Is there an alternative to idling for smaller trucks?

I have 248,000 on my Dodge. I only have idled about 6 nights during this time.

My Ford had 507,000 and the last year I had it, I only idled one night.

 

Good luck.

In reality, there is no sleeping in the small truck. You need to look at providing a place to sleep like the big trucks. Maybe even a motel.

I know of several that have mounted air conditioners to the back window and have generators. One was DOT'd and had a hard time trying to convince the officer that he did not sleep in the truck. After all, it was a ford f350 4 door.

 

What size trucks?

If they are large like Kenworth, Freightliner, Volvo, etc., then I would say the APU's. Large cost outlay, but a savings over the year.

 

If you want to stop the idling, you can over ride the ECU and have them use an APU.

However, when my APU died in -30 degree temperatures, there was no motel available. The truck would only run for 4 minutes and shut off. The company wrote me up for the high idle time.

 

APU or the truck idles. Not much of a choice.

I did not always run the APU until I went to bed. Finding the truck dead the next morning was a write up as well. Had to get a jump.