FCC--Fremont Contract Carriers

Randy from the tractor shop at Magnum once told me APUs were strictly for drivers comfort. Any fuel savings are negated by maintenance costs… pretty much a wash by his cost studies….

 

I don't know about that. With an APU you're not only saving fuel, but also the wear and tear on internal engine components, I heard a rep from one of those tuner/engine performance companies say that idling overnight is the equivalent of 1,200 miles in terms of engine parts wear. Now, for a company fleet like FCC that trades trucks in at 500k, that's no big deal, but for owner ops with 1 truck that intend to keep it well past the warranty, that's a huge deal! I'd much rather pay for maintenance a little at a time to keep my APU running, than need a inframe/new engine/ new truck sooner than I should. For the little guy, it's well worth it, for bigger companies makes sense not to run them if they aren't keeping them past warranty. This is another reason I probably won't lease another truck after this one. I'll most likely buy my own next time.

 

Especially with the emissions on these trucks, nowadays idling can literally cause you mountains of nightmares going down the road

 

My tripak last week in oregon where it was 100°, kept the inside of my cab mainly my sleeper at around 70° maybe colder than that…

 

They will. Had a TriPac in 110 degree Texas heat and it did a good job. Carriers throw in the towel above 90-95.

 

True, it don't like extreme heat, but other than that it keeps the truck turned off. Only idle when my microwave is on. Some people my claim this isn't necessary, but it's something I learned a long time ago, and I'd rather idle for those few minutes and know it's gonna start later! Even with APU on, if I start the microwave with the engine off I see the voltage drop fast on the inverter, I ain't taking chances.

 

No apu will ever have the BTUs or AC capability of the truck hvac system and in extreme heat I'll idle until the sun goes down ...in winter depending on wind and fuel condition if it's going below 0 overnight I'll idle up the truck engine when I go to bed and let it run.
If it's already below 0 I don't even bother with the apu .
No point in working the piss out out of the apu in high heat and in extreme cold the apu does nothing to heat the fuel....tow trucks arnt cheap.

 

Also a few years ago I did an experiment with mine in north dakota during a 3 day road closure .
Keeping in mind mine heats the main engine coolant and I was full of very well treated fuel I shut down the main engine knowing overnight temps would be pushing minus 25 and wind chills were expected in 60 below range ( had bar right next door ) with a small a electric auxiliary heater plus the apu heater I found out how poorly insulated truck cabs are .
At about -10 the apu heater became worthless ...at minus 15 with auxiliary heater plugged in the temp above the bed was tolerable but the floors were froze to the point the snow I tracked in wouldn't even melt .
I stuck it out that night but when I got up the next morning the windows ( inside) were so frosted over I had to scrape them to see out .
Main engine fired right up but from there on it stayed running .

 

This is why i liked my bunk heater at my old company. You crank that baby up and it becomes a sauna at -40!

 

Magnum is one of those 450-500k
turn the truck in companies. But that was the discussion I had with the head of truck maintenance in Fargo. The cost was a wash supposedly. But they kept getting them cause the drivers preferred the APU over idling…
Where I work now, we use Penske trucks and don’t have APU’s. I’ve idled every single night I’ve been in truck. But they usually turn in around 550k I’m at 472k (2020 Cascadia) right now. No DEF issues except for a NOX sensor or two…. But we run ALOT of super light loads… don’t know if that would make any difference…
As an OO, I completely agree with you. The cost is also less cause it’s spread over more years too!