Decorating Your Truck

By: Rhonda,
Texas

Ask Your Truck Drivers Money Saving Questions HereHi, first of all I’d just like to thank you for making this web page. It’s very helpful. I’m new to this “living on the road” thing, been on the truck now w/my fiance for over 2 months now and I’m a decor addict. The truck seems so bare, and Id like to living it up a bit. any ideas??
Thank you 🙂

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Response from Vicki:

Hello, Rhonda,

DAT TruckersEdge - Most Loads. Best Rates. Serving Owner-Operators Since 1978. 10% off your first 12 months. New customers only.

Thanks for asking. While most of the time, we focus on the necessities of life on the road, we are sympathetic to those who are used to creature comforts in a truck. Sometimes even die-hard truckers will decorate their trucks for Christmas.

The way you decorate your truck outside will depend on whether or not your fiance owns his own truck or drives for a trucking company. If he drives for a company, there may be rules on what he may and may not do to the truck. Many decorations outside a truck have been by way of paint jobs. You can see some of these at truck shows.

There are also accessories that can liven up the appearance of a truck. Some drivers like adding extra lights to their trucks.

Check out chrome headlight rings and mud flap holders (or brackets).

Bug screens or bug shields for truck grills come with various themes ranging from the brand name of the truck to national flags (like the one shown here).

To decorate your truck on the inside, you will want to make sure that nothing gets in the way of your fiance being able to do his job or his ability to see traffic and the truck’s surroundings when he’s driving.

We don’t recommend putting up adhesive stickers since they may ruin the finish of whatever they are stuck to.

Also, bear in mind that there aren’t the standard means by which to decorate in a truck that you may be used to in a land-based home. For example, in a land-based home, there are non-moving walls with studs that you can hang pictures from. In a truck, the best you may be able to do (depending on its set-up) is hanging something on a metal hanger (the kind used for hanging up clothes) or paperclips from the “lip” of an upper sleeper berth.

The second time I rode with Mike full-time (starting in the fall of 2009 and lasting about a year), I really got to missing my live plants (particularly my houseplants). I would like to know if any truckers or their in-truck home support teams grow any houseplants or even do any sprouting (growing sprouts from seeds) in their trucks. You may be able to find inexpensive plants in the “throw away” or clearance area of local nurseries.

If you’re not into live plants or it would be inconvenient to grow them in your fiance’s truck, you can perhaps put small artificial flowers (or group of flowers) in the corners in the sleeper berth. You can find inexpensive artificial flowers at dollar stores.

One of my sisters-in-law loves to crochet. When she co-drove with her husband, she would crochet dresses for dolls when she wasn’t driving, sleeping or taking care of personal business. She also made other types of crocheted items like shawls and pot holders. Her work was so beautiful that we recommended that she sell her creations. Her cost? Yarn, a crochet hook, instructions (one set for each type of doll) and her time.

If you have a hobby that you can do while you ride, you may be able to apply yourself to that. Note that work that requires detailed precision (like doing cross-stitch or painting) may best be reserved for times when you’re parked and not bumping down the road. You can also get some inexpensive kits at dollar stores.

We have often wished that there were items that were custom-made for trucks. For example, there are some hanging organizers that work great in full-length closets but are both too long and have too much space in between “shelves” for use in a truck. If someone could devise a short version with shorter shelves — and which can hang properly from the back of a truck sleeper — that might solve two problems at once: functionality and beauty.

Remember that whatever you decorate your truck with will have to be removed if you ever switch trucks. It is a right royal pain to move all of one’s gear from one truck to another, but can be even more aggravating to move non-essentials. Your packing list may be different from ours.

We recommend talking with your fiance to get a sense of what you would both like in the truck. After all, during your engagement, you will be learning about what decorations you will like in your future land-based home. Your truck is your “home away from home,” so it would be good to get his input.

I hope this gives you some ideas on how you can “spruce up” the truck you live in. When you decide on what you want to do and then do it, please write back to us to let us know what you did for as little money as possible. We sure would like to know how it worked out for you.

On behalf of Mike and me, we wish you and your fiance safe travels and lots of money saving opportunities on the road.

Best regards,
Vicki Simons

https://truck-drivers-money-saving-tips.com/


—– Comment —–
Small things by Fat_n_HappyHW
Date: Aug 08, 2011

One of things the kids and I did for my hubby one year long ago, was to decorate a cork board with batting, material, and ribbon to hang pictures on. It was lightweight, so it hung well, but I can’t remember where we hung it (it’s now in the house with pictures and drawings!).

My daughter-in-law just made a beautiful light-weight lap quilt that looks great folded at the bottom of the bunk.

In one truck we owned, we tore out the factory installed cabinets and built our own with pull out shelving for his printer. We got the hardware fairly cheap from Home Depot. We used a rubber type drawer liner to keep things from moving around on the shelves, and put lips on some. He also built a speaker cabinet so he could jam out.

Some ideas I’ve wanted to do but haven’t yet:

Attach pretty material (maybe even scraps so it looks like a quilt) on the inside of the sleeper curtains.

Lots of pillows on the bunk (Hubby’s not so keen on this idea because of grease from flatbedding and storage of pillows when he sleeps).

Use fabric paint and stencils around the inside of the bunk.

I’m sure there are more things you can do to make a sleeper comfy without breaking the bank and having custom made cabinets and stuff (which I’ve seen at truck shows and makes my mouth drool!), but you’ve got to be willing to think outside the box and also to look for temporary things if you don’t own the truck. I haven’t tried the 3M Command products yet, but I keep meaning to buy them.