I need some advice on food storage.

This doesn’t really answer your question specifically but myself I would not drive OTR without the means to properly cool my food and freeze a small amount. That means inverter. My diet routine and how I eat are the only thing that keep me sane out here. Why don’t you ask whoever you’re driving for if you can install an inverter? In fact with it being such a drivers market I would insist on it. Tell them you’ll buy the inverter and let their mechanic install it. Problem solved. Those 12 V coolers suck. They don’t properly cool the food. You’ll be pulling off on the shoulder with diarrhea within a week. I almost guarantee it. Lol and life’s too short to Be eating crappy truckstop food and hot dog rollers everywhere you go. Just my two cents.

 

An inverter is nice to have. I've done cooking out of the truck many ways, and one of them was an induction cooktop. Fast heating and pretty efficient. Aside from that you can always get a coleman stove or a 17" blackstone griddle to cook whatever food you have in the cooler.

Were you planning on just cold cuts and simple foods, or do you plan on actually cooking for yourself?

 

If they’ll put in an inverter, you can get a $79 dorm fridge from Walmart that’ll do the trick quite nicely.

 

There have already been several discussions on here about how mini-fridges aren't built to withstand all of the vibrations from driving down the road. I don't know, I've never tried one out for an extended period, but there's a reason why they sell them specifically-made for vehicles. Yes, they're much more expensive.

 

I used The big Coleman 12v that's available at most truck stops as well as amazon for a long time before they started putting inverters and fridges in trucks. They don't last forever. They don't keep ice cream. You must keep the fan clear. But in the end, you can keep milk, eggs, sandwich meat and leftovers at a safe temperature and you don't have to mess with ice melting. I think it would work very well for what you are trying to achieve.

 

That $112 one is identical to the one I got for $79. And it has worked flawlessly for me for over a year. It’s not huge, but it’s a good, dependable, durable refrigerator. A lot of us use these without problems. Those electric coolers are the ones that practically everyone has trouble with.

 

Both obvious and brilliant at the same time.

The Coleman 12V coolers are the best, but in some trucks they do tend to burn up the sockets.
And yes, sometimes it would be the plug melting.
Putting the adapter between the two could be a very good solution.