What are the best gifts for a truck driver?

Seat-mounted organizers, a portable slow-cooking oven, or a portable refrigerator are the best gifts for a truck driver. Knowing what a typical day in a driver's life is like can help narrow your search for the best gift ideas for a truck driver.

As soon as their alarm clock goes off, they begin their 14-hour workday followed by a mandatory 10-hour sleep break. Within those long hours, a truck driver usually goes through a routine consisting of:

• Storing or making food for meals

• Driving up to 11 hours

• Picking up and/or delivering loads

• Pre-trip inspections

• Post-trip inspections

• Routine vehicle maintenance

• Mandatory breaks and downtime

There are a lot of things that drivers have to do daily, and the perfect gifts are those that can make their routine easier or more comfortable. These types of gifts will undoubtedly be appreciated.

Space on a commercial vehicle is at a premium, and with their busy lives, truck drivers appreciate organizational items such as this front seat organizer. A seat-mounted car organizer can be conveniently mounted to a truck driver's passenger seat. They come in a variety of sizes and styles.

In most cases, the multiple pockets enable compact storage for essential items, including clipboards, bills of lading, registration information, and more. Some organizers are large enough to accommodate a standard laptop (11.5 inches) which makes access easy and efficient.

Life on the road can be long and lonely. It is often easier for truck drivers to stop at a truck stop or restaurant for food rather than prepare their own; however, this limits the ability to eat healthy during a long drive. That's why a great gift option is a portable slow-cooking oven.

This allows truck drivers to cook delicious and nutritious foods in the cab of their trucks and save money by not eating out for every meal. Look into portable ovens that are compatible with the 110V outlets found on truck inverters. There are different styles, but those with a squat rectangular base tend to keep it more stable while on the move.

While this oven doesn't work as quickly as a microwave, it can function to warm or cook food like a slow cooker. You can also find units that come with a built-in temperature regulator to ensure that their food never burns.

Along these same lines, a great gift for a truck driver is a portable refrigerator, especially if they are an over-the-road truck driver that goes on long hauls regularly. There are two main choices for a portable refrigerator.

The first is a larger dorm-style refrigerator with more room but takes up additional space and requires a reliable 110V inverter with enough power to keep it running correctly. The second choice is the 12V Wagan Personal Cooler. It has less food storage space but takes up less cab space.

It can even be placed next to the driver's seat for easy access to drinks and food without the need to stop. The Wagan Personal Cooler is ruggedly designed to better withstand the beating these units take while on the road.