RV freezer damaged from "running on empty"??

As others have stated that guy's failure was NOT due to running it with empty boxes. I hot wired and ran our new cooling unit leaning up against the counter top until the freezer coils coated with ice just testing it before going to the trouble of installing it.

His failure was pure coincidence with having nothing in it.

I frequently have nothing in my freezer and never an ill effect.

Always run the fridge/freezer for at least 24 hours on empty with no problems.

no

My vote is with you mcoley.
It should not make any difference whether you have anything in the freezer or not.
When we are getting ready for a trip we turn the fridge on the day before loading to make sure the freezer and the fridge is cold before we load it.
For the last 20 years, no problem with the freezer being empty while it cools.