What is your idle percentage at swift

in Memphis it is very comfy on the dispatcher side of the wall. Driver's lounge it is warmer.

 

check and see if there is something in the regs about being comfortable. They used to try and get my mentor to sleep in the T/S's. He told the no way! They beat on him until he leased a truck. Who has the last laugh on that one?


BTW I call Phoenix "The Big Head" like from the TV show "Third Rock"

 

The few times my DM has chewed on me about "high idle times", I just nodded at him. Not worth the debate. My take on it: If the company is concerned about high idle times, they should start equipping the trucks with APU's. The cost of the APU's might possibly be offset by the savings in fuel.

Comfortable sleep is a safety issue. If you aren't sleeping and having to drive tired..... You aren't being safe. Swift is all about safety yannow?

Anywho, my highest was 43%. Spent several days in Texas. Hot hot hot.

Usually run between 5% and 20%.

 

There is no such rule, but there is one about the sleeper berth must be protected from exhaust fumes. If you have to sleep witht he engine off, windows open, most likely you will be parked beside an idling truck contaminating your SB.

I wouldn't work for a company thet had no regards for your comfort. Tell them to turn the AC off at work and then you'll comply. I had companies put me in motels when your AC quits working. There's a fine line what some of these companies expect out of the drivers. As big as Swift is they need to follow the rest and install APU's.

When idling and sleeping, set your rpm's at 800. I hear too many idling crazily around 1000 when parked. It is not neccessary and burns alot more fuel.

I have PeopleNet and idle time is seperated between long idle (parked) and short idle (brakes off). With an APU I'm at 1%/3% respectively.

For clutch purposes, it's best to stick the transmission in nuetral when sitting in traffic. You cut the clutch life down drastically sitting with the clutch pedal engaged for extended periods.

 

Clutch life or not, you need to have the truck in gear. Not in gear is considered not in control and you would fail a government road test here in Ontario if you did that.

 

This is simply not true. It may put added stress on the throwout bearing, but not the clutch itself.

I may at time slip it into Neutral while slowing down, but before I come to a full stop I drop it back into gear. I believe your safer in gear. If stopped at a signal. For a prolonged stop I would absolutely use neutral.