Chris Atkinson
Friday, December 9, 2016
Recently in the CBC, there was a highway closure story about people stranded out near Winnipeg for more than 24 hours without water and food. ouch
Without water and food!
You might think that 24 hours without water or food in a long time and I certainly would agree. I would be famished having gone that long without nourishment. The professional truck drivers involved were saying that they didn’t eat for more than twenty for hours. I ask, where your survival kit was?
Where was your survival kit?
Many trucking people believe that each truck driver should be carrying their won survival package. As a truck driver, you are on the road and in some pretty remote areas. You are not always in a large city with many comforts available to you. You are all too often in the remote less inhabited country that we call Canada. Our nation can be desolate and hard on people and trucks. You can find yourself in the middle of nowhere broken down, involved in a crash or not moving because of weather. What are you going to eat and drink until either help arrives or the highway re-opens? You need a survival kit!
What is in a survival kit?
Every truck driver needs to make their survival kit. Thank goodness it is both easy to make and inexpensive. Here is a recipe for making a survival kit.
The first item is a large coffee tin can. Or you can buy an empty one-gallon paint can from your local big box hardware store. That is your first item. Next, add several candles to the can. Candles can help to keep a small area such as your sleeper berth, above freezing if your truck is broken down or you are low on fuel. That may not be very warm, above freezing but it much better than the alternative. Something to light the candles would be good. Matches or a lighter.
So far you have a can, candles, and matches. Now add your food. High energy bars are fantastic. They don’t take up much room, and they stay fresh a very long time. Now add water. Water might be the most difficult item only because of the space that the water occupies. In Canada, we certainly have plenty of it. How about some extra clothing and blankets. A beautiful dry blanket can help to keep you warm in a cold snowstorm.
Fuel tanks half full
This “Survival Kit” list is a short list of items that you might put together for a survival kit to be placed into your truck. Every truck driver needs to have their very own survival kit. And my last tip. Always keep your fuel tanks during winter more than half full. You never know when you are going to be stranded.
