With the weather in much of the country set to remind us what winter really feels like, drivers who spend more nights huddled in their sleeper instead of curled up comfortably at home will be leaving their engines idling overnight in order to power their space heaters or keep their reefer units cool. If you find yourself driving a lot in the colder states, idling can cost you as much as $4,000 per year in the cost of diesel alone.
Well, the good news is that to promote their electric parking power pedestals, Shorepower Technologies is offering free power at their electrified parking spaces across the country until March 31st.
“Truckers can fully utilize and see for themselves how nice it is to ‘plug in,’ run all their devices that can use AC-power,” said Alan Bates, Shorepower’s vice president of marketing. “Truck stop electrification can also work in concert with onboard battery-powered and diesel-powered auxiliary power units, which saves truck and APU batteries. It can help APUs run longer between scheduled maintenances and extend their service life.”
Shorepower has 1,250 electrified parking spaces nationwide. Now admittedly, with all of the millions of commercial drivers out there, 1,250 isn’t that many, but Shorepower is growing by leaps and bounds. In 2012 alone it increased the number of spaces available by 140%. The free juice is their way of letting truckers know to be on the lookout and that change is on the horizon.
To find a truck stop with power pedestals, including stops that have 480-volt power connections for hybrid reefer units, visit the Department of Energy’s locator map here.
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Source: thetrucker
larry says
sounds like a stupid idea to me. ive never had a problem plugging in the computer or tv, its running the heater and air conditioner that causes problems. give me a cheap way of running the air conditioner and im all over it.
David Norton says
They have tried this all before over the last 40yrs it never works plug ins in parking lots to Idle air but then Idle killed its self by getting greedy and Ilding is still cheaperin the big picture . its only a problem for big companys because they only give there drivers enough fuel to get from point a to point B
Rick Smith says
I know a few years back I was working for PTL and it was the heat of the summer
in sweltering New Orleans, and they parked me because I ran out of hours because
they ran me like a dog, then they started bitching at me for running the A/C.
Using too much fuel. I asked the dispatcher if she would like to try sleeping or I should
have said roasting in a tin can for eight hours?
Jim O'Brien says
My truck doesn’t have any AC equipment that can’t run on my batteries. I have a terrific bunk heater and a clean idle if I have to use the AC when I’m in Brownsville.
carl says
this is a great idea, but most trucks don’t have a shore power connection. i do wonder how much they charge for the service, and how much it would cost to have my truck set up to run on shore power. i also wonder if new trucks are being manufactured with shore power options. the technology is there, RV’s do it all the time. plug in and run everything.