Expenses while over the road

An APU/Generator with 110/120v power or an inverter, preferably 1500 watt or better is pretty much necessity if you're out on the road for more than 2 - 3 weeks at a time.

I stop in Walmart every 1 or 2 weeks and stock up on provisions. I buy water and soda by the case for 75% less than what they charge in trucks stops. I stock up on oil, anti-freeze, wiper blades, hand cleaner, gloves, groceries and anything else I may need at the time. I keep a note pad with a list so I dont forget.

As a company driver for a mega,.. I guess you're at the mercy of how they equipped the truck. I've always been lucky in that the O/O's that I worked for had either an APU or Inverter in the trucks I drove.

As an O/O myself now,.. I use an inverter while I am driving, then when I rest, I shut the truck off and have a generator that I run for power, to include A/C and heat. The fuel savings alone more than makes up for the hassle of needing to fill up the cans every few days. Listening to APU's on other trucks and how quiet my generator is.. I feel I made the right choice.

Living out of truck stops and similar stores is expensive. I only use them for fuel and showers,.. I dont like to park over night at them if I can help it. I prefer peaceful out of the way quiet spots.

Hurst

 

That's exactly what I'm wondering. We'll see. If it proves unreliable, I will have to explore other options.

 

I run my fridge and cpap off the factory installed inverter/charger.

 

Mine didnt have a fridge at all. Thats why I removed the cabinet behind my seat to install a college dorm sized fridge as it and the inverter were still $200 less than a factory 12v fridge installed, plus my fridge holds 3 times what most hold, and it has a real freezer large enough to hold about 10 dinners and a few bags of frozen veggies or 7 - 8 steaks plus 5 lbs of hamburger along with frozen veggies and a bag a french fries.

How ever I gave up on frozen french fires with out a deep fryer. They suck in the microwave and the forman I have is too small. The only way to do them decently is to wrap them in aluminum foil and cook them on the hibachi charcoal grill. To cold outside for that now.

I had a KW T660 with the Cool power battery APU. Worked pretty good. The AC left a bit to be desired when it was really hot outside. I would just idle the truck.

The Pete 386 I drove for this carrier just had an inverter. It had a small factory fridge that was really useless for anything more than lunch meats and soda.

I have this truck set up pretty sweet right now. I think the only thing I'm going to change is to replace the window AC with an upright indoor unit and put it inside the cabinet on the other side and make a hole in the floor for the vent to exhaust the hot air out. The only down side to that is I'll have to drain the water out of the pan each morning or figure a way for it to drain under the cab.

Hurst

 

@Hurst thanks for clearing that up !

a propane stove, pan with a litle oil or butter will work on fries and most anything. tho I gather you're not into that.

 

@Hurst or anyone

how to make the best signature fries

singnature fries are soggy fries, believe or not some restaurants serve fries made this way. ought to be an easy task in a truck.

 

Put frozen fries on a paper towel. Place in Microwave for 4 mins. Viola,.. soggy fries!

I put them in the garbage each time. Prefer crisp fries,.. not really crunchy,.. but rather eat burnt fries than soggy fries.

Hurst

 

When you get hungry, just hook up with @Barbeque
He knows how to cook in the truck!

 

I have a hot plate and frying pan. I've done home made potato wedges that way. Never tried frozen fries in the pan.

My main issue with cooking is that by the time I stop and am hungry,.. I dont feel like cooking for an hour. By the time dinner is done,.. I'm too tired to eat.

I prefer quick easy meals. Hot ham n cheese on the forman, hamburgers take 2 mins on the forman, hot dogs do well in the microwave. 1 min,.. done. Or slice up the hot dogs in Hormel Chunky Chili with beans, add a table spoon of KC master piece BBQ sauce, 2 tables spoons of brown sugar. 2 mins in the microwave,.. dinner is served. The dinner that keeps giving!

My wife will pre cook chicken breasts and put them in baggies for the freezer. They cook well in the microwave,.. then do a bag of Uncle Bens flavored rice. Quick easy meal in under 5 mins.

Hurst

 

I understand that and I wouldn't normally eat out every meal, but what I was trying to ascertain is how much more expensive is it at "truck stop" fast food chains. Based on local prices I know how much to budget per week while in training etc. If truck stop prices are significantly higher then I would need to adjust my budget accordingly.

"Eating out is expensive". While that statement is factual, it doesn't really help me plan a budget for eating out while OTR as I don't know if local prices are comparable to truck stop prices.