Truck Tunes: Music for Every Mile You Drive

admin | February 17, 2016 | artists, dance music, driving, driving at night, heavy metal, lullabies, mayhem, music, songs, traffic, truck tunes, Truckers, Trucks, tunes | No Comments

Besides your usual culprits – coffee, energy drinks, and snack foods – music can really help you power through those long shifts. Well, the right kind of music that is! Because honestly, when you put on your favorite jams the world just seems to drift away, doesn’t it?

And to make your ride even more comfortable, we’ve broken down what types of songs you should be listening to during different hours of your drive – you know, during traffic, at night, and in the early morning. And heck, we even threw in a list of the worst songs to listen to while on the road – music mayhem as we so poetically dubbed it!

Anyways, enough with the babble. Introducing music for every mile you drive!

Classic Trucker Songs

Keep with the classics and you’ll never go wrong. Well, that’s what I believe anyways! And let me tell you, truckers have plenty of classic songs to keep them entertained. Just to name a few, you’ve got:

There Ain’t No Diesel Trucks in Heaven, Bob Wayne
Truck Driving Dog, Mark Dunau
Spirit of a Boy, Wisdom of a Man, Randy Travis

We could continue with this list of classic trucker songs, but we figure we’ll skip ahead to stuff you’ve might not have heard before.

Traffic Tunes

Traffic is the bane of my existence. I will purposely drive fifteen extra miles just to avoid sitting in traffic. I can’t stand it. But unfortunately, you can’t always avoid traffic so it’s best if you know the tunes that can help you pass the time a little faster. And music even has a way of affecting your mood so says the people at the National Institute of Health.

So if music can affect the mood that you’re in, and you’re in a high-stress driving situation, why not listen to calming music? And to get in a better mood faster, you might want to quickly go from Five Finger Death Punch to the Dave Matthews Band. Studies published in Ergonomics state that you’ll want to make an abrupt music change when you’re in the middle of high-stress situations. But now you’re probably wondering what you should listen to, so here’s our starter list of traffic tunes.

Peaceful Easy Feeling, The Eagles
Let It Be, The Beatles
Where Are You Going?, Dave Matthews Band
Strawberry Swing, Coldplay
Into the Fire, Thirteen Senses
Rivers and Roads, The Head and the Heart
Another Story, Let’s Be Still
Sounds Like Hallelujah, The Head and the Heart

Late-Night Driving

So you have to drive late into the night to get to your destination in time. You’ve gone through your allowance of coffee and red bull, so now what? How are you going to keep yourself motivated to keep on trucking into the witching hour? Uh, with music of course! It’s best to pick songs that you can sing/follow along to when you’re driving at night. It helps keep your mind sharp and your body awake!

For the best night time driving, here are a couple suggestions:

Wouldn’t it be Nice, The Beach Boys
Like a Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan
Just Couldn’t Tie Me Down, The Black Keys

And if these don’t help, sometimes the louder you play your music, the more awake you’ll stay – put your fact checkers away, it was a joke.

Music Mayhem

Unless you want an auto commercial (cough, cough Geico) made about you and your driving mayhem, I’d suggest staying away from these melodious tunes. Yep, just like music has the power to calm your mood, it can also cause you to drive faster and more recklessly – some songs even make you fall asleep.

So you better avoid:

Lullabies: Just like when you were a child, lullabies can make you so calm that you’ll flop right over in your passenger seat.
Heavy Metal : As fun as it might be to blast death metal in your cab, studies show that it can actually raise your blood pressure.
Dance Music : There’s just not enough hours in the day to fully explain how bad listening to dance music, like Gangnam Style (or) YMCA, can be while driving. So just take it from me and find something else to listen to.

Podcasts – Anytime Driving

Driving by yourself for an extended time can get old. You need some conversation in your life, and one of the best ways to get that without talking on the phone or radio is with podcasts. Podcasts can keep you entertained while also teaching you about pretty cool stuff. Check these out!

Radiolab – known for its science and narrative style.
Infinite Monkey Cage – What happens when a British physicist and a comedian get together? A hilarious podcast happens, that’s what!
Stuff You Should Know – Who knew science and sociology could be made simple? These guys sure make it that way.
Star Talk Radio – My hero Neil Degrasse Tyson talks star and it couldn’t be more interesting! You have to check it out.
Trucking Nation Podcast – Hosted by our very own Misty Noel, this podcast will keep you on your trucking game. She’ll clue you in on all the quick tricks you can do to make trucking just a little bit easier.

Now that you’ve got your tunes settled, I believe you’re ready for the road. Tell us, what are some of your favorite music to listen to while on the road? Let us know in the comment section below or share with us on our Facebook page.

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