Using a small generator

I am brand new to trucking and planning on going to Swift Training in a few weeks. I have been reading they have a strict inverter policy, so I was wondering if you can get one of those little gas powered generators and strap it on the truck to give you some power? rather than running an larger invertor (I heard they don't allow those either) and idling the truck.

I have seen small generators that will run for 12 hours on a gallon of gas and have upto 2000W.

Since I am new to this and my idea maybe stupid, be gentle...

 

Also, if you have any tips about working for Swift the 1st few months, I am interested..

 

Swift probably won't care but if that generator uses gasoline you have to keep it to small quantities or you violate DOT regs. I can't remember if the transportable amount of gasoline is 1 gallon or 1 liter. You can search the regs.

Over the years some of the magazines have discussed drivers that carry small motocycles with them while OTR and they run up against this gasoline limit.

That one gallon consumed over 12 hours seems fantastically optimistic, but you won't likely be running a generator very long, unless you are going to cut a hole in the sleeper and mount a window AC unit.

 

8 gallons 392.51 c

 

Maybe it's best to stick with a small inverter, and a few 12V appliances.

 

I just read and found that since I have sleep apnea that Swift allows you to run your truck to power your CPAP machine, so I guess it is a non-issue.

There are diesel generators that are small that will allow you to do stuff without idling. I see the reason for idle policies, but with technology companies can install cheap solutions on trucks that will keep drivers warm in the winter and cool in the summer, just don't understand why they would make it hard for drivers to get rest by not installing a cheaper solution.

 

but with technology companies can install cheap solutions on trucks that will keep drivers warm in the winter and cool in the summer, just don't understand why they would make it hard for drivers to get rest by not installing a cheaper solution.

Cheap in your mind.... how about x 5000 power units ? Not in defense at all either, just the way they think......

 

We have a guy with a small generator right behind the cab of his truck. He has a long enough wheel base so that the trailer doesn't hit it when turning. He made a clamp setup to clamp it to the frame rails rather then worrying about trying to strap it in place and worrying about it coming loose. It is big enough to power his coffee pot, microwave etc. It is also a little quieter then some of the APUs you see.

 

You should be able to power just about everything with a small plug-in inverter. A microwave or large shopvac might need something bigger.

 

True but how long you going to use that inverter with the truck off before you run your bats down? Many places won't allow hardly any idle time with the main power unit while you can run small generators etc.

But most simple things with heating units etc (microwaves, toaster, coffee makers) draw some serious watts in the 1000+ area.

Them little 400 watt inverters work great for TVs etc but they are otherwise useless.