How can I charge a laptop in the truck

You'll want an inverter so you can run various appliances, like the laptop, microwave, coffee pot, etc. I have a 1500w that works fine. Don't install it yourself unless you know what you're doing.

 

For the last several years I drove I kept my laptop hooked up to charge while not using it. I never had any issues. I doubt you will either. I recommend however that you DO NOT use the lighter circuit. The problem is 200 watts is around 16 amps on that circuit.

 

You said you'll be training soon. Are you already planning to go to a specific company training program? If so, ask them if they have inverters in their trucks, and if not, if you can have one installed. This is not a new problem that no trucking company has ever heard of. They will have some kind of answer. A lot of companies provide inverters pre-installed in their trucks.

The cigarette lighter is only good for small electrical loads, like charging your phone, dash cams, and GPS units.

Also, how do you plan to plug your laptop into the cigarette lighter?

 

I burned out a laptop power supply by plugging into a cig lighter inverter. If your inverter is not pure sine wave it will eventually wreck your laptop power supply. If you get a pure sine wave inverter, even a small one that plugs into cig lighter it will be ok TO RECHARGE your laptop while laptop is off. Wait until you get a job. Your company truck may already have a big power inverter installed. Many companies will not let you install your inverter, or they require they install an inverter for them to install. Mess up the inverter install and your truck will burn to the ground.

 

I used a lighter inverter for years. My son's charger lists the draw as 0.65 amps. My HP charger says 65 watt.

 

What model laptop?

most do not exceed 100 watts.

 

A pure sine isn't an absolute must. I had just a regular 1500w truck stop inverter and had the same MacBook on the truck for 8yrs without issue.