Everybody probably knows this feeling when the lunch is still like a phantom somewhere at the horizon, the morning breakfast gone hours ago, and you already want something to go down your empty stomach. That means the snack time has come. Snack is normally small and easy to cook, something you can get and eat quickly, a perfect solution for a truck driver on the road. However despite all its advantages we have to watch that it doesn’t do any harm to our health either.
In this article we will look at the best options of snacks for truck drivers, see more here.
A couple of rules for a start. Many truck drivers live on dry rations and eat cold food. That is absolutely not the way, unless you are eager to kill your digestive system and metabolism in a few years. Even if you just have a sandwich with tuna or cheese, do not forget to drink something with it. Cold or hot tea or coffee will be alright, however please keep in mind that they also dehydrate your body, so pure drinking or sparkling water is always the best option. Most of the water has to be consumed during or before a meal, not after it. Also try to warm up your food, although very often it is not that easy, unless you have a compact stove or stay in a hostel overnight.
Generally speaking snacks can be broken down into 2 categories: the ones that you take from home and those that you purchase on the road.
Snacks from home
Talking about the first one, I would recommend to take ingredients for sandwiches separately first and then make a sandwich just before meal, as vegetables and fruits, for example, lose their useful properties after being sliced or cut, and vitamins with microelements are valuable bonuses of eating that we surely do not want to lose.
Namely I would recommend to take toast bread, canned tuna or salmon (precious source of valuable elements and energy), fresh green salad, tomatoes, cucumber, sausages, some sauce like ketchup or mayonnaise would be a perfect supplement to make it a mouthwatering delicacy. You can also take a couple of hard-boiled eggs, wrapped in foil, smoked meat or animal fat. The latter is a perfect solution for long trips without a fridge, however please check that it is pure, without layers of meat, for it will get sour in a few hours. I would not recommend relying on cheese and butter, unless you have a compact cooler or fridge in the cabin, like the ones provided by many large companies to its drivers. It could be a solution during a short trip with AC turned on Low, however it would not probably survive longer journeys.
Actually no one stops you from devising your own recipes and solutions, which suit you most. This is good for you surely like their taste and know how to prepare them. This is just one example given to us be a driver of HMD Trucking:
“I make the pate hot, put it in a jar and close tightly, then also put squash spread and cucumber in another jar. Frozen vacuum sausage, boiled buckwheat also stay ok for a long time, so normally I take them. I also wrap baked meat tightly in foil or put it in a jar and cool it before hitting the road, keeping it in the refrigerator for 12 hours, then it also tastes just super!”
Roadside food
Another idea that springs to mind when thinking of the snacks for a truck driver during his trip is to stop near an eatery or a doner kebab place at a gas station and to buy something cheap or small just to have a bite. The most important thing here is to stay on the safe side and not to consume anything suspicious, not to get sick. I would strongly recommend to stay away from doner kebabs with chicken or any meat at all, especially in the hot climate, for you never know how well this staff was preserved, and a vendor might not care about that too much, knowing that you buy food and leave immediately, and the effects will come several hours later.
So, from this point of view I advise to consider vegetarian sandwiches or doners, which are much safer, takeaway noodles or rice, yogurts and fruits.
Protein bars or cocktails for fitness, which are quite popular now, can also come as an option, for they are quite healthy and really help to recharge your energy quickly and efficiently. You can also eat a chocolate bar or other sweets, however I would recommend you to substitute it with a fresh apple or a pear.
You can take honey as a dessert, this is both healthy and tasty. It can be eaten straight from the can, which saves your time as a trucker. It is also worth taking with you dried fruits, nuts, seeds and marshmallows.
Do not forget to stock up on mineral water, sterilized juices and tea bags.
Now you know what food to take on the road! Perhaps we missed something and you can advise us some other options that would suit those who travel for leisure or on business, or spend hours in a truck driver’s cabin. Eat well and drive safely!