Christmas time...

I wanted to suggest that. But was unsure of her/their budget.

The cooler will be fine until they get on their feet (if needed).

But if they have the money. A microfridge, microwave, and an invertor can be done for under $400.

I spent a grand total of $28.79 my last 10 days out. Sorry...but I couldn't resist sticking a 20 in the slot machine, while I waited for a load.

 

The cool thing with a fridge is that you'll be able to freeze dinner leftovers and send them out with hubby. That way, he gets home cooking while on the road along with saving money. I do this all the time, as there are only two things my youngest will eat leftovers of - chili and beef stew. When hubby is home, you can stock him up on food and beverage, as it is much cheaper at the local grocery store than at the truck stops.

 

The problem I see with the fridge and cooler is when the truck is turned off for 10 hours.

 

It's not an issue really if he has a fridge and an invertor wired directly to the batteries.

My batteries will maintain the whole shebang for 48 hours easily.

However, the "shutdown" system will turn a cooler/invertor OFF if it is plugged into a lighter.

 

I had a cooler in one truck and after 4 hours it had to be jumped in the truck stop.

Second time, left it on in the truck at home for 12 hours. Truck was dead.

In my own truck, the fridge I had in it would drain the battery down after about 6 hours. These were new batteries I had installed because it was having the problem.

 

A good sleeping bag (if he's like me, and prefers that to sheets).
Laptop with wifi card and webcam, and make sure you have a webcam on your system at home too.
Digital camera (doesn't have to be a great one)
Blizzard gear and rain gear (including boots). Nothing worse than driving with wet feet

 

It does on some models with some battery configurations. Mine takes a big drain because I'm usually charging my laptop, vacuum, headset, cell phone and the cooler. Most of the time I try to do my charging when I have outside power like Idleaire or am driving to maintain a good charge on the battery for parking. I've had this thing go dead just from running the webasto heater for 10hrs straight with nothing but the cooler plugged in.

A few ways to avoid drainage on the ones that do run out faster: Unplug or turn off all items that don't need to be on. If you fall asleep watching stuff (like I do) then make sure you have a shut-off timer or function on your computer that will auto hibernate at a certain reasonable time. Turn lights on only when needed and then turn them off again when not needed (incandescents draw less power than the regular mini-bulbs). Turn the engine on for 15mins if you've been parked for more than 8hrs.

Then there are situations where you are sitting for more than a 10hr. The batteries are much more happily charged when having been fed by the alternator while driving highway speeds at the very least for an hour, but if you have to sit for maybe a 34hr restart or are in a dead freight zone then you will have to turn that truck on at the very least every 8hrs (sometimes sooner) for at least 30mins (rpms while driving feed the amps better than low rpm ideling).

Just know what your normal operating charge is, how long it takes under different conditions to re-charge to and figure out how your electrical behaves during variable times (cold weather makes stuff run better but also makes electrical charge deplete faster). Some people use pony packs, glass mat tech charging centers and personal fuel run generators to offset their truck idle (all of which require ventilation not good in below 40F weather), but if you are company they may not allow it and then there is the added cost to the driver to consider as well.