I lived OTR for a little more than 5 years and STAYED on the road by choice for long stretches... out 2-3 months at a time, come back 'home' (my stuff was in storage) and pick up my mail from a PO Box and say hello to my parents and friends for 1-3 days (sleeping in the truck) and then back out for 2-3 months... that was my regular routine. I gained about 30 lbs. pretty quick with that lifestyle from lack of exercise and poor diet... my health definitely took a hit in many areas.
I've been off the road just over a year now (I dropped the 30 lbs I had gained pretty quick) but didn't care for the local job I had and I start this Monday with Southern Freight Inc regional. I'll be heading out Monday mornings usually with a rare Sunday night pickup/load and home early Friday evenings. With that schedule I'm hoping to be a little more active on the weekends and not such a couch/truck-sleeper potato.
One of the main changes I want to focus on is diet... and that means not eating like I use to, truck stop fast food (subway/arby's/taco bell, flying j pizza, sodas, etc). I spent a ridiculous amount of money on that junk over a 5+ year period. I used a regular ice cooler ($2-4/day on ice) because, well... I liked my drinks COLD... I went through 2 or 3 of those Coleman Coolers and they are junk. I just never sought out a good refrigerator/freezer thinking there's no way they could take the beating a big truck can dish out, so I never looked, even though I knew other drivers used them... go figure.
I haven't received my truck yet but I know it'll be a Freightliner... hoping it'll be a Cascadia/Cascadia Evolution. I hear they are late models, all with APUs (nice). So now I seek your wealth of experience and input on this important topic. Good/Reliable Refrigerator/Freezers (freezer not mandatory but would be nice). What do you use, how long have you been using it, pros and cons to your unit, price, warranty, best deals/stores, etc. Hook me up!
Thanks folks!
Interesting Link For Improving Health For OTR Drivers
Going Back On The Road Regional, Need Recommendations For A Good Refrigerator/Freezer
Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by Crev9, Apr 26, 2015.
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I can't give you much of what you're looking for but I have an igloo 12 volt cooler similar to the colemans that I bought at the local farm store 3 years ago going strong.
The main recurring theme in fridge/freezer threads has been find a way to isolate the condenser. They take a beating in trucks but if you can use foam or something to isolate it they will last, if not they will bite the dust as quick as a cheap cooler.ryevick Thanks this. -
walmart sells mini fridges about 125 decent
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Congrats on your weight loss.
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You can Google Truck fridge, there's a place in Kentucky that sell's them, they are not cheap at all, mine was $500.00 but it's made for the truck to take all the bumps of the road it's a portable model and runs on DC and the plug will not melt like the Coleman cooler does.....
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As you like the OTR thing, I use to be the same many many years ago, but not any more, I got off the road back in Feb. hopefully for the last time, when I first got off the road back in 99' I said I'd never do it again, but never say never, cause' in 07' I found myself needing to go back to. The road, with a little luck, I'll be home every day, but best of luck going back to the road
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Bought a $79 dorm fridge at Walmart. Runs off the factory inverter. It's a real compressor fridge. Has a freezer compartment. Will run about 14+ hours before it trips the low voltage cutout on the inverter depending on temperature.
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I'm using a mini fridge with a small freezer compartment, got it from Walmart for about $100.00. Have it plugged up to a 1200 watt inverter, and have had no issues with it.
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For the last 9 years, every company truck I have driven has had built-in refrigerators so I cannot specifically recommend one over another, but here is the one TTR-member "DFO" used in his company-issued Cascadia:
http://www.adventurerv.net/dometic-coolfreeze-portable-refrigerator-freezer-cf25-cf025dc-p-1227.html -
with your experience i am dismayed that you chose to drive for an outfit that runs slow trucks. I had a dedicated gig with them before they were southern freight(1997ish) if they are located in atlanta just off I75/85. they have certainly grown.
best of luck regardless.
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