Any Truck Drivers here?

[sal]

Title says it all.

I'd like to develop a dedicated Truckers model(s) and I'll need input. I'll be investigating many sources, but I thought to begin here. One of the first magazines in which we advertised was a Truckers publication. Way before the internet. I've always respected and appreciated Truckers, having spent many years living on the road.

sal

[Stuart Ackerman]

Sal...San-Mai-Usa is a truck driver in the USA and the UK.

I have just sent him a PM in Edgematters.

[Evil D]

Never OTR driver but did 7 years of towing. Not nearly as grueling in terms of hours on the road but it's a similar situation where you don't have a break room or bathroom and you're really on your own unless you get to stop somewhere.

My knife was used for everything from food prep if it was needed to cutting open various things, cutting straps in emergencies, cutting off parts of cars like bumper covers, and lots of tire plug trimming.

Much of my preferences for that job leaned towards what makes a Rescue knife good. I favored sheepsfoot/wharncliffe blades, or blades with shallow bellies. I really preferred serrations for the cutting power through belts, which was necessary more times than I like to remember.

I wore gloves while working so being able to easily operate the knife through gloves was essential.

I actually did not want a deep carry clip because it made it harder to draw with gloves on.

Laws were not much of a concern because cops pretty much looked the other way, and the laws where I live have relaxed a good bit, but I would imagine this might be a concern for someone driving across country. Then again, I have a few trucker friends and they don't give a dang about those laws so maybe not lol.

My first thought when reading this thread was some kind of Autonomy variant would be ideal. The Autonomy 1 was easily my favorite knife for this job.

Sal, this is a bit of a shameless plug but I think my bayonet blade Autonomy 1 would be perfect



The Plunge Lock was awesome in gloves and the handle stayed in my grip. The slight belly and more usable tip would make it more versatile for food prep type work.

Out of the current catalog, I'd probably go with an Autonomy 2 or Bodacious. Put a Plunge Lock in a Bodacious...

[JoviAl]

Back when I were but a lad fresh out of university I got a job working the night shift 4pm-3am at a big distribution hub for pre-packaged consumer fertilisers and soil amendments (your typical 80-120 litre bags like what you’d get from a garden centre). I was the check in/check out guy who would check off the loads against the manifest and do the tare weigh out before departure for about 50-80 trailers a night, mainly for a fleet of drivers from Canutes haulage (a fantastic group of guys). The one thing they used to repeatedly borrow knives off us for in the yard was to cut the cellophane wrap and banding off of a pallet load of whatever that had begun to tilt, so it could be re stacked and wrapped up by hand. They had to be super careful slicing through as the contents were all in plastic sacks and if they nicked one the receiver would refuse the whole pallet (which they’d then have to return to us). I don’t know what sort of blade shape or design would lend itself to not puncturing soft loads, but for those lads that was a high priority.

[WilliamMunny]

Never OTR driver but did 7 years of towing. Not nearly as grueling in terms of hours on the road but it's a similar situation where you don't have a break room or bathroom and you're really on your own unless you get to stop somewhere.

My knife was used for everything from food prep if it was needed to cutting open various things, cutting straps in emergencies, cutting off parts of cars like bumper covers, and lots of tire plug trimming.

Much of my preferences for that job leaned towards what makes a Rescue knife good. I favored sheepsfoot/wharncliffe blades, or blades with shallow bellies. I really preferred serrations for the cutting power through belts, which was necessary more times than I like to remember.

I wore gloves while working so being able to easily operate the knife through gloves was essential.

I actually did not want a deep carry clip because it made it harder to draw with gloves on.

Laws were not much of a concern because cops pretty much looked the other way, and the laws where I live have relaxed a good bit, but I would imagine this might be a concern for someone driving across country. Then again, I have a few trucker friends and they don't give a dang about those laws so maybe not lol.

My first thought when reading this thread was some kind of Autonomy variant would be ideal. The Autonomy 1 was easily my favorite knife for this job.

Sal, this is a bit of a shameless plug but I think my bayonet blade Autonomy 1 would be perfect



The Plunge Lock was awesome in gloves and the handle stayed in my grip. The slight belly and more usable tip would make it more versatile for food prep type work.

Out of the current catalog, I'd probably go with an Autonomy 2 or Bodacious. Put a Plunge Lock in a Bodacious...

Not a truck driver but speed a lot of time on the road and did construction in my youth. I have to agree with Evil D that the knife needs to work with gloves. Less belly annd sheepsfoot design would probably be preferred too. Maybe something like an PAC Salt but bigger handle that would not get lost in gloves. Also that’s a pretty cool prototype you drew up.

[Wandering_About]

I drove truck for farm/ag purposes for a few years. Honestly I just carried either a Stretch, Delica, or PM2 most of the time. If I developed any real preference, deep carry was really helpful, though clip design did matter. I was in/out of the cab a lot and certain pocket clips will catch on either a seat or seat belt and pull a knife right out of a pocket, which isn't good.

A smaller knife of about 3-3.5" would be preferrable, honestly if I went back to driving I wouldn't carry a knife bigger than 3 inches. I want something very discreet, as location knife laws or site policies vary and usually something small with a deep carry clip does not raise suspicions and keeps you on the safe side in most cases.

Back lock is probably as good a choice as any. Solid, reliable, and most people understand it.

Blade on the beefy side. I like thin, but truckers are... well, just give them a stout blade. They won't be concerned with ultimate slicing ability and the knife is likely to get pressed into non knife uses often.

To be really honest, if I were to suggest a Spydie to a trucker looking for a really good knife, a Native 5 LW Salt with an aftermarket deep carry clip would be right at the top of my personal list. Even with the standard pocket clip, it's really good.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I am not a truck driver, sal, but I have several friends who are. One is a younger guy who drives local and semi long distance and another is retired in his 70s who for decades drove tractor trailers cross country. I have another friend who retired from long haul trucking and now lives the RV retiree life. I can get feedback for you from them about this.

I gave a Byrd Cara Cara 2 with FRN grip to another friend who used to drive local and long haul semi trucks and he showed me pics of it after sharpening and heavy use. He said it's his most used and appreciated knife.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Never OTR driver but did 7 years of towing. Not nearly as grueling in terms of hours on the road but it's a similar situation where you don't have a break room or bathroom and you're really on your own unless you get to stop somewhere.

My knife was used for everything from food prep if it was needed to cutting open various things, cutting straps in emergencies, cutting off parts of cars like bumper covers, and lots of tire plug trimming.

Much of my preferences for that job leaned towards what makes a Rescue knife good. I favored sheepsfoot/wharncliffe blades, or blades with shallow bellies. I really preferred serrations for the cutting power through belts, which was necessary more times than I like to remember.

I wore gloves while working so being able to easily operate the knife through gloves was essential.

I actually did not want a deep carry clip because it made it harder to draw with gloves on.

Laws were not much of a concern because cops pretty much looked the other way, and the laws where I live have relaxed a good bit, but I would imagine this might be a concern for someone driving across country. Then again, I have a few trucker friends and they don't give a dang about those laws so maybe not lol.

My first thought when reading this thread was some kind of Autonomy variant would be ideal. The Autonomy 1 was easily my favorite knife for this job.

Sal, this is a bit of a shameless plug but I think my bayonet blade Autonomy 1 would be perfect



The Plunge Lock was awesome in gloves and the handle stayed in my grip. The slight belly and more usable tip would make it more versatile for food prep type work.

Out of the current catalog, I'd probably go with an Autonomy 2 or Bodacious. Put a Plunge Lock in a Bodacious...

David and sal, perhaps this use is exactly what is needed for a NON AUTOMATIC, Autonomy with the basic design in FRN but a standard manual back or mid lock? Ever since reading David's reviews and seeing that model released I have hoped for that. David I love your bayonet blade Autonomy idea. But please with a non automatic so it is not classed as a switch blade.

[TkoK83Spy]

Sal, I know many truck drivers having been a shipping/receiving coordinator for 14 years. I can definitely collect some info for you. These guys carry various types of freight, long haul, short haul, hot shot deliveries. Very interested in what I hear from them!

[Mushroom]

Fascinated by the idea of developing a dedicated truckers knife. Definitely going to be paying attention to see what comes of the idea.

[paladin]

Never OTR driver but did 7 years of towing. Not nearly as grueling in terms of hours on the road but it's a similar situation where you don't have a break room or bathroom and you're really on your own unless you get to stop somewhere.

My knife was used for everything from food prep if it was needed to cutting open various things, cutting straps in emergencies, cutting off parts of cars like bumper covers, and lots of tire plug trimming.

Much of my preferences for that job leaned towards what makes a Rescue knife good. I favored sheepsfoot/wharncliffe blades, or blades with shallow bellies. I really preferred serrations for the cutting power through belts, which was necessary more times than I like to remember.

I wore gloves while working so being able to easily operate the knife through gloves was essential.

I actually did not want a deep carry clip because it made it harder to draw with gloves on.

Laws were not much of a concern because cops pretty much looked the other way, and the laws where I live have relaxed a good bit, but I would imagine this might be a concern for someone driving across country. Then again, I have a few trucker friends and they don't give a dang about those laws so maybe not lol.

My first thought when reading this thread was some kind of Autonomy variant would be ideal. The Autonomy 1 was easily my favorite knife for this job.

Sal, this is a bit of a shameless plug but I think my bayonet blade Autonomy 1 would be perfect



The Plunge Lock was awesome in gloves and the handle stayed in my grip. The slight belly and more usable tip would make it more versatile for food prep type work.

Out of the current catalog, I'd probably go with an Autonomy 2 or Bodacious. Put a Plunge Lock in a Bodacious...

David and sal, perhaps this use is exactly what is needed for a NON AUTOMATIC, Autonomy with the basic design in FRN but a standard manual back or mid lock? Ever since reading David's reviews and seeing that model released I have hoped for that. David I love your bayonet blade Autonomy idea. But please with a non automatic so it is not classed as a switch blade.

Yup, Automatic could raise issues for long haulers travelling into/thru states with Auto restrictions.

For that matter lock type and blade length may be major issues to address also.

Something like a UKPK or Clipitool with dedicated blade shapes, maybe.

[Fastidiotus]

CDL Class A with doubles/triples, tanker, hazmat. Currently in LTL freight but previously heavy hauling equipment on lowboys and running super, mega, end, and belly dumps. I sleep in my bed most nights so I'm not a real trucker just a driver.

Any specific direction you're thinking Sal?

I'm trying to think of what would make a knife trucking specific. I've never heard any coworkers say or personally thought "I wish they made a knife to fit our needs." We largely encounter the same things most people do, just more frequently. Cardboard, shrink wrap, tape, synthetic and natural ropes, poly cord strapping, tie down straps, rubber hoses, serpentine belts, oil/antifreeze jugs etc. In addition to my knife I personally always have a Leatherman Supertool 300, 9/16 and 7/16 wrenches for adjusting brakes, and a hammer.

For a lot of people around trucking the ideal knife is a folding utility knife. They're inexpensive, easily replaced and readily available, take abuse well, and when your blades destroyed you throw it away and click a new one into place. I've never been a huge fan of the utility knives and prefer to carry an Endura with a partially serrated blade or a Cold Steel Code 4. They're both long enough to actually do some cutting but thin and light enough to not dig into you legs while driving or jumping in and out of trucks or on and off trailers.

For me the dream knife would be a 3.5-3.75" Leafjumper/Caribbean LW backlock partially serrated lc200n with a stop pin.
Partially serrated to cut rope and shrink wrap. Not salt rated to keep development cost down and still have the liners to support the stop pin and kill the lock rock, lc200n because it's tough and easy to touch up but less expensive than coated CruWear. If a decent set of tweezers could find it's way into the handle that would be a nice touch, victorinox tweezers are pretty useless against metal and wood splinters. Probably wouldn't sell and would get disco'd after a short run but it would be a perfect tool.

[Vamais]

Back when I were but a lad fresh out of university I got a job working the night shift 4pm-3am at a big distribution hub for pre-packaged consumer fertilisers and soil amendments (your typical 80-120 litre bags like what you’d get from a garden centre). I was the check in/check out guy who would check off the loads against the manifest and do the tare weigh out before departure for about 50-80 trailers a night, mainly for a fleet of drivers from Canutes haulage (a fantastic group of guys). The one thing they used to repeatedly borrow knives off us for in the yard was to cut the cellophane wrap and banding off of a pallet load of whatever that had begun to tilt, so it could be re stacked and wrapped up by hand. They had to be super careful slicing through as the contents were all in plastic sacks and if they nicked one the receiver would refuse the whole pallet (which they’d then have to return to us). I don’t know what sort of blade shape or design would lend itself to not puncturing soft loads, but for those lads that was a high priority.

How well do you think an Atlantic or an Assist Salt would fit this role?

[aicolainen]

I’m following this one.
I ain’t no trucker, but any knife developed with a practical application in mind is bound to be interesting and potentially a good fit for my own needs.

In my head I’m picturing a something approaching a crossover between David’s proposal and a Benchmade 940. Low profile, easy to carry knife that can take some abuse. I really like the bladeshape David has drawn, though I think CE would be a better fit or at least appeal more to a target audience that maybe isn’t ready to go all in on SE.
I also think a slim and neutral handle akin to the 940 would fit a wide range of hands and ride easy in the pocket.
I fear that making this an auto would rule out a lot of potential customers, but then again making it a manual introduces the need for a opening hole which would significantly impact carry profile and/or ergonomics (thumb ramp).

I bought a BM 940 for the type of use I imagine a trucker would expose his/her knife to, but I hardly carry it. The stout (and rather long for the handle size) blade and lean carry really appealed to me on a conceptual level, but in real life when faced with the choice between opening hole and thumb studs… it’s very difficult to go with studs. And not liking cross-bar locks for sure ain’t helping.
For use with gloves backlock/power lock, comp. lock or liner lock is probably where it’s at for me. I’d probably like the plunge lock/auto too, but it’s sadly not an option where I live.

[sal]

Thanx much. Appreciate. I'll take all of the input you can find out.

sal

[PeaceInOurTime]

Tl;Dr: last paragraph.

I’ve never been OTR, but I have a Class A with Tanker. Mainly ever drove municipal maintenance related equipment: dump trucks hauling and towing other equipment, gravel, sand, asphalt, salt, brine water, plowing snow, trash trucks, and now fire trucks.

A decade ago when I was driving and operating heavy equipment daily, my primary carry was a Cara Cara 2 and a Gerber MP600 Pro Scout. I loved that knife for actual cutting tasks, but I found the multitool more useful. Prying, scraping, light hammering… impromptu repairs cutting nasty wiring, diesel and hydraulic oil covered rubber and plastic, plumbing for brine water…

Again, not OTR, so I’m sure my needs would be a bit different, but my experience required my knife to be tough, easy to operate with gloves, and easy to maintain. Generally, a multitool made more sense, but the knife blade was more difficult to access than a dedicated knife.

If I were to only carry a knife with no other tools with large truck driving in mind, I’d look for a folding knife with a ~4” wharncliffe combo edge, moderate to thick blade stock, robust tip, forgiving/easy to maintain blade steel with corrosion in mind, metal handle with pronounced forward finger choil/guard, and a pommel/striking surface capable of light hammering (useful for placing and removing large pins and cotter keys). I would prefer a four way clip, lanyard hole, and a back lock. Maybe add a valve core tool somewhere on the knife?

[vivi]

I’m following this one.
I ain’t no trucker, but any knife developed with a practical application in mind is bound to be interesting and potentially a good fit for my own needs.

In my head I’m picturing a something approaching a crossover between David’s proposal and a Benchmade 940. Low profile, easy to carry knife that can take some abuse. I really like the bladeshape David has drawn, though I think CE would be a better fit or at least appeal more to a target audience that maybe isn’t ready to go all in on SE.
I also think a slim and neutral handle akin to the 940 would fit a wide range of hands and ride easy in the pocket.
I fear that making this an auto would rule out a lot of potential customers, but then again making it a manual introduces the need for a opening hole which would significantly impact carry profile and/or ergonomics (thumb ramp).

I bought a BM 940 for the type of use I imagine a trucker would expose his/her knife to, but I hardly carry it. The stout (and rather long for the handle size) blade and lean carry really appealed to me on a conceptual level, but in real life when faced with the choice between opening hole and thumb studs… it’s very difficult to go with studs. And not liking cross-bar locks for sure ain’t helping.
For use with gloves backlock/power lock, comp. lock or liner lock is probably where it’s at for me. I’d probably like the plunge lock/auto too, but it’s sadly not an option where I live.

940 feels way undersized for people with my hand size fwiw. one of the quickest catch and releases in my history of collecting.

[Tristan_david2001]

I feel like a multitude of different spyderco models would fill the role just fine for truckers.. delicas, natives, calys, manix, militarys etc..I didnt really think truck drivers have a job which requires extensive knife use. Maybe strap cutting, on the go food prep, personal self defense? How about a new black micarta calypso ?

[ChrisinHove]

It occurs to me that the Clipitool Rescue might be this already, perhaps sized up for ease of use with gloves, and relatively inexpensive.

[aicolainen]

940 feels way undersized for people with my hand size fwiw. one of the quickest catch and releases in my history of collecting.

I'd assume most knives under ~3.75" does feel that way for you :)
I was just thinking in terms of general design lines and not a blatant copy, so there's no reason it would have to be the same length.
Although the one thing the 940 has going for it - it is a rather nice fit for my hand - and my pocket, so I wouldn't want a trucker knife that goes much above that length.