Idle time

Discussion in 'Trucks [ Eighteen Wheelers ]' started by Castel, Nov 4, 2010.

  1. Castel

    Castel Bobtail Member

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    Sep 22, 2010
    Miami, fl
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    I have a detroit 14.0. 515hp , 10 sp 355 diffs, and 22.5 lo pros...doing 4.8 mpg. Truck is closed to 74mph and my runs are coast to coast about 6500 miles per trip. I had no codes on the computer, so I reset the trip... I was told that I have 41% idle time. I know that it is high and my question is if I dropped to 20% idle, how much could that bring mpg up... any ideas??
     
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  3. canuck in da truck

    canuck in da truck Road Train Member

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    i had same engine--but with a 13 speed and 370 rearends--at about 23% idle i was getting right about 7--in a classic loaded heavy---egr engine
     
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  4. JohnP3

    JohnP3 Road Train Member

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    Feb 21, 2010
    Rock Creek B.C. Canada
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    If you are doing that much idling why not check on a APU, with that much idling it would pay for itself quickly.
    Have the air cleaner checked, and when was the last tune-up done?
    Just a thought!
     
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  5. rocknroll nik

    rocknroll nik High Risk Load Member

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    can't read the sign
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    Good point...I really think more companies should invest in APU's they will pay for themselves in a year or two tops
     
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  6. dave_0755

    dave_0755 Light Load Member

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    Oct 24, 2010
    Jonesboro,AR
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    Wow. How long is it taking you to drive 6500 with 41% idle time?

    If you average 65mph at 6500 miles you get 100 hrs of actual drive time. Add in 10 hr breaks and you get 100hrs of down time. So basically I guess your pretty much driving 10 hrs sleeping 10hrs and repeating. If you idle the entire time your shut down then your lucky your not at 50% idle time.

    I would strongly suggest that you get an APU. You need it bad. That's a run made for teams where the truck will never shut down.

    With an APU on a run like you are on. Then you could possibly get your idle time down to 10% or less even.
     
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  7. Castel

    Castel Bobtail Member

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    Sep 22, 2010
    Miami, fl
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    I want to thank all of u for your response, I know I have to either get an apu or shut the truck off, problem is sometimes they give me 6 days to get there and then I end up staying there for another day waiting for a load to get back. I was just wondering if I dropped the idle time if I could get into the 5.5 mpg range. Also besides tripac which is a decent apu
     
  8. dave_0755

    dave_0755 Light Load Member

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    Oct 24, 2010
    Jonesboro,AR
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    I would look around. I'm thinking I should have gotten a truck with an APU. You can find a good exWal-Mart for around $25,000 or less. They already have APU's on them. It's the good ones too. The Tri-Pac. Also I saw on the Truck Paper there's some Volvos in Atlanta that have APU's on them for $25,000 as well. I don't know what brand of APU though. It doesn't say in the ad.

    A Tri-Pac installed will be between $6000 and $10,000 depending on where you buy it and who you have install it. I think it's more cost effective to just find a truck with one already installed.

    I wouldn't go with Rig Master or some of the others. I've heard a lot of bad stuff about them. I would go with the name brand. Carrier has a name that everyone in trucking knows.
     
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  9. trukngrl

    trukngrl Lollipop, lollipop...

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    Mar 7, 2009
    Manchester, Ga
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    If I were you I would turn the truck off whenever I could. Checking into an APU is a really good idea also. I know I had a detroit 60 and my mpg stayed around 7 a little higher depending on the load and where I was running. I'm a team truck so our idle stays low anyways but we found that we could really reduce idle time by investing in window screens and letting the truck air out whenever we were stopped and the weather permitted
     
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  10. 123456

    123456 Road Train Member

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    6 days to get there ??????????????????????????????????????????????????

    You should be back by then !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
  11. JohnP3

    JohnP3 Road Train Member

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    Rock Creek B.C. Canada
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    When I was working I would regularly download the ECM for warrenty purposes and for employer requests and get percentages of over 60% the highest I remember was 73%. Even when given the option to go to the truckers lounge we had and sit in large leather recliners and watch a big screen TV he was going to leave the truck running so it would be cool when he got back.
    I have seen guys that had less than 5%, they slowed down gently and when they stopped, they shut it down, parked in the shade if posible, and went for a walk to a cool place or warm.
    Lots of trucks had the optimised IDLE feature, that helps a lot, the engine starts and stops. It keeps the batteries charged the cab within a tempature range and after a couple of days you do not even realise the truck started or stopped. To my knowledge that is only available on a Detroit. Just a thought!
     
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