Hubby and I have been with E1 since Oct. 07. They are a great company with lots of friendly, helpful people. Some things that you might want to make sure you have are:
lots of black pens - I like the gel kind as they almost always write the first time without having to scribble on something to get the ink flowing.
Two clipboards - One for the current load BOL and load information sheet, and one for the fuel receipts for the load and to hold past load paperwork until you have the time to get it all filed in a notebook or folder. (I'm a procrastinator when it comes to filing my paperwork and sometimes have 3 or 4 past loads on that clipboard. lol. It keeps everything all together.)
A binder notebook - You may choose to use pocket folders instead, but we use a 3 ring binder to file all of our past load paperwork into. After sending in the Trip Pack for your current load, you are going to want a safe place to store the copies of the BOL's until E1 has paid for those loads. Sometimes BOL's get lost on the way to E1 so you will
NEED that copy you made to send them another copy. I also have a paper hole punch, but if you use folders you won't need that.
Small legal notepads - I use these to write down every stop we make. I write down your
location,
truck mileage and
time we stopped. It is a great help with keeping your logs correct. For example, you stop for lunch, stay for 45 min, and you're ready to leave again.. oops.. what time did we get here? One look at the pad and you know exactly. Another benefit of keeping track of every stop is at tax time you will be able to easily see what dates you were at home, and it's kind of fun sometimes to just look back through the pages and see where you've been and when. Just get in the habit of writing down every stop. It's the first thing we do after we pull the brake knob.
Small plastic box - to hold extra pens, roll of scotch tape, staple puller, stamps, paper clips, and any other little office type things you think you might need. You may rarely use any of some of the things, but they are always nice to have on hand if you ever do need them. That's why I suggest a small box. Stamps can be difficult to find at truck stops so it's nice to have some on hand. Sometimes BOL paperwork is stapled together so a staple puller helps as paperwork cannot be stapled together in the Trip Pack. Paper clips help you keep previous load paperwork and fuel receipts together until you can get it all filed, and scotch tape comes in handy when BOL's get torn or the Trip Pack envelope won't seal.
A couple manila envelopes - to store past copies of logs in. You will need to keep 7 days worth of log copies in your log book, and at least 2 past weeks worth stored somewhere in the truck. You will be sending the top copy in to E1 in the Trip Pack. They are an odd size and don't fit into a regular 3 ring binder so the manila envelopes work great to hold past copies. One for each of you. A tip about the logs, if you purchase log binders from E1, when you open a new pack of logs the cardboard piece at the back of the package makes a great "blocker" between your current log and the ones below so you don't "write through" onto the previous copies.
An "Over the seat" pocket organizer - I don't know what else to call it. lol. The one we have is made of denim material and goes over the top of the seat and hangs down behind. It has lots of pockets and is great for storing binders, clipboards, magazines, maps, what ever you want to stuff into it. It keeps everything organized and at your fingertips so to speak.
A box of envelopes - I have both the short and long ones but have never used the short ones. They will be needed if you are required to mail receipts in to your truck owner or for anything else you may occasionally need to mail.
Zip-lock bags - I buy both large and small ones. They are GREAT for a ton of different situations and make a great place to keep all your personal receipts that you will need at tax time. I have a small 4 cup coffee pot in the truck and the small bags are great to put used filters/coffee grounds in to throw away. We have a small trash can also that gets tipped over once in a while because of sharp turns or bumps etc.. and the bags prevent coffee grounds from spilling all over the floor. (A tip I learned the hard way! lol) Anything that may be "messy" in the garbage can be put into the zip lock bags and it will be all contained. I also use them to store all those extra packets of salt, pepper, ketchup, etc that you pick up from restaurants. Sometimes they are nice to have on hand.
A wisk broom w/dustpan - Needed to sweep the floor of the cab and I use ours on the sleeper carpet as well since my little hand vac broke and it wasn't effective at cleaning our sleeper carpet anyway.
A pet hair picker-upper roller - Our sleeper has black carpet (of all colors!!) and it shows everything that falls onto it, so I finally got to see just how much hair I lose on a daily basis. I was amazed, and I'm surprised I'm not bald! Anyway, the roller is a great way to pick the hair up off the carpet. I'm not in the truck at the moment and I forget the name of the one I buy but it's usually up by the registers at Walmart. It has sheets that you tear off and throw away after using it. And of course it would be great to pick up pet hair.
A spray bottle of glass cleaner and paper towels - To clean the inside of the windows and I also use them to clean the truck mirrors and sometimes the headlights.
A disposable camera - To keep on hand in case (God forbid) there's ever an accident. You will need the camera to take pictures of any damage. We once had another driver back his trailer into the side of our sleeper and put a hole in it, so "spit" happens. lol
A couple pair of work gloves - Definitely needed to wear while fueling. After a few times of using them, you will be able to see just how nasty those fuel pump handles are!! The handles of the window washer sticks (I know, not the proper name) are just as nasty as the fuel pump handles.
I've tried to think of as many "must haves" that have not been mentioned as I could. As someone else stated, as time goes on you will pick up things here and there that you feel you need. It's going to be mostly personal choice and your own style.
I wish you both the best of luck, lots of loads and God keep you safe on the road. Maybe we'll meet up someday.
