Questions about No-Idle Solutions

Discussion in 'Trucking Industry Regulations' started by climacab, Aug 7, 2008.

  1. climacab

    climacab Bobtail Member

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    Aug 4, 2008
    Union City, Ca
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    So with all these new regulations on Idle laws throughout the country, I was wondering what the country's truckers are doing to solve the problem. I know there a re a lot of companies that have Idle bonuses and everything but as far as heating and cooling in the truck what are owner operators and fleet managers doing to solve the problem? I was hoping to get some answers to some questions like:

    -Would an all electric HVAC system be appealing to drivers
    - APU's still use quite a bit of diesel at the end of the year, are those really saving much money?
    - Are most trucks having no idle HVAC systems installed now
    - What No idle solution is most common
     
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  3. Brickman

    Brickman Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    APU is the best because it goes with you every where and doesn't depend on batteries that die to function.


    Really an APU doesn't burn that much fuel. Consider that its roughly 2 gallons in a 10 hr night versus burning 10 gallons. Thats 8 gallons savings at today's average of $4.70 thats a savings of $37.62 per night. Times that by 200 or more nights away from home in a yr that adds up to over $7500 in a yr savings. Yeah now there is wear tear and maint on the APU, it'll cut that $7500 down some but its still the best choice.
    Batteries have a life of about 10 hrs, some less. What about those times when you are doing a 34 hr reset in the heat of the deep south during the summer or the freezer of ND during the winter. Batteries simply DO NOT cut it.
     
  4. Otter

    Otter Light Load Member

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    Mar 16, 2008
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    Most of the harrassment people get is from parking in public places, rest areas and service plazas. I've always tried to park on private property, shippers and receivers mostly. Once in awhile I'd park behind a market or mall if I had to. I've seen Massachusetts State Troopers harrass a few trucks in the service area on the turnpike because the drivers were stupid enough to leave their lights on. Those of us who had our engines running and lights off didn't get bothered. The trooper didn't walk around listening for trucks running, he just harrassed the ones who had their lights on.
    Now I drive for a company that runs the Willis APU. The Willis runs the trucks' heating and A/C so I don't have a condenser on the back of the bunk and no evaporator under the bed.
     
  5. 25(2)+2

    25(2)+2 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    Here is a different take on APUs, my company has approximately 20 trucjs so equipped with a certain brand, a very popular brand. The truck I was in had one that was unrepairable after 100 hours on the clock, and several fixes, the controller went bad, and it wouldn''t shut down, so it was turned off.Price for APU was around $8,000 (Low estimate)Fuel saved was maybe 1300 gallons from not idling while it was running. Figuring fuel at $3.00 (higher than the average for the time in service), and the residual value of nothing, It cost the company 8 grand to save 3900, this is not counting all the time the mechanics wasted , and the high priced repair parts installed in many of the units 6 of the units were installed on livestock hauling trucks, and 16 were purchased for OTR. I haven't driven a truck with 1 that was working in the past year, the present 1 isn't working either.

    One of my names for the things was 'waste of resources', the rest I cant put on the Forum.

    There are others that are better, almost anything would be better, but simply idling the main engine to keep the cab comfortable , because of the darn thing not working will still get you a ticket where it is considered an offense. and believe me, most of the people griping about our trucks idling don''t care what we suffer. We are dumb enough to drive a truck, we can just put up with being uncomfortable or freezing and sweltering to death
     
  6. Brickman

    Brickman Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    25 don't allow one bad experience with one brand sour you on all of em. There are plenty of trouble free units.
     
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  7. 25(2)+2

    25(2)+2 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    Agreed, and from what I've found out, they are among the worst. What I'm doing is usually out and back and on those occasions where we do stay over, there are plenty of places that don't regulate idling. Idle solutions don't pencil out for us because we need to keep the truck running to load and move, 3 to 5 hours of idling a day, or less will not pay the interest on the money. The premise of going somewhere that doesn't allow idling, and being out for days and weeks at a time changes things for most of the rest of us. Any solution must fit the individual situation well enough to be useable. Battery storage systems work for some at less cost. The fuel fired heater is even cheaper, and for some that is enough Carb is making it more complicated for anyone that goes into areas that follow those regulations,.

    The APUs I like have a separate HVAC system , like a motel heat pump setup, that only uses electric and doesn't work like a mini refrigeration unit.
    They should be less trouble and more repairable in the long run, in my opinion, Whatever works for you is fine by me.
     
  8. Markvfl

    Markvfl Road Train Member

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    is it forum legal to say what brand apu's were so much trouble?
     
  9. Brickman

    Brickman Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    Yeah brands are OK, but links to advertising sites aren't.
     
  10. 7mouths2feed

    7mouths2feed "Family Man"

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    Personally I am building my own APU based on the same principal as the Pony-pack or Willis unit. It really is pretty simple to do. I am going to use a cheap chinese deisel engine (ebay)to begin with and earmark a few cents per mile to upgrade to a more reliable kubota, yanmar or perkins. All the other items needed are off the shelf parts than can be purchased at most any parts store. Base price on my unit is about $1000. The A/C and heat will be regulated by a digital thermostal giving me the same interior comfort available in your own home. Also by running the system as I intend I will have redundancy of A/C, Charging system and cooling system. If I loose any of the 3 from the main engine I can fire-up the APU and get to where I can fix or have fixed the down item without need for an exspensive tow, roadside service or placing myself or equipment in harms way.
     
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