Would you take a job as a new driver that wants you to pay for APU and/or Inverter?

You’ll let me pay $8-10K for an APU? Thank you sir. Would I also be allowed to come in on my days off and change the oil in the fleet’s trucks on my own dime? Wait, you guys pay for the tires? That doesn’t seem fair, please deduct those from me while you’re tallying up what I owe you for rent for staying in your truck. Thank you.

 

Tell them no thanks to the inverter or apu, and tell them you will happily idle in all weather when you sit, on THEIR DIME by way of burning their fuel.

 

i would not ever drive an OTR truck without at least an inverter...a good working inverter is part of the DOT inspection as far as im concerened maybe if it was just a week or 2 or a temporary situation, like my normal truck is in the shop and this is all i have.... then i can make an exception but if im gonna be in it for months at a time.. no way.

 

I didn’t get an inverter until ‘22, because of getting a CPAP. I started driving in ‘87, so a lot of years without one. I still don’t have all the other luxuries you mentioned. I just don’t need it all.

I strongly disagree with your statement about plug-in coolers.

I got my first one, a Coleman, in ~’98. I’ve had two Koolatron coolers last me the last ~22 years. I replaced the first one, because I couldn’t find a replacement element for it. This second one has needed two fan motors replaced. That’s it.

““A lot more things can wrong”? There are only two parts to fail! How simple does it need to be?

“Will cost you more money in the long run”? I’m into three plug-in coolers, over the last ~25yrs, for ~$300, plus the cost of three parts. That’s not a lot of money.

My truck burns diesel; not gas.

Not being conscious of the environment isn’t a big deal to me, because the blatant disregard for the environment by the rest of the world makes what I do very insignificant. Travel the world, as I and many others have, and you’ll see what I mean. Just YT search, if you can’t travel. If you think not idling a certified “Clean Idle” truck is going to change the world, cool the planet, or anything else, you’re dillusional.

I work for a company who cares not one bit about idle time. They only care about drivers doing their job.

 

Did the company rep speak with a russian accent ?

That's almost as bad as a lease purchase...
hey, wanna make our truck payment for us ?!?

 

Ill give the single instance it makes sense to buy the inverter (or apu)

In contract, it says you will be paid the difference between unfinished amount on equipment on end of employment, less maybe some low % (10%?, 5?)

but if you paid it off, YOU take it with you, no questions asked.

Tmc had a requirement that if you wanted an inverter that it was specifically the cobra 1500, they had to install, you paid 150$ and they wired it when you had a truck service, but it was YOUR inverter. That was reasonable given how some people try to wire things, this way, theu knew the wiring was adequate and the inverter wasnt stupidly large (creating alternater early death and charging issues) (was also 10 years ago, i think their new trucks all have that specced in now)

 

Schneider has a Home Depot account where you swap trailers in western Kansas & deliver to stores along I25. I believe the drivers reset on the weekends & generally get home 2 or 3 times during the week.

 

Don’t fall for the lies that as a new driver you have to settle for the worst companies and the worst treatment until you get years of experience. Be picky. Apply to every job that you have an interest in, whether or not you meet their criteria. All they will do is say no, but some will consider you if you went to a good school.

I didn’t settle. I had my eye on a company, and had a few backup companies. I had multiple local job offers all paying $25 a hour and up, with great benefits. All good companies. I got an offer from the company that I knew I wanted to go with since day 1 of CDL school.

I’m local. Home everyday. Great people. Awesome terminal manager. Good equipment. Amazing pay, especially being new. 5 days on. 2 days off (consecutive). God bless trucking.
I love it.

 

I also had good experience with the 12 volt thermoelectric coolers. NO, they don't get as cool as refrigerator on as little electricity. But as long as you always have a spare power cord, fuse, and are willing to replace one if needed you can eat well. I EASILY spent more replacing power cords over the years than the purchase price of the 2 or 3 coolers I used. If you buy one, buy it at a truck stop and pay the extra money for the "extended warranty/replacement" feature. With Love's you have to wait 48 hours after purchase, register the purchase by phone or online, and then save the receipe or keep a picture of the receipt. When the unit stops working, you file a claim and they send you the purchase price.

Without an inverter cooking takes much longer, like 45-90 minutes instead of 6 minutes in a microwave. I used a lunch box cooker and before that something that looked like a mini-toaster oven but operated like a lunchbox cooker. I could heat a small TV dinner in 45-60 minutes.

Personally, these days, if I was looking at OTR, I would try to work for a company that supplies an APU, inverter, and dorm fridge. Many companies offer that, and those make OTR much more comfortable. Everybody is in a different situation and has different needs, I suppose.