Swifts new Idle policy

Roehl, Werner, and Crete all put apu's on their trucks as well.

KH

 

Remember when the Swift recruiter came to give his pitch at our school. 1 thing he said was about not using technology till it had been proven by other companies. Guess the APU's are still not proven to them. Makes you go hmmmmmm, doesn't it?

 

The opt-idle can save on fuel...depending on the temperature setting made by the driver. However, saving on fuel is good, but not to the expense of engine wear. Everytime you start an engine, after the engine has been off for more than 12 minutes, the friction wear on cylinders and pistons increases. This is due to the oil draining back into the sump, and leaving only a miniscule amount of oil on the sleve and piston, and other lubricated moving parts. Also Swift found they were replacing more starters due to the on and off issue. So the savings weren't what they were advertised.

 

The fuel savings in a year would pay for half a dozen new starters. I've had one starter replaced in 9 years and I shut my truck off every time I stop. Idling an engine doesn't lubricate like it needs to be when it's working under a load. Just as hard on one as cold starts in my opinion.

 

Swift has their engines set to shut down after 7 minutes idle at idle rpm (500), on some, if you bump the cruise control you can idle at (950), high idle does offer better lubricaion to working parts. The cost of a starter isn't the only issue of cost, shop time, mechanic time, truck in shop loss time, many factors involved you aren't using in your math. Also you are dealing with one truck, Swift is dealing with thousands, do your math, plus my figures, and multiply by 5000 and check your figures. Substantial difference.

If you read your statement you are comparing apples to oranges to pears. Idle, under load, cold starts...each component can work against the other components in cost and maintenance.

 

If I drive over the road and it is time for my ten hour break you can bet that truck will idle. The only exceptions to this rule is the temp ouside. If its bettween 50-70 I usually shut the truck off. Below or above, that truck will be running. If a company cant handle the cost of the idle then buy apu's.

 

Did Swift do away with the tempa starts in the volvos?? they all had them at one time,, why dont they have them in the new trucks, internationals etc,, they worked good and only usually startd the truck 3 or 4 times a night.

 

some made it to the Columbus, OH terminal... f.y.i

 

Well you can figure a $100 for service call $100 for an hour labor and $500 for a starter and you're still going to come out far ahead in fuel savings by shutting the truck off every time you stop. That's about what the bill came out to but it's been a few years I dont remember exactly. You can multiply that by 100 trucks or 10,000 trucks and the math will still come out the same. A truck will wet stack under fast idle just the same as slow idle. Ever seen that big puff of white smoke blow out the stacks after you take off from a ten hour break of idling? Doesn't matter how you cut it not burning a gallon of fuel per hour idling for 10 to 14 hours a day at 2$ a gallon will save far more money in the long run than trashing half a dozen starters a year. Also, did you figure in oil change interval in your calculations? They're far shorter in a truck that idles every day all day that could amount to $1000 extra expense to idle right there...

 

It's their problem not mine. I don't idle when it's comfortable but if I'm uncomfortable, the truck will run. The way I see it and every driver should see it this way, (I really can't believe so many drivers side with the company) a well rested driver is a safe driver.

Every other industry passes costs off to the customers anyways and Swift gets a hell of a discount on fuel. I'd bet they'd rather pay a little more to idle than to explain to their customers why their load is in pieces in a ditch.

The TAS worked great but I don't have that in the International, so naturally, idle time will be higher. I'm still trying to figure out what the percentage time is. Is it miles? Hours?

30% hour wise would be a little over 7 hours in a 24 hour period. Most of the time, I don't need to idle that long unless it's in the daytime heat. If it's mileage, how do you figure that up?

Anyways, I could care less. If I were to buy my own truck, it would have a diesel fired APU no doubt. Why Swift doesn't use them us beyond my comprehension.