Questions about orientation and inverters.

ask gravdigr

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...ivers/147730-finally-otr-with-my-trainer.html

 

only inverters aloud are the ones with the 12v cigarette adapters, nothing hard wired in

 

You can go up to a 450w. anything else, take out before you go into a shop.

And with PAM, you go out with your trainer for a couple weeks, then depending on where you live, they'll set you up for orientation--which is basically finalizing all employment paperwork and such, and doing written, driving, and pre trip tests. then you get your truck, and they try to get you by the house within a short amount of time to get whatever else you need for your truck.

 

You can always use the clips that come with the big inverters on the battery posts and then take them off when you're driving. If P.A.M. doesn't see it installed they will never know. They worry if you "hard wire" it you will fry the computer. I run two 400 watt inverters in my truck and it powers everything.

 

If you have 6 years trucking, you shouldn't have to go with a trainer.

If you're going for orientation in Tontitown, we have a "motel" on site. It's houses about 25 people. The rooms are tiny, but you should only be there a couple of days. It's dorm style, so you share bathroom facilities. Couple of restaurants in walking distance.

 

I dropped off a trainee at Tontitown three weeks ago and the Hotel PAM was full. If that happens they shuttle you to the Econolodge in the next town, and that day there were 2 shuttles full of drivers.

 

Be careful with the inverters! When i got my first truck it still had a 1500 watter that someone had left and PAM had somehow missed. I was excited, i got myself a coffee pot, microwave and a small toaster oven...then i found out when i put it in the shop that they were a no no, and it got ripped out and i never saw it again...bummer, lol. Maybe you'll get lucky and get yourself a truck with an APU that runs about 10% of the time...

 

The problem with the high watt inverters is people do not install them correctly. They go and buy the install kit with the heavy guage cables advertised as having "everything you need to install an inverter up to 2,000 watts" but there is one very important component missing that anyone who has professionally installed car stereo amplifiers knows about....a fuse. With no fuse should your cable short out that heavy 4 gauge cable will get amazingly hot and catch fire anything touching it. I guess PAM had 1 too many trucks burn to the ground thanks to amateur installs like this and they ruined it for the rest of us.

Also keep in mind most cigar lighter outlets max out at 30a...a 350w inverter at max load pulls 29a. Anything bigger and you risk blowing your fuses.