i can deal with a reefer. i'll park next to them, or vice versa. i have no qualms about it. it's the livestock trucks i have an issue with. they smell and the animals are noisy, and don't shut up because they know they're going to an animal concentration camp, and some of their body may end up on my dinner plate. even the empty bull racks are smelly. i tend to move whenever one is next, near me, or the wind is blowing toward where i'm parked.

we drag reefers now. There is such a difference between reefers and how they sound. I've gotten use to the reefers mostly but still it can be irksome when I'm trying to sleep while hubby is driving. However, the high setting on the ac is actually worse than the reefer.

I am not a trucker, however I have a question that may lead to a solution. I have noticed that some post are talking about a generator. Is this a generator that uses a different engine than the truck motor? The reason I ask is I have found a small generator that is only 75 decibels. It is small and only produces 2000 watts. I ran it for 8 hours on half load during Hurricane Ike. It only holds a gallon of gasoline, but will run longer if less wattage is used. It also idles lower when less wattage is used. Is there any way you might be able to use it to power an air conditioner? Also it has 12V capacity to charge batteries. I don't know if this will solve any issues about not being able to idle your trucks. All I can tell you is that I live in the sub-tropics of Texas and you need a respirator on just to walk out side during the summer. Just ask Brickman. He's been at my house during the hot summers of coastal Texas. OH almost forgot ...the generator is a EU2000 Honda. Safe for computers to use as a power source. A lot of ham operators use them also.

I've trained my brain to process a reefer engine as white noise. I actually found it helped me sleep, especially during my trainee days when my trainer insisted on playing loud music.

This generator is so quiet that when we were in the house and it was 15 to 20 feet away the only reason we knew when it ran out of gas was the lights and TV went dark. It's so small I had it chained to a tree since we could not hear it at when we were in the bedroom.

I know the generator that you speak of. I'm just trying to figure out what that has to do with a reefer? Reefers are diesel powered, not electrically powered. At least most of them are. That generator is gas powered, which means to even use it, a truck would have to carry two different types of fuel.

__________________
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."- Thomas Jefferson

I'm not sure it has anything to do with ref units, unless some of them are electric. As I said I am not a trucker. I have read a lot about the problem of idling to keep the cab cool. My thought that perhaps it could be used to power a seperate AC unit such as found in RV's. I keep seeing things in post about generators...and here we go back to my question I first asked. My post was only a suggestion take it for what it's worth...if it's worth nothing then so be it...

Actually I know people who do that. I know a Peterbilt with a used RV AC unit on top and hooked up to a small generator when he needs to cool the sleeper down during the summer. It can't be a condo high sleeper for that to work. Some people have APUs on the truck that do the same thing and run off of diesel from the same tank as the truck. These systems are expensive and if you can afford it it's nice. Most can't afford it with the economy the way it is right now. Even if you can afford it, the return on the investment doesn't make good business sense for some situations.

__________________
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."- Thomas Jefferson

So tell me about the APU. Is it a diesel gen set ? I've not been able to figure out what an APU is for a truck. Since it runs on diesel where is it located under the hood...or in back of the cab? I just know that I feel for the truckers that come into the area where I live. I can't imagine spending the night without AC in a truck in our sub tropic climate...much less out in west Texas where at least it is dry, but 114 degrees. I would consider it inhumane to have truckers exposed to elements like these without having the ability to cool or heat their environment due to some stupid laws inacted by some tree hugging idiot. I'm sure this last sentance was a run on...sorry.

Google "Truck APU" and you will find a bunch about them. Go to Thermo King's website and look at theirs. The diesel engine is in a toolbox-like box that hangs off the frame rails and is connected to AC components mounted on the back of the sleeper and under the sleeper bunk. Controls for it are remotely mounted inside the cab. They run around $7000 and up!

__________________
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."- Thomas Jefferson