Got my application in to Swift. Davis, CA, west of Sacramento. What to expect?

No it seemed like the crock pot was pulling more than the 100 watts indicated on the little sticker on the bottom, so was overloading the little ciggie plug in inverter.

 

Not as dire as it first sounded then. You know what you need to do, it's just a matter of getting it accomplished. There is more than just fast food out there, but you can also be creative with the fast food places. Go for it!

 

A lot of the fast food places offer salads now. One of my favorites is Subway, I have them put the lettuce in then squirt the chipotle sauce in and shake then add all the other goodies and more chipotle and buffalo sauce, pepper etc with sliced cooked chicken on top. Then back at the truck swamp it down with more cottage cheese. mmmmm

 

4Bear,
I did some window shopping for you today. In the world of 12v appliances you can get a small crock pot/steamer/rice cooker for about $30, a "lunchbox" cooker/food warmer for about $35 (Inkeper has one of these if I remember right) or a digital combination of both for about $55. These are all very compact but of an adequate size for one person size meals. You can get various sizes of 12v coolers (not true refrigerators but very efficient anyway) and actual refrigerators which might require dedicated wiring.

For the raw materials you can shop Walmart or Target superstores that have grocery as the easiest to get 65' of truck and trailer into and park. They are also like flycrap; everywhere. Other grocery stores are jack-the-bear to get into and tightly schedule their deliveries one truck at a time leaving no room to sneak around back and park.

I think with a mentor who has the slightest bit of empathy for the basic human needs of their students (yeah, that eliminates 90%) you will do fine. The appliances I mentioned take up as much space as a six pack and are cheap enough to leave behind if the most drastic situation arises. I recommend you go to a national chain truck stop near you to check out what's available. You can also do online research. Burton is the primary manufacturer.

Good luck to you,
Frank

 

My lunchbox cooker cost me nothing. I had to use some points before they expired so I got it that way. One thing to watch out for, the plug can get very hot and depending where you plug it in may blow the circuit. In my Volvo I used it only from the main plug in front or the one in the sleeper by the table deal. Never the one meant for the tv. Do not leave the truck when using it or you may come back to a weenie roast.

 

All the outlets are cig lighter style; there are no built in inverters. The tv outlet also has a cable connector and is wired for a low amp draw like a tv. Anything that heats up, e.g. crock pot or a cigarette lighter, has a high amp draw so you would use the dash outlets. All the trucks have several 12v accessory outlets and a tv outlet ( the right side antenna is tv), none have 110v.

Just about every driver has an inverter or several. I have a 25watt to plug in the phone charger I seldom use because I have a phone holder/charger setup on the dash and in the sleeper. I have a 375w for the laptop both have 12v plugs. I also have a 750w that has cables and alligator clips that I can attach under the hood temporarily.

Frank

 

Also, Swift has a policy prohibiting ANY type of inverter. When you put your truck in the shop it would be wise to take your inverter with you. I would highly recommend NEVER install a hard wired inverter in your company truck. It will get you canned as fast as leaving empty beer cans on top of the dash.
Frank