charge stemming from a trucking accident. He hooks up with Earl (played by Randy Travis) as a sidekick and they transport $3,000,000 worth of illegal guns from Atlanta to New Jersey. Sounds like a real family-friendly film, huh?
Duel
Dennis Weaver plays David Mann, an electronics salesman, who is traveling on a California highway when a truck driver in a 1955 Peterbilt decides to run him off the road, steer him into oncoming traffic, and follow him into and out of small towns terrorizing him for no apparent reason. This Steven Spielberg-directed waste of 90 minutes was actually nominated for a Golden Globe award in 1972. It lost. Shocker.
White Line Fever
Jan-Michael Vincent starred as truck driver C.J. Hummer in this 1975 feature film about a trucker forced to haul untaxed cigarettes and illegal slot machines (starting to see a pattern here?). C.J. tries to find other driving jobs but his boss has blackballed him in the industry. The entire movie is based around C.J. trying to find legal freight to haul, but apparently there isn’t any to be had. In the end, C.J. helps the entire trucking population of Tucson, AZ go on strike in order to stop hauling illegal freight.
Smokey And The Bandit Part 3
I need to go on record saying that I LOVED Smokey and the Bandit. I even like Smokey and the Bandit II. But, why ruin a good thing by trying to make Sherriff Bufford T. Justice become Bandit? It was too much effort and the end result was a bad trucking movie. Big & Little Enos Burdette offer Justice a wager on his ability to move some freight a long way in a short amount of time. The rest of the movie is a lot like the original but way worse. Don’t waste your time on this one.
Road Rage
Yasmine Bleeth starred in this 1999 movie about a truck driver who makes it his life mission to kill Bleeth and her daughter because Bleeth cut her off in traffic. Again with the traffic altercation causing a truck driver to snap and follow a four-wheeler for the rest of his life.
The Sad Truth Of The Matter
I guess that a movie about a guy or gal who does their job, drives safe, keeps good logbooks, and helps out others on the road when given a chance to do so wouldn’t make a very good movie, but it would be a lot more realistic than these five stinkers. If you have the opportunity to spend some time Netflixing this weekend, a good laugh-enducing comedy will be better for you than a bad trucking movie!
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- Written by: Darin Williams
You’ve heard of Schneider, or at least you’ve seen the orange trucks and trailers all over North America. They’ve been around since 1935, and they have 11,000+ company drivers and 2,000+ owner-operators. They’ve had some success, but they’re just getting started, and they want you to be a part of their continued growth.
There are thousands of reasons to join Schneider, but here are a few:
1. Driving options
The largest variety of truck driving jobs in the industry, period:
- Team or Solo
- Company Driver or Owner-Operator
- Local, Regional or Over-the-Road
- Van, Dedicated, Tanker, Intermodal, Port Dray
2. Unlimited career paths
From seeking your CDL to settling into retirement, Schneider has you covered:
- Driving options that grow with you
- Training/mentoring opportunities
- Becoming an owner-operator/fleet owner
3. Innovation
After almost 80 years, it’d be easy to settle into a comfort zone as an industry leader, but Schneider has been around that long precisely because they've never settled for the easy way. They’re always looking for new ways to enhance people’s lives, and they’re in it for the long haul:
4. Ask their drivers
Of course they think we’re awesome, but why take their word for it? Talk to some Schneider drivers at truck stops and check out online trucking forums to get an unfiltered perspective.
- Real Schneider company drivers:
- Real Schneider owner-operators:
5. Your reason
Everyone has a different story to tell. They value yours, so who are they to define your reason for joining Schneider? Do your research, find your reason(s), then search opportunities and apply to join the Schneider team, or call 800-44-PRIDE. You won’t regret it.
Connect with Schneider via social media:
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- Written by: Kate Williams
Despite all your best efforts to avoid getting sick, you just can't deny it any longer, the cold and flu season has caught up to you. No matter how you cut it, being sick stinks!
Your head hurts, your nose is running, you can’t concentrate, and all you want to do is curl up in bed and fall asleep. When you’re sick, it’s certainly not the best time to be a commercial truck driver, a profession that demands unwavering attention to detail.
If you get a cold or flu, how can you kick the sickness fast? Use these simple tips to get yourself healthy faster.
How to Kick a Cold or Flu Fast
Determine Whether It’s a Cold or Flu
First things first. If you get sick, you need to determine whether you have a common cold or the flu. While symptoms can overlap, a cold will generally include sneezing, coughing, and a sore throat, while the flu will bring chills, a fever, and body aches. Once you know which one is causing your sickness, you can move on to solving the problem.
Hydrate Your Body
Experts believe that staying hydrated is the #1 way to kick a cold or flu. Sipping hot liquids like tea or warm water can help relieve your sore throat and stomach aches, and adding honey to the liquid can also help sooth a cough. Ginger drinks also help with stomach aches.
Good, Old-Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup
Eating chicken noodle soup when you’re sick isn’t just an old myth; it’s actually rooted in sound scientific information. Chicken noodle soup holds cysteine, an essential amino acid that is released from chicken when cooked. Cysteine has many benefits, including fighting sickness, and the warm liquids and vegetables in chicken noodle soup are easy on an upset stomach.
Sleep It Off
Everyone knows that rest is vital when you’re sick with a cold or flu. While the daily recommended amount is around eight hours, getting extra sleep while you’re sick can jumpstart your immune system. Sacrificing a few hours for sleep will pay off when you wake up healthy and rejuvenated.
Find Over-the-Counter Medication
Depending on what symptoms you have, there are many over-the-counter medications that can help you get well. Talk with a pharmacist to find the best medications to kick your symptoms.
Know When to Call it Quits
We’d all love to keep working through our colds, but you need to know when to take a day off. There is no shame with calling in sick, so be honest about your symptoms and know when you need a break. If your cold is getting worse or if it has been hanging around for more than a week, it’s probably wise to take some time away from your trucking job.
Know When to See a Doctor
Sometimes staying home isn’t enough. Sometimes you need to see a doctor. If you have a fever above 101.5, shaking chills, bloody mucus, or abnormal shortness of breath, see your doctor as soon as you can.
The Top Trucking Companies Are Waiting for You
There are many trucking companies that need hard-working, reliable commercial truck drivers just like you.
Visit CDLjobs.com today to learn more about our excellent opportunities in the trucking industry. The right position is waiting, so stop by today!
