Eating Healthy While Trucking: How to Prepare Meals on the Road

One of the hardest challenges I had while trucking aside from the actual job was being able to eat the foods that I wanted to. At home I regularly cooked my meals and had easy access to fresh groceries but once you are over the road and living in a truck it changes everything.

Truck Stops Sell Mostly Junk Food

One of the first realizations you will have when trucking is the lack of stores to buy things, and this includes food. One of the only places you will have access to any type of food will be at truck stops. Picture an oversize convenience store and then you have a typical truck stop. You are not going to find a produce or meat isle or even a bakery. Everything in a truck stop is either canned, boxed or refrigerated. The grocery selection leaves a lot to be desired and is always double the price of what you would pay for the same item at a grocery store. To complicate matters the supply chain disruptions from the pandemic has made it more difficult at times to find the food you are looking to eat at truck stops. It is ironic that we are the ones who supply the stores and yet it is not uncommon to see partially empty food shelves at truck stops. Many of the basic staples such as lunch meat, cheese and bread were often sold out when I went to look for these items.

A Trucker Cannot Live on Candy Bars

A truck stop is loaded with junk food such as candy bars, packaged sweets, chips, sugary drinks, and the like. If you eat this stuff everyday while living out of a truck your life span might decrease and you are going to increase your chance of gaining weight and becoming unhealthy.

Is There Anything Healthy to Eat at a Truck Stop?

There is but the selection is extremely limited. What I always stocked up on when I ran out of food in my truck at a truck stop is yogurt, cheese sticks and fresh fruit. Sometimes you will find overpriced pre-packaged salads. Other than that, there really is not much else that I would categorize as healthy to eat.

Bringing Your Own Food

The best solution to eating healthy while trucking is to prepare your meals at home if you see the house at least once a week. If you are a regional or semi-local driver this will make meal preparation a lot easier and even cheaper because you can buy food at your local grocery store and then bring it to your truck before your trip begins. When I ran as a driver for Amazon, I was home every other day so often I would cook a meal for my next trip or hit the grocery store on the way to my truck and stock up. This made a world of difference for the selection of food I was able to eat versus a driver who may only see home every 3 or 4 weeks and is stuck shopping at truck stops. Not the mention the cost savings.

Eat Your Vegetables

I always tried to make vegetable-based meals at the house and then would pack them in my 12V cooler on the way out the door to my truck. This way when I got to my truck, I just plugged the cooler in and was good to go for the entire trip. This is not so easy to do if you are out for more than a week though. In this case you will be stuck buying food from a truck stop and will overpay for mostly junk food. This is just a sad reality that truckers often have to deal with by not having access to affordable heathy food while over the road.

Preparing Meals Without a Kitchen

When it comes to cooking in your truck it is a lot different versus cooking at home. For one the amount of space you have is small. Your cooking appliances are going to be limited such as a toaster oven, small electric grill, or a mini crock pot. I did not cook in my truck often but that is not to say I did not try it a few times. I grilled up hamburgers once on a George Foreman grill that I bought at Walmart, and they were quite tasty, but it did create a lot of smoke in the cab. My go to everyday appliance was a $20 toaster oven. I would toast up my breakfast breads in the morning such as bagels or English muffins combined with a hard-boiled egg to start my day out. It was not much but it was always nice to have something hot and fresh in the morning. I also had a $10 small coffee maker that worked wonders for brewing up a fresh hot pot of coffee in the morning before I hit the road.

Fast Food is Often Your Only Option

Once you eat Subway or McDonalds 50 times you are really over it. At this point I had to force myself to even walk into one of these fast-food joints attached to every truck stop on the face of the planet. This is why carrying your own groceries is so important. If you are unable to get home to buy groceries, you can always see if a Walmart along your route has trucks parked at it. If you see trucks in the parking lot, it is usually a good indication that they are ok with you parking there for least long enough to shop. Just make sure there is room to park far away from the bulk of the cars and enough space to pull out once you are done with your shopping or you could be stuck there for a long time.

The Lack of Fridge Space

A lot of trucks come with a micro fridge. And let me tell you it is small. Smaller than the typical mini fridge found in a hotel room to give you some idea. Whenever I would walk back to my truck with a cart full of groceries, I always had a tough time finding enough space for all of the cold food in my little fridge. I eventually came up with a great solution and started to use an additional large 12V cooler that sat on the floorboard of the passenger seat. This doubled my fridge space and I no longer had to worry about storing all of the cold groceries I just bought.

A Small Tray Replaces Your Dining Room Table

There is something about eating your meal on a small little pull-out tray in the back of your truck that never feels right. For starts you have to fit a plate and a drink on there. There is room for little else. It is quite different from sitting down at a table and it will quickly make you miss all of the space you use to have when you ate a meal at home.

All of that Plastic Cutlery Quickly Adds Up

Your truck will not come equipped with a dishwasher and washing silverware is out of the question unless you want to take the chance of stuff growing on your dishes. The best solution is to carry a hefty supply of plastic cups, silverware, and paper bowls. I found the best way to save money on these was to buy them at Walmart or better yet a wholesale club. This way you never run out and get the cost down per unit a lot lower. You will go through a lot of plastic cups and cutlery.

Your Truck Pantry

Most trucks come with a large cabinet that latches open and closed. I always use this as the basic food pantry and store all of my dry goods in there. This keeps all of your food in one spot and makes it easy to access while also preventing it from flying all over the truck if you hit a bump on the road.

Snacking on the Road

If I know I will be holding the steering wheel for over 6 hours at a time, I will place a couple of small snacks up front within reach to eat along the way. There is nothing worse than starving while in the middle of your shift. You will want some comfort food along the way. Not all snacks are driver friendly though. You will not want to eat anything that requires more than one hand to eat. So, food that comes in bar form or a small sandwich could do the trick. It’s always best to wait until your truck is at a stop to eat anything. Driving a semi-truck is not like a car and requires two hands on the wheel at all times to maintain proper control.

Hot Water is Your Secret Weapon

If you have a coffee maker for your truck it can double as a hot water maker. You can make a lot of different beverages and food with just hot water. Be sure to stock up on easy to prepare meals that only require hot water to expand your truck’s hot food and beverage menu.

Eating Over the Road Summary

Be sure to bring your own food. Buy yourself a large 12-volt cooler for cold storage. Make prepared meals at home if you are able to. Try not to eat at trucks stops unless you have to. Do not throw away all of your hard-earned money at a truck stop. Stop at Walmart’s that have truck parking when you are out of food in your truck. Buy a coffee maker or a hot water appliance. Purchase your plastic cups and silverware in bulk. If it comes in a can, box or fast food-bag it is not healthy. Stock up on plenty of fresh produce wherever possible.