Driving a truck is a very fun thing to do by itself, but your experience can always be a bit more enjoyable if you decide to include a few interesting truck gadgets that can be found in today’s market. Technology always finds a way to improve our living experience, and in this area, it is not different at all. Why drive a truck the old-fashioned way when you can have a journey that is twice as fun?
GPS Panels, Air Cleaners or a blasting Sound System, we have it all, you just have to stick around for awhile and read. Let’s take a look.
1. A Jump Starter
We will start with the most useful thing that can save a lot of time and money for fellow truck-drivers that are always out in the open, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Whenever you experience an issue with your vehicle, and there is nobody nearby to help, a Jump Starter will allow you to deal with your problem without the need for help from anyone.
We recommend the Schumacher one, since it is self-powered, and it costs about fifty bucks, but there are plenty of other choices on the market as well. The best feature about it is that it will allow you to test both your alternator and your battery, meaning that you’ll know exactly what the problem is. Although this is not the most “techy gadget”, it will still help you a ton when you need it the most.
2. USB Charger – DUAL
They say once you get into collecting truck gadgets, you’ll keep wanting more and more until you realize that you already have dozens of them, but you don’t know how to charge them all. Well, a USB Charger will not cost you more than fifteen dollars, and we’re talking about the one with multiple ports, so make sure to grab the version you like the most and power up those sweet gadgets that you purchased.
This thing allows you to charge two, three or even four devices at the same time, depending on what version of a USB charger you’re going to purchase of course, but try to go for the one with most ports, it will cost just a few dollars more but you’ll love it.
3. GPS Navigation Panel
What good is all the excitement about driving a truck if you are not able to get to the place where you need to be? In your truck-driving career, you will often be sent to a destination that you’ve never been to before, so you’ll have to use some kind of help getting there.
The best and most sophisticated way of tracking the road is by purchasing a GPS Navigation Panel, such as the ones from thetagtech.com, and you will instantly make your job ten times easier. They don’t cost a lot of money, they work 24/7 and most importantly, they will take you anywhere you want without ever feeling lost again.
4. A Dash/Security Camera
Like it or not, driving every single day statistically increases the chances of getting into a car accident. It doesn’t matter if it was your fault or not, but being in a vehicle for so long will get you in a hassle now and then. It doesn’t have to be anything serious, but it is always important that you prove to the court whose fault it was.
Nobody wants to be fined for no reason, so getting a dashcam is a few-hundred dollar investment but it will help you out a lot. Besides, interesting things happen on the road at all times, so why not capture something fun that you can show your friends tomorrow?
5. The Authority Radar Detector
There is a very special gadget that will warn you of radar detectors in your area, and before you judge this on being useless, hear us out. Sometimes truckers drive on roads that are empty and far away from other people, meaning that the speed limit rules can sometimes be slightly “modified” to save time. Why go 60 on a road that hasn’t seen a single car in a day, when you can speed up a bit and arrive at your destination earlier and before night falls.
Of course, doing this right next to radar will get you a ticket, but if you are using a radar-detector, such as the one from Escort Max, you will be able to avoid all of the shenanigans, and you can also use it to communicate with other truckers that have this installed. Dual antennas and smartphone compatibility are just some of the features that this device has to offer.
6. HUDway Drive
If you want the techy gadgets that will make you feel like you are living in the future, the HUDway head-up display is probably the best thing that you can get for the money. It costs somewhere around two hundred dollars, depending on the version that you are going to get, and it projects your smartphone screen right in front of your eyes so that you can see anything you are doing on the phone without actually looking downwards.
The projection is clear and high-res, meaning that you won’t be missing out on any details. If you decide to use this as navigation, which is one of the most common reasons why people buy it, you will still be able to use the other functions of your phone without canceling the navigation tracking. The brightness and opacity can be adjusted, and they are perfectly visible during every hour of the day, and night.
7. Automatic Timed Air Refresher
Having an air refresher in your truck is something that you should consider, especially if you are traveling for longer periods. The truck has a way of recycling the air inside the cabin but sometimes this is not enough, and you’ll need something to improve the smell of your interior. Air refreshers are cool, but the basic ones require you to manually use them, which can be easily forgotten when you are focusing on the road. However, the automatic ones can be set to spray the mixture into the air whenever you want, so you will never have to worry about forgetting to use it again.