Older man in his 50's i think and had a volvo 670, short and heavyset, messy dash and i think he lived in Wi.
That Coleman is a very good cooler, and probably won't take nearly as much power as the 'superconducting' unit. That is something you should consider if you are a company driver. Another thing to consider is that you can buy the Coleman for ~$125 in many truck stops. You really won't save much, if anything, by buying it on E-Bay - unless you find a much better deal than the one you linked to. ($25 shipping...). Plus, it is much easier to return to a truck stop chain than it is to the E-Bay seller if something should go wrong. No additional shipping charges, you pass by them every day... I have that Coleman. It is the third cooler I have had, and by far it does the best job. My old mentor also has that cooler, and he loves it.
I have the Coleman too, got it off amazon for $80, works great, just need to remember to unplug it while on home time(otherwise batteries go flat) keeps things cool, but watch out for the bit that plugs into the cig lighter, I have heard tell of them melting
Keep in mind most of these coolers will only cool 38* below ambient. If the inside of your truck reaches 78*, perishable food is in the danger, as in botulism, zone. I have heard the Coleman does better than that, but food poisoning and truck driving don't go so good together.
The Coleman claims 40 degrees. 38-40 degrees is still cold. It keeps milk and cheese good, and not much below that things start to freeze. And the Coleman will freeze things a lot quicker than the others. The Coleman does keep a lower temp than the others I have used - the last was a RoadPro, can't remember the brand of the other off hand. With one the fan went south and I could not find one of the proper size to replace it with. With the RoadPro it was the on/off/warm/cool switch that melted. The Coleman has no switch to fry, and I believe the fan is a more standard size so replacing it should be straight forward. The Coleman is also larger, and you can stand on it without damaging it. That can be a real plus, depending on what truck you have. But the larger size can be a minus, especially in a smaller Volvo cab. The plugs do get hot sometimes, especially in hotter times. So keeping the cab at a reasonably cool temp helps. (DM's beware! I idle my truck to keep it in a livable range!!!! 'High Idle Time' reports notwithstanding!) As to unplugging it on home time - I don't. If the battery gets too low the aux 12V plugs should be disabled. At least that is how it works on my Volvo, and the ProStar and Cascadia that I have had.
Well i got the coleman one at good ole wally world, thank you to the driver that got it there. Cost me $88.00 plus the $6.00 warrenty so $101.00 with tax. Now for gps, cb, george grill, coffee maker, and laptop stand-last to buy
Forget about the GPS; it's a waste of money. The Qualcomm in your truck has a GPS that is outstanding and, if drivers keep sending in the minor corrections like they should, it will only get better. The only advantage to a different GPS is the constantly updated ETA. However, after you have been solo for about 4-6 loads you should be able to calculate your average speed in different situations and be able to closely calculate your ETA as you are driving. I consider a CB radio absolutely essential safety equipment. Bluebonn and I were warned off the road heading into Effingham in January when the rain almost instantaneously changed to ice. When we headed out the next morning there were over twenty trucks in the ditch or badly wrecked including the Averett that blew past us at full speed blaring his horn only to jackknife almost completely through the median a mile further. It has saved me from topping a rise at speed to find the highway blocked by backed up traffic several times. I would also wait on the grille and coffee maker. Nice to have but a hassle cleaning and supplying. I cannot function without coffee and usually go through a truck stop toward the end of my day, get coffee and drive on to my shutdown point. Caffeine works cold or hot and, regardless where I stop, I have coffee in the morning and I don't even have to open the curtains to snarl at everyone. The George Foreman is nice but I've lost 54 pounds since I started school 11/9/11 so it is possible to eat healthy. For the laptop mount, Ram Mounts is the winner. They have a version that fits any big truck passenger seat mount and either viewable only from the bunk or from either front seat. In my previous life as a construction manager my office was my truck and the Ram stood up to some rough off road use and best of all my laptop was both handy and protected. Moose, You convinced me. I'm getting the Coleman which, by the way is on sale at Pilot. Frank
Frank, I respectivally disagree. Yes, the new QualCom has a built in GPS that has improved steadly since I first started using one Oct. 2011. However, I have had/continue to have issues with the QC GPS. Example: I am approaching Salt Lake City from the west enroute to the SLC terminal. I've only been there (SLC terminal) once before and not from the west. 10 miles from the terminal the QC decides it's time to reboot. Luckly for me the reboot finished about 2 miles from the terminal and I was able to find it. The routing with the QC GPS is spotty at best (not that my Garmin is much better). My solutions is run both my Garmin and QC GPS at the same time. I learned this trick while doing long distance motorcycle events (I'm an Iron Butt rider). My Garmin will boot up and calculate a route in less time than the QC can boot up the GPS. My Garmin will also remember previous addresses, something I use daily. My normal MO is to let my Garmin find both the shipper's and consignee's addresses BEFORE I start my trip, then access the routes as needed. I also like the fact that my Garmin will calculate my arrival based on local time, something I really appreciate when I'm going through 3 times zones (quite possible in the west during the summer) in a single day or running is the southeast where I'm not familar with the time zone boundries. Again, JMHO.
