Trucks With Fridge

On the newer trucks with inverters and refrigerators are the fridges always on or do you have to have the key on accessory position? If not are there issues with battery run down? Same question for 12volt plug in coolers. Wondering if you leave the truck for a day or two on your reset does it stay cold or is your food ruined?

Our trucks here at Prime have an auxiliary power unit (APU), which is basically like a generator. When the truck batteries drain to the point of needing a charge, the APU will automatically fire up and recharge them, then turn off again. It's much cheaper to run the APU than it is to let the trucks engine idle. So leaving the fridge or other things running while the truck is sitting or if we're away from the truck isn't a problem.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

When, I'm home, I empty what's left in the fridge, turn my cooler off, and disconnect everything. I have the truck in my driveway and even with all that off, I try to run it a few minutes per day. Out on the road the stuff stays plugged in. Trucks have power outlets, 12 volt and 110, that are always on. We don't have APUs , just inverters.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APUs:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

When, I'm home, I empty what's left in the fridge, turn my cooler off, and disconnect everything. I have the truck in my driveway and even with all that off, I try to run it a few minutes per day. Out on the road the stuff stays plugged in. Trucks have power outlets, 12 volt and 110, that are always on. We don't have APUs , just inverters.

My truck wont have an APU either. The reason for my question though, I have given up my home to live in the truck. Since I no longer have a home with a fridge I cant empty any perishibles from the truck to the house if I chose to visit family or do a mini vacation. So without an APU do the fridges turn off without the key on or do some of the plug-ins and the fridge always have live power or would a fridge or cooler kill the batteries in 1-2 days time if the truck is unattended?

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APUs:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

If you have a large inverter installed thar is connected directly to the batteries, then the fridge will not turn off. Also, in my truck, the 12v outlets are always on, unless the main power switch is shut off. They stay on even when the ignition switch is off.

My truck will last 3-4 days with the fridge running and the main power switch off.

I didn't know the mini fridge could run on the 12V power outlet, to bad I don't really have anywhere to out one.

Chris M.

I think I read on another thread that you work for Swift? If you do, are you running OTR or Regional? Reason I'm asking is do all Swift trucks come with fridges? and do you have room in them to enough for a week's worth of food or do you have to shop every other day or what?

Raptor

If you have a large inverter installed thar is connected directly to the batteries, then the fridge will not turn off. Also, in my truck, the 12v outlets are always on, unless the main power switch is shut off. They stay on even when the ignition switch is off.

My truck will last 3-4 days with the fridge running and the main power switch off.

Thanks, thats perfect!! Supposed to be an 1800 watt inverter, I am assuming mine will be like yours. I wont get my truck for about a week and a half though, just trying to prepare and plan ahead. So say you were going to take a week off and not be near the truck is there like a kill switch to keep the batteries from draining?

Power circuits are set up in multiple ways. you will want to find out about your specific truck

I previously drove three different Freightliner Cascadias that did not have APUs but did have factory fridges and large aftermarket invertors.

the fridge would run continuously when the engine was running of course. if parked and the smart idle system was set, the fridge (and anything else) would keep running continuously, except that a lot of stuff would blip off each time the dang start/stop idle came on. I added a couple of UPS units to prevent that (mainly for benefit of my TV and CPAP.

if the engine were left off with no smart idle, then all the stuff would run for a while on battery power, but after a few hours, the truck would begin cutting power to non-essential devices. the fridge was one of the first things to be shut off. my TV and CPAP would survive that no problem because of the UPS devices...otherwise they would have lost power too

I now have a truck with an APU , so as long as that is left on, I have continuous power just like in a house. I much prefer this setup...so much more comfortable, and I hated the start-stop idle nonsense. I live in my truck full time as you plan to do....hopefully in the future, you'll be able to get an APU.

When, I'm home, I empty what's left in the fridge, turn my cooler off, and disconnect everything. I have the truck in my driveway and even with all that off, I try to run it a few minutes per day. Out on the road the stuff stays plugged in. Trucks have power outlets, 12 volt and 110, that are always on. We don't have APUs , just inverters.

My truck wont have an APU either. The reason for my question though, I have given up my home to live in the truck. Since I no longer have a home with a fridge I cant empty any perishibles from the truck to the house if I chose to visit family or do a mini vacation. So without an APU do the fridges turn off without the key on or do some of the plug-ins and the fridge always have live power or would a fridge or cooler kill the batteries in 1-2 days time if the truck is unattended?

CPAP:

Constant Positive Airway Pressure

CPAP is a breathing assist device which is worn over the mouth or nose. It provides nighttime relief for individuals who suffer from Sleep Apnea.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APUs:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

As far as I know only the 2019 freightliners come with a fridge. The new trucks all have 1800 watt inverters though.

Chris M.

I think I read on another thread that you work for Swift? If you do, are you running OTR or Regional? Reason I'm asking is do all Swift trucks come with fridges? and do you have room in them to enough for a week's worth of food or do you have to shop every other day or what?

Raptor