will inverter help get fuel bonus?
 

Maverick lets us drivers have inverters. The restrictions are that it has to be at least 1500 watts and approved for use for Freightliner. So if I go ahead and spend the money for say a 2500 watt inverter. can I run a small heater or a stand up ac unit all night and not kill the battery? The main reason I would have the inverter is to save from idling. If I didnt have to idle ever 1 bonus check would pay for the inverter and cost of installation, thus paying for itself. Any views from anyone?

With my 1500w inverter running my laptop, 2 external hard drives, etc plus my cooler running, after about 8-9hrs my low battery alarm goes off in the truck. If I use my microwave for maybe 2 minutes, that time is shortened to about 2hrs. I also have my coleman cooler running all the time.

My guess would be that an electric heater would be similar as the wattages are very close - my microwave is a 700 watt.

space heater
 

I run a small space heater in my truck with a 3000 watt inverter and my cooler and I can shut the truck off and leave it all running for 12 hours or so before my low bat light comes on.

Happy Holidays

A typical 1200 watt heater will draw over 100 amps from the batteries :shock: . Since the batteries are about 100 amp/hrs each you can't even run all of four hours before they won't start the truck :cry: . I use a 12 volt Colman ceramic heater that plugs into the cigarette lighter and draws about 10 amps to take a bit of the chill off when I'm napping getting loaded or unloaded. I just got four new deep discharge batteries (Interstate ECL) and I can now run the heater all night without worry. I don't do many overnights but I'll get to try it out next Monday night in PA. I have seen a heater in the truckstops on sale at $24 that draws 25 amps but it needs to be wired in as it draws too much to use the cigarette lighter socket - I almost picked one up a couple weeks ago. I wouldn't want to run that more than 8 hours as batteries don't last long if you drain them down low all the time but that should be enough to sleep. I also have an electro-warmth mattress pad bunk warmer (5 amps) so maybe with the little heater I have and the bunk warmer I can get through a 20 degree night in my little 41 inch flattop sleeper? I have no problem staying warm when it's 20 degrees out even without any heat but I can't sleep well breathing air that is much below 50 degrees. I'll point the little heater at my face and see if that does the trick 8) . I have a diesel bunk heater I got cheap off of eBay but haven't had the time to put it in and I'm down to a couple overnights a month now from the 6 a month I was doing when I bought the heater. Actually I usually just grab a room for $30 (I get reimbursed) but once in a while I can't stop where the cheap rooms are :cry: as is the case this coming Monday. $30 is about what it costs just in fuel to idle all night :shock: - and as I only fuel at home I have to buy a shower anyways so I save the company money by getting the room 8) . I have a weird deal with the company where they lease my truck from me but also pay me by the hour as a company driver and pay for all the fuel, plates, permits, insurance etc so YMMV :wink: .

Schneider 's policy is 300watts or less for company drivers. I have a Wabasto heater on the truck so heating is not a problem so I mainly use the inverter to watch TV or make coffee. Other than that, the way I look at it, the bigger the inverter, the more crap I have to haul around. :lol:

This still the case? I've read multiple times on pumpkindriver.com that the limit is 180watts. I'd rather believe what you said.