Trucker packing list (2026)

Bunk Ledger DeskNotes follow the editorial standards.Updated 3 Oct 2026

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Pack for the week you actually run, not for a fantasy of cooking in the cab. The list below is a reset-week kit for a US over-the-road sleeper. Check a box while you load. The checks stay in this browser until you clear the site data. Refreshing the page does not wipe them. They are a memory aid on this phone or computer, not a record we keep.

If your carrier hands you a required list, theirs wins. Nothing here is a legal requirement. It is what is annoying to be without at 11 p.m. in a lot.

Paper, in one folder that stays in the truck

• CDL, medical certificate, registration, and insurance card, in one envelope you can grab. Carriers often want more than this. Follow their list.
• Permits, fuel cards, and lumper or scale receipts you still need. A fat wallet of dead paper is not a system. Keep the live ones.
• A spare pair of glasses, if you wear them, in the overhead rather than in a bag that goes into the shipper.
• A pen that works, and a plain notebook. Not a fake official log. Your hours system is the carrier's.
• Phone numbers for breakdown, dispatch, and home written on paper. Phones die, and so do contacts apps when you swap phones.

Clothes

Pack fewer outfits than you think and one more warm layer than you think. The winter note is the add-on when the route goes cold.

• Enough shirts and socks for the days out, plus one. Wool or synthetic socks if your feet sweat. Cotton stays wet.
• One "walk into the shipper" layer that is not the shirt you slept in.
• A knit cap, a light jacket, and a spare pair of gloves. The spare pair is the one you will actually have.
• Sleep clothes that are not the driving clothes. The bunk stays cleaner, and so does the seat.
• A laundry bag that closes. Loose dirty clothes in the sleeper are how the cab smells by Thursday. See the shower and laundry kit.

The bunk

• The mattress you measured, not a guess. If you are buying one, use the size guide.
• A sheet that fits that size. Twin XL fitted sheets do not grab a 42-inch bunk.
• A pillow you have slept on before. A new pillow the night before a 500-mile day is a gamble.
• A blanket sized to the bunk, not a king comforter that eats the aisle.
• Curtains or panels that come down before you move. Measure first: blackout note.

Wash kit

• Shower shoes, a mesh bag, and a towel that dries overnight.
• Soap and a toothbrush in the bag, not in a drawer you forget.
• A small amount of laundry detergent in a hard container so the pods do not get crushed and leak on your clothes.
• A way to hang a wet towel that is not "draped on the driver's seat."

Food and water

If you do not have a fridge, do not pack food that needs one and then hope the truck stop is soon.

• Water for the stretch between open stores. A jug with a lid, not a flat of bottles that becomes trash.
• Food that is fine at cab temperature for the day you will eat it: fruit you will eat today, bread, peanut butter, tortillas, nuts, anything you already know you will eat. Aspirational groceries rot.
• Coffee setup you will actually clean. A press and a thermos, or a 12 V mug pot, not both, unless you like washing both.
• A small trash bag or a hanging bag. Empty it at the stop, not when it falls over.
• Any medication you take, in its labeled container, in a pocket that does not bake on the dash. Keep the labeled container. Do not leave it on the dash.

Small tools and the lot

• A headlamp with a red or dim mode.
• A tire gauge whose scale covers the pressure on your sidewall. Many car gauges stop too low.
• Work gloves and a scraper in winter.
• A flashlight that is not your phone. Phones are a poor third hand under a trailer.
• Basic personal tools your company does not already put on the truck. Do not duplicate a fleet kit you are not supposed to replace. Do carry the personal items they will not lend you at midnight.

Electronics pouch

One pouch. Cables escape.

• Phone cable, short, and a right-angle plug if your dash breaks straight ones.
• A wall plug for home time and a 12 V plug for the truck. Know which socket stays live with the key off.
• A power bank charged before you leave.
• Earplugs for a loud lot, if you use them. That is comfort, not a hearing prescription.
• If you run a CB or a dash cam, the mount and the spare card live in this pouch only if they are not already installed. Buying either one is a separate decision: CB, dash cam.

Leave at home

• The third pair of boots.
• Glass food containers.
• A strong air freshener.
• A propane heater or any unvented combustion heater. Not in the sleeper.
• Anything that has to be screwed into a company truck you have not been told you may modify.
• A week's worth of refrigerated food and no fridge.

The night before

Charge the headlamp and the power bank. Put the document folder back in the truck, not on the kitchen table. Check the weather on the route you were actually dispatched, and add the winter layer only if that route wants it. A packed cab you can walk through is the standard. If you have to turn sideways to reach the bunk, something on this list can wait until the next reset.

Swipe this table sideways. The page stays put, and the first column stays visible.

Along the way

Conclusion

Pack what the next seven days will ask for, then stop. A second of everything is how the bunk fills up.