Cobra was taken... By Holland Enterprises

I have a Freightliner

All automatic, governed at 68mph and you double tap the pedal to get 70mph for 30 minutes per day, and they require 18 months of experience.

 

I want to clarify because the term opti idle keeps getting thrown around... Opti idle has NOTHING to do with the heat and AC system with their trucks. They are equipped with parksmart which is a battery operated APU. This is a factory option from Freightliner so it's fully integrated in the factory HVAC in the sleeper. No big box under the bunk, no separate vents. Because of this, it works a hell of a lot better than the aftermarket battery APUs that you can get on other trucks.

Yes, the truck does also have opti idle. You only use it to keep the truck's batteries charged. When you have the heat/AC running on the batteries and the engine needs to start, there is no change with the heat/AC. It keeps running at the set temp.

I wanted to clarify so people don't get it confused for the opti idle system in trucks that only runs heat/AC when the engine is running. It stays running regardless of the engine being on or off in Holland's trucks.

 

That's fair, but I'm used to the thermoking APU that likes to start and stop 5 times or more a night so the truck engine starting once or twice a night doesn't bother me. The shop at Holland told us it should only start once or twice a night and if it's more than that then we get the truck in the shop to see if the batteries need replaced. They have either a 3 or 5 year warranty, I can't remember which. Maybe it shakes the truck more to have the engine starting vs an APU starting, I don't know. The last truck I had, the APU woke me up at least 50% of the time it would turn off because it shook the truck so much. To me it's not a whole lot different.

I'm not sure about the beeping you're talking about. My truck has a beep outside when opti idle starts the engine but it's not very audible from the inside. Maybe some people are hearing the inverter beeping for low voltage due to the battery load from the engine starting, I don't know.

As for the fires, if those are lithium batteries I won't have to worry about that because all of my truck's batteries are AGMs and I'm pretty sure all of Holland's trucks are that way.

 

Yes, it takes the same amount of time to haul the same load, but that's not the point. Getting miles is easier when one load gets you a week's worth of miles in only 5-6 days. Your 70 is mostly only being used for driving in that case. If you pick up and deliver 3 loads in a week, not only are you spending more time waiting, you're using on duty time that could otherwise be used for driving. If less of your 70 is used for actual driving, you're getting less miles. If you're not using on duty time when you pick up and deliver loads, well... I don't know what to tell you. Not to mention, your drive time is likely being utilized less efficiently because getting to pickups/deliveries requires driving through city/town streets with lower speed limits, stop lights, stop signs, and sometimes traffic.

Anyway, I'm happy with what I'm doing, you're happy with what you're doing, so let's not argue. Let's just enjoy our respective jobs